Customer Reviews

Factory-Reconditioned KitchenAid RRK150OB Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer, Onyx Black

5 star:		(132)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've always had a Tim Taylor attraction to quality kitchen appliances, and have always dreamed of owning a good Kitchenaid stand mixer. About 10 years ago while in grad school, I needed a stand mixer for some of my baking and kitchen experiments. The Kitchenaids were priced well out of my reach, but I was able to get a Sunbeam Mixmaster, which still had a good reputation as long as it was operated within its limits. That Mixmaster has served me well until I started experimenting with pizza making lately. The poor Mixmaster got pretty hot while kneading dough. Finally, the other week, a puff of smoke came out, and it was no more. I had already bookmarked this factory-refurbished Artisan on my Amazon wish list. I gave my wife a chance to veto the purchase, but she realized that losing my stand mixer was like losing a few arms and legs to me, and told me to get blue. (And she accused me of purposefully killing the Mixmaster so I had an excuse to the get the Kitchenaid!). I placed my order.

The Kitchenaid mixer has always had a good reputation, and is mentioned in several cooking books and web sites. In GEAR FOR THE KITCHEN by Alton Brown, host of the Food Network's GOOD EATS, Alton highly recommends the Kitchenaid, as well as Dominick DeAngelis in THE ART OF PIZZA MAKING. Alton highly recommends a tilt-head design, as this allows easier bowl scraping, and specifically mentions the Artisan by name. The Artisan is Kitchenaid's most powerful tilt-stand mixer. (The more powerful models are bowl-lift.)

With the Kitchenaid mixers, I really like the one big beater. It's infinitely easier to clean (and lick off) that trying to clean inside the tines of the two smaller Mixmaster beaters. The Kitchenaids have an accessory drive, which may be of dubious use for me, and of course, have the power to do the job (the Artisan features 325W) and the reputation for holding up. The bowl locks to the base, and the head locks down. The machine is heavy and doesn't walk across the counter while kneading dough like my old mixer did.

On the downside, if you are like me and believe, in the manner of the priests of Old Testament Israel whom were allowed to stab a fork into the boiling sacrifice and keep for themselves whatever meat came up, that whatever is left on the beater is yours, you may be disappointed at how it just sheds dough. I am also used to the fact the bowl of my old Mixmaster rotates, which made it easier to scrape. As for the Kitchenaid accessories, they are expensive. It may save a little counter space to add a can opening attachment, but a good, easier-to-use stand-alone model costs a third as much. In GEAR FOR YOUR KITCHEN, Alton Brown recommends the Krups ice cream machine which costs less than just the attachment for the Kitchenaid.

This is a factory-reconditioned model. Often, factory-refurbished products prove more reliable than new because someone has carefully examined and tested the unit. There were minor cosmetic flaws. There were scuffs in the bowl as though it had been used before, and a barely-noticeable dent as though the beater and head were dropped into the mispositioned bowl. Also, there are minor scuffs on the base of the mixer as though a monkey struggled with getting the base of the bowl into the base of the stand. I would have scuffed the bowl by now myself. You are warned in the description that there may be minor cosmetic flaws. The mixer comes with the manual and all the packing material as though it were new, but with a specially-printed box clearly indicating that this is a reconditioned unit. A sticker in the manual points out that the warranty is only six months.

In the years since I bought my Mixmaster, Sunbeam has REALLY upped the ante. For two-thirds the price of the Artisan, the new Mixmaster features 350 Watts, a head that locks down, and a bowl that locks on. What did the Kitchenaid give me for a 50% more? A drive for overpriced accessories that I may never use, 25 fewer Watts of power, the nice, single beater, and one bowl. (Mixmasters have always been supplied with two bowls.) I went with the Kitchenaid anyway. Probably has to do some with its excellent reputation, (just because the Mixmaster can put out 350W doesn't mean it can do it for a long time.) the image it projects of its owner, and the fact that I always wanted one. I went with the Artisan, but as an alternative, you may want to consider the new Mixmaster.

I AM very pleased with my Artisan, and, in fact, my mother is ordering one for my sister, and we will probably get one for my mother. Buying factory-refurbished just can't be beat.

