The KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer is one of the best stand mixers money can buy. It is expensive, but we excelled in our kitchen lab tests and can do more than any other mixer we reviewed.
The large 5-quart capacity bowl can make up to 9 dozen cookies in a single batch and features ten speeds to mix thoroughly. KitchenAid famously offers dozens of colors and finishes to adjust your mixer to your kitchen style, so it'll add style and high performance to your countertops.
KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head stand mixer: Design
The KitchenAid Artisan mixer includes a paddle, dough hook, and whisk. Still, you can buy ten other attachments separately to use this mixer as an ice cream maker, sausage stuffer, pasta maker, meat grinder, juicer, grain mill, fruit or vegetable strainer, and more. The company website shows 41 colors to choose from, and while some might look like duplicates at first, they are slightly different in hue or finish (matte versus shiny, for example). If you want the basic power and capability of a KitchenAid without the price of the Artisan, the KitchenAid Classic Plus costs somewhat less and offers fewer features but is just as sturdy and hardworking.
The mixer has ten speeds, so you can fold, mix, beat, whip, or aerate. The handle on the bowl makes it easy to lift even when full, and the locking tilt head gives you easy access to the accessory ports. The bowl, egg white beater, and dough hook are all dishwasher safe, but the whisk and burnished attachments must be hand-washed. A few things are missing: The KitchenAid Artisan does not include overload protection, so it won’t shut off to prevent motor burnout and doesn’t have a built-in timer.
KitchenAid may only offer a one-year warranty, but that warranty ensures you get a replacement mixer if yours doesn't work. The manufacturer can be contacted by phone, email, or live chat. The user manual offers helpful instructions and recipes; if you lose your copy, you can download another from the website.
KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head stand mixer: Performance
Not all stand mixers can handle heavy bread dough, but this KitchenAid mixer could strictly be a dough mixer with no problems. We put this electric mixer through its paces, and after 10 minutes of kneading two loaves of bread dough, the resulting bread dough was smooth, resilient, and not sticky at all. There wasn’t a trace of dough left in the 5-quart bowl, which indicates thorough mixing.
When we tested this mixer and its paddle attachment with chocolate chip cookie dough, we found that the KitchenAid managed to mix the ingredients well. There was a tiny bit of butter on the side of the bowl, but this was a common issue across every stand mixer we reviewed. When we folded the chocolate chips at the end of the mixing process, we were pleased with how quickly they were fully incorporated and that the chips stayed intact without breaking into pieces.
Most impressive was what the KitchenAid stand mixer and its whisk attachment could do with our 4 ounces of room-temperature egg whites. The machine incorporated more air into the egg whites than any other mixer we tested, and it did this in only three minutes. We got foamy egg whites with stiff, but not dry, peaks that could create elegant meringues.
Should you buy the KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head stand mixer?
The KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head stand mixer is an iconic model with many functions and enough attachable features to replace many kitchen appliances. We loved its high-power engine and large-capacity bowl, which can prepare virtually any batch of baked goods. The KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head stand mixer is geared toward enthusiastic home cooks who enjoy hosting and experimenting with different functions and recipes. It is an investment, so consider a cheaper stand mixer if you're not a hardcore cook.
