Won Me Over! KitchenAid Pro 600

I just purchased the KitchenAid 575 Watts KP26M1XLC Stand Mixer (Licorice color). I have owned for approx 7 days now and have made numerous loaves of sweet, white and whole wheat bread to give to my co-workers for Christmas. I must say that I am extremely impressed with this mixer. The reason I purchased this particular model was that it has the newly designed PowerKnead spiral dough hook and I wanted to also be able to accomodate larger batches of dough.

My previous model that I just sold was a K5SS 325 Watt model with the older "C" hook design. I never could get a decent loaf from it (this could be that I'm an amateur at this also). So I purchased a breadmaker to handle the bread making tasks. Other than that, the K5SS was an extremely reliable, well built machine and served many years of great use!

Back to the new one. My first loaf was 100% whole wheat and turned out fabulous which shocked me as I don't know how to make bread from scratch (meaning without a bread machine). The texture I must say is far better than what has been coming out of my bread machine. Using the powerknead dough hook was extremely easy. I just went exactly by the instructions, and my dough was completed within approximately 3 minutes. It was actually kind of fun watching it do all of the work - and didn't struggle one bit. I tested the bread out on my kids (and myself) for sandwiches and we all thought it was very, very good. Nice texture and it was also a nice change of pace to get a normal shaped loaf (that is difficult to obtain via a breadmachine).

I love the delayed start when it turns on. My K5SS did not do that. I also find that it also has a better sound that the K5SS had as well. I have read many reviews that state that the KitchenAid Pro 600 does not fit underneath their kitchen cabinets. It fits perfectly underneath my kitchen cupboards and is much easier to pull out for use than my other machine was. Purchasers that are concerned should measure prior to ordering one in. I do believe the KitchenAid Pro 600 is actually somewhat lighter than the K5SS model. I like the burnished flat beater, dough hook and wire whip. It is not a problem to handwash them as long as you rinse them as soon as you are done using them. Very easy to clean. I also prefer the newly designed 6 quart bowl compared to the K5SS 5 quart bowl. The 6 quart bowl is wider and shorter and much easier to work with in my opinion. This new machine also comes with a newly designed pouring chute which is easier in my opinion to use than the older designed ones.

I'm planning on having a "bake fest" with my mother and friend come Wednesday. We are going to use my Kitchenaid Pro 600 and her reliable Kitchenaid Classic 250 Watt machine and make countless decorated sugar cookies, the divinity recipe that comes in the instruction manual and who knows, some other great things.

I also just purchased via www.half.com, the "Mix It Up" book for more dessert, appetizer and dinner recipes. I'm looking forward to trying some of them as they look really yummy!

I will also plan on using my Kitchenaid Grinder with my new mixer. This great little unit grinds up beef and other items nicely. I like this feature, because then I atleast know what is in my ground meats. I also just ordered in a brand new ice cream maker attachment. I can't wait until that one comes in the mail. Purchased that off of ebay. I've read many reviews that the ice cream maker attachment works really well.

I can't wait to see how it does on everything else i'm going to put it through! I'm so glad I purchased this item, and with the extra $50 that Kitchenaid is rebating back, i'm getting this for around the same price of a brand new K5SS 325 watt machine. Way to go Kitchenaid!

Update December 26th, 2006: I have definitely put this machine to the test! Approx 15 loaves of bread, 8 batches of cinnamon roll dough, cookie dough and mashed potatoes. This beauty has worked like a charm. Just two days ago I made two loaves of light Rye bread. I must say that the bread texture was absolutely perfect, and I want to reaffirm that the texture far surpasses that of which was coming out of my bread machine!