We purchased this mixer as soon as we saw it for this incredible price. I read others who received a mixer with scratches, etc, but ours is in like new condition. There are a couple of very small nicks, but you have to look hard to see them. The mixer works great.

As is stated in the description, this doesn't come with a pouring shield, but personally I don't mind. We wouldn't ever use that, anyway. It would just be something else to clean. Besides, the bowl is so deep with such tall sides that it's nearly impossible to splash out of the bowl. I added water to the bowl with the wire whip attachment and turned it on full power and there was no splashing outside the bowl!

NOTE: The warranty that comes with this mixer is a 6 month limited warranty instead of the full 1 year warranty with a new mixer. Amazon did not state that explicitly anywhere that I could see.

Well, here I am reviewing a mixer. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this mixer being the high point of my entire week when it arrived, but I suppose now that I've hit 30 there are some things I need to come to terms with. I'm the kind of woman that loves to cook but hates to clean up. This thing is a breeze to clean - although I must say I wish the whisk could be put in the dishwasher. I've had minor issues with things splashing out so I do believe I will get the mixing/pouring shield. I love the wide variety of attachments available - I'm considering getting the slicer attachment to make hash browns/french fries/au gratin potatoes. I'd wondered about the amount of real estate this mixer would take up on my countertop, but it's not too bad. As for being factory-reconditioned, I did not notice any flaws with my machine. No scratches, dings, nothing. Ah, in the for what it's worth department if you're giving one of these mixers as a gift it will arrive in a box that plainly states it is "factory-reconditioned". We recently teamed up with friends to buy some mutual friends a mixer as a wedding gift, but they didn't mind at all - were delighted to get the mixer.

In short, you should buy it - you won't regret it!

There is no doubting the quality of the KitchenAid stand mixer, but I was admittedly skeptical when placing my order for a refurbished model. I was pleasantly surprised that the only indication was the voided 12-month warranty in the handbook. My mixer arrived in absolutely perfect condition--cosmetically and mechanically. It looked like it had never been taken out of the box. The biggest drawback for a refurbished model is a loss of 6 months of warranty coverage, which seems minimal over the long predicted life of the machine. With the free shipping, you'll save a bundle over the original cost.

Simply put, this is the best piece of kitchen equipment that I have ever purchased. Appeared brand new in box and no blemishes were evident on exterior of mixer. The 5-quart mixing bowl is very handy. I mixed four batches of cookie dough at once with no problem. A small KitchenAid cookbook came inside the box with the mixer and the copyright on the book was 2004. This machine cuts my baking prep time at least by 1/3. It's easy and fast to clean. The empire red adds a bright touch to my kitchen. The only missing component was that the plastic transparent splatter guard shown, in the picture on the website, was missing from the mixer. This product definately exceeded my expectations.

My Wasabi-green mixer arrived in perfect condition -- but with no splash guard as photographed. I did by an attachment package that threw one in for free, so I personally wasn't concerned. My machine looks brand new -- and now I feel sorry for everyone else that pays full retail--they would have $150 in their pocket to buy more kitchen toys. The Reconditioned also comes with a warrenty -- so buy without fear, and consider yourself a smart cookie.

CAUTION ABOUT "GRINDER"/"SLICER" ATTACHMENTS: It's excellent for grating cheese (done in seconds; much better than grating by hand) but these are not perfect replacements for a food processor. The grinding hole is very small and finicky (your food pieces have to be cut just so) in order to get good results. I tried to grind 3-day old bread for bread crumbs, and it gummed up my machine (what a pain to clean out!), whereas in a food processor, I know there would have been no problems. Also, I tried to grind up old apples for muffins, and the grinder seemed to want to keep the apple mixture inside, and not spit it out -- again, food processor would have been a piece of cake. If you have a big kitchen, you'll probably want both machines. But I own a the mini food processor - immersion blender combo (the detachable motor attaches to both instruments) -- and seem to do pretty well 99 percent of the time. The one or two days every other month when I wish I had a big food processor isn't worth the counter space or expense for me. I just make do. My dad swears that he grinds his own beef with his KitchenAid and therefore can buy a better grade of beef to make his own hamburgers for the same cost as the supermarket grind, but I haven't tried that out yet.

