KitchenAid make a whole array of kitchen appliances (almost all of them favorites of home cooks and professional chefs alike), but one KitchenAid appliance stands head and shoulders above the rest of the pack completely – and that’s the KitchenAid stand mixer.
A legendary piece of kitchen equipment, a KitchenAid stand mixer is a game changer for those that cook, bake, and generally just love to fiddle around in the kitchen. Well-built (we are talking about built like a tank), almost overengineered, and made out of foolishly high quality parts and components, this is a true “buy it for life” kind of purchase.
The only tough thing about buying a KitchenAid mixer is figuring out which one you want sitting on your counter for the rest of your life!
KitchenAid used to have a single stand mixer – the Classic – but they have somewhat recently rolled out a couple of new lines with a couple of tweaks, couple of extras, and even a couple of different sizes to fit different needs.
Choosing between the KitchenAid Classic, the KitchenAid Artisan, and the KitchenAid Professional can feel like a real uphill battle.
At least until you read the breakdown we highlight below, anyway!
KitchenAid Classic
The KitchenAid Classic is – no surprise here – the exact same KitchenAid that your parents and your grandparents probably had on their countertop (with a couple of modern materials and a few engineering tweaks, of course).
As reliable as they come, the Classic is legendary for being overbuilt with rugged components that will last a lifetime and then some. The Classic is the kind of appliance you can actually pass down from one generation to the next – without looking worse for wear, even.
Relatively affordable (at least as far as KitchenAid mixers are concerned), you won’t have to blow holes in your bank account when you spring for the Classic, either.
You can use all the KitchenAid mixer attachments on the market with this unit, transforming this mixer into a pasta maker, sausage grinder, and so much more.
You really can’t go wrong with this model.
Pros and Cons
- Relatively compact and lightweight for a stand mixer (it’s still not going to bounce around when you turn it on high, though)
- The most affordable of the KitchenAid options available right now
- Unbelievably easy to use
- Tilting mixer head makes snapping in new attachments and cleaning this mixer effortless
- Includes a dough hook, a wire whisk, and a beater attachment right out-of-the-box
- Legendary KitchenAid warranty
- The mixing bowl does not include a handle (a bit of a bummer)
- 275 Watt motor gets the job done for most applications but will struggle with large batches or extended sessions
- Only available in a couple of colors
KitchenAid Artisan
The KitchenAid Artisan takes everything that the Classic does well and then bumps it up to 11, delivering a more refined, more elegant, and more colorful solution for those willing to spend a little more money.
Available in 40+ different colors (with more being added into the mix all the time, no pun intended), the coolest thing about the Artisan line is the ability to choose a color that perfectly matches your kitchen decor and your personality.
On top of that, the bowl on the KitchenAid Artisan is slightly larger than on the Classic. The motor has been improved and is slightly more powerful and snapping attachments into the Artisan feels a little easier than with the Classic, too.
Interestingly enough, the Artisan weighs only two extra pounds more than the Classic. The Artisan comes in at a somewhat chunky 26 pounds, but the classic is just 24 pounds.
It’s heavy enough to let you know it’s there (not to bounce around when you are mixing), but not so heavy that you’ll throw your back out moving it around.
Pros and Cons
- The bowl on the Artisan does include a handle, making it a little more useful
- You get the wire whisk, flat beater, and dough hook from the Classic as well as an extra “pouring shield”
- You’ll be able to pick and choose from more than 40+ different colors
- The 325 Watt motor is quite a bit more powerful than the Classic
- You get that same legendary KitchenAid warranty
- Slightly more expensive than the Classic
- The 5 quart bowl might not be large enough to take full advantage of the heavy duty motor
- You still run the risk of burning parts out (especially the plastic gears) during extremely extended mixing sessions
KitchenAid Professional
KitchenAid really made their name delivering commercial grade mixing capabilities for the everyday home cook, but the Professional has given them a chance to up that even more.
Anything that you have found “lacking” when it comes to either the Classic or the Artisan – from a performance standpoint, anyway – is remedied when you bump up to the Professional.
The motor is a significant upgrade, putting out either 550 W or 575 W of power (depending on which Professional model you pick). The mixing bowl is a 7 quart set up. That’s more than enough room to make 13 dozen cookies at once if you wanted to.
Obviously, the Professional is going to be a little bigger and a little chunkier than even the Artisan.
Unbelievably, though, this meaty monster only weighs three more pounds than the Artisan – coming in at 29 pounds and staying under that 30 pound “breaking point” some people aren’t willing to go over.
Still, at 29 pounds this is something that you’ll want to find a permanent spot for on your counter. It’s not something you want to be lugging around.
The included bowl lifter is a really cool design when you’re working with larger quantities. It does make swapping out attachments a little more challenging, though.
All in all, the Professional is perfect for folks that spend a lot of time using their stand mixer as well as those that need the extra horsepower to work through heavy duty ingredients and larger quantities.
Pros and Cons
- 7 quarts mixing bowl is large enough for gigantic batches
- 550/575 Watt motor delivers serious horsepower
- 20+ different colors to pick and choose from
- You get a wire whisk and a flat beater as well as a significantly upgraded “Power Knead” dough mixer
- Bowl lifter design guarantees your mixing bowl doesn’t “walk” while in use
- Top-notch KitchenAid warrantee
- Super heavy compared to the Classic and a little bit heavier than the Artisan, too
- You’ll have to pay a pretty penny for the Professional
- Bowl lifter does make swapping out attachments a headache sometimes
Closing Thoughts
Choosing between the KitchenAid Classic VS Artisan VS Professional becomes a whole lot easier when you use the info we highlight above.
Home cooks that are going to be using their stand mixer on an infrequent basis and for smaller quantities can get away with the Classic if they don’t need crazy colors.
The Artisan is perfect for folks that use their mixer a little more often, want slightly higher capacity, and are really into matching their appliance to the rest of their kitchen design.
The Professional, of course, is designed for those that are going to take advantage of the significantly higher power output , the oversized mixing bowl, and the other heavy duty features that this seriously professional grade appliance brings to the table.
Truth be told, though, you can’t go wrong with any of them!