KitchenAid Artisan KSM150BAC Stand Mixer Cream

If you can afford one of these wonderfully stylish workhorses, then buy one - you can't go wrong with it. If you can't, then don't buy a Kenwood, but save up for this one - you won't regret it. It's far quieter than a Kenwood, incidentally which, if you use it quite a bit, is actually moree of an issue than you might think. I never really saw the point of having a food mixer until I regularly needed to mix large quantities of royal icing, and thought that that would be all I'd use it for. Now it gets used most days - cakes, meringues, pastry (divine!), fishcakes, beefburger mix, bread etc etc - there is no end to its talents. It's also a doddle to clean, by the way. It is heavy, however, so make sure you ca keep it in the place you'll be wanting to use it. It's not a machine you can pop into a cupboard everytime you stop mixing. And do remember the tip about not sending for the recipe book, as they send you one, in a language of your choice, when you return the guarantee form.

Like so many kitchen gadgets and icons the Kitchen Aid artisan was not about to sit on my counter top and collect dust like so many purchased have done. I use this as much as I can.

The accessory set is a must for mincing, grating & slicing. My girls love to use it too (10 & 13). I've never had so much help in the kitchen! I have to hold them back grating as it does it at breakneck speed and I look around and end up with 2 lbs of grated cheese.

I've made fantastic bread, meringues', birthday cakes and pretty much everything I've tried on it comes out perfectly. It comes with a great instruction book and make sure you follow the sponge cake quantities or you may end up with a curdled mixture - but that happens when you use any whisking device.

Be sure to register your guarantee as they send you a wonderful hardback Kitchen Aid cook book. The Birthday cake recipe is to die for!

I would recommend this product only to someone who does a lot of cooking/baking. If you don't use it at least every week then it's a frightful waste of money. But if you are the sort of person that just likes to have "chic" things on their countertops - you know who you are, yes you - the person who has bottles of fancy olive oil out on the side because they look good! Then if you have the money - go for it, because it really is beautiful.

It's one of my 5 favourite kitchen items of all time along with my Dualit toaster, Magimix kettle, Oxo measuring jug, Jamie Oliver charger plate (v. useful).... oh okay 6 items - my Nigella Salt pig , because it's so darn cute!

I bought a Kitchen Aid about a year ago, yes it looks good but is not as powerful as I expected and I make a lot of bread. I have now bought a Kenwood MX275 Patissier Mixer instead - still has retro cool design but has a much more powerful motor and is a third of the price!

I bought this for my wife as a present as she always wanted one and although expensive for a mixer it has not disappointed us. The machine has a design that is inspired by the 1950s golden age of America, when appliances were built to last and the motors on appliances were so robust they could be used for industrial mixing. On most of our modern food processing kit, you can sometimes hear the motor screaming for mercy and smell a bit of oil when the dough gets a bit viscous, but there has been no such experience with the Kitchen Aid.

The mixing action is best described as orbital (a rotation on a rotation) and the result, for us, is that all the sponges we have made have been terrifically light and generally perfect. We have a few of the accesories as well, these are easy to fit and because this is a fairly large and agricultural design, pretty easy to clean after use. In terms of grinding meat and vegetables, the heavy duty motor is a big help.

So in summary, this is a big, heavy, rugged mixer that does it job of mixing doughs, batters and cake mixtures extremely well. This is one of those products where American design and construction values really help the product.

I had a happy year with my Kitchenaid mixer but then did not ensure the bowl was firm in the stand and the beater jammed against the bowl - disaster!!! After MUCH trying I found that the problem is a flimsy plastic gear cog deep inside the works. Kitchenaid UK & Europe have had so many of these go that there is a problem sourcing the part. They do honour the guarantee but with no indication of how long it will take to get the part. A great product spoilt by a miserable bit of plastic.