CITRUS ATTACHMENT: Don't bother with this either. Just get the Oxo juicer -- cup that collects pulp and seeds, and pours out the juice from the bottom -- elegant, easy, space-efficient and cheap, and best overall design for the function.

I was a little leary about buying a reconditioned mixer. I opened it the only blemish I found was a little oil on the mixer, which was easily wiped off. There were no scratches and it looked absolutely brand new. I have used KitchenAid mixers before and this mixer is as good as any you could buy at a fancy store, but at a much better price. I have used it extensively and would definitely recommend it to others. It has never given me a moment's problem!

I write this enjoying an oatmeal cherry cookie, fresh from the double batch just whipped up in the new Kitchenaid. It arrived today- 4 days after I ordered it- Talk about SUPER saver shipping! You all know what a Kitchenaid is- so I'm not gonna sing the praises of the mixer in general- but I'll tell ya about mine:

It arrived double boxed- and tightly packed. The inner box, the Kitchenaid box, was plain white with green "Factory Reconditioned" letters on the side. I was nervous about how close to new this really would be...

I opened it up and set it on the counter- Yes, there are two small blemishes on it- on the side of the unit- they look just like two #2 pencil points. Not bad- I expected far worse to be honest. And I plan on making this a workhorse anyway- the Kitchenaid, to me, isn't a showpiece (if it were, I'd buy NEW.) Two small dots aren't enough to make me want to pay twice what I did on this one.

I inspected the paddle (what I use most) blade- perfect- The dough hook was also perfect. Both came nested tightly in the inner styrofoam. The whisk attachment, which arrived attached to the unit, was, indeed, a little bent out of shape. A little pressure on two sides put it right back to normal. I remember the first Kitchenaid I bought (a base-power plain white one) had the same issue. Really, not a big deal at all.

The bowl was perfect as well- no scrapes- solid handle.

It took me a little while to unknot the plug- was wound up in the bowl.

I prepped everything and set to work- a double recipe of oatmeal cookies. This is the recipe that would bring the lesser Kitchaid to its knees- it would do it, but it would complain the whole time. The mixer did just fine with it. I'm happy to report- all operation is perfectly normal.

Fron the for-what-it's-worth department- I've owned 3 Kitchenaids now- they have ALL definitely made a different sound running at lower speeds than at the higher speeds.

I would purchase again without reservation.

Again, I make my appliances work for me, rather than just look pretty. Expect a blemish here or there- Expect the performance and quality of a KitchenAid- and expect it to arrive a lot sooner than you'd think.

I purchased my first kitchen aid mixer in 1976 and gave it to my daughter when I left for Europe 5 years ago...Upon my return last year, she told me I wasn't getting my K5A mixer back (not that I expected to anyway.) I toyed with idea of purchasing a new Kitchenaid mixer but when I saw the reconditioned ones on Amazon, I decided that was for a great idea for me. I chose the Artisan because it had the same size 5 qt bowl and motor as my old model K5A. In the Artisan the head lifts out of the bowl and the bowl doesn't lift up....this wasn't a strong issue for me. I used a September coupon and paid no shipping. There isn't a mark, chip or dent on my Artisan. I gave it its first work out and whipped 2 egg whites to stiff peaks. It passed this test with flying colors. Glad I decided on this reconditioned model.

This mixer is amazing. It is so well built no wonder they are so expensive. I bought a reconditioned Artisan for $130 total from Amazon, I got it in 4 days with super saver free shipping!! Amazon ROCKS! Mine had no cosmetic blemishes, nothing seems wrong with it. I already made peanut butter cookies and a chocolate cake. This mixer was a pleasure to work with. It makes baking so easy(take this from a 24yr old dude). I will never use a cheap mixer again. KitchenAid is american made and it shows. I read the other reviews and I was a bit skeptical about buying a used product, but I'm so happy I did. You will not be disappointed. Buy this mixer and you will never need another mixer again. Remember it does not come with the pouring shield, but I never saw the need for it anyway. Happy baking!!!