Customer Reviews

KitchenAid Professional 600, 6-Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixers

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I make a lot of bread using my KitchenAid mixer, and for years I have tolerated my 4.5 quart Ultra Power KitchenAid mixer. Anytime a recipe called for 6 cups of flour, I knew I would have to finish the recipe by hand. The 4.5 quart bowl just couldn't handle that much dough. I just purchased the Pro 600 with the spiral dough hook, and all I can say is WOW! The new spiral hook works totally different than the older C-hook. No longer does the dough "slap" against the side of the bowl. Instead the sprial dough hook brings the dough to the middle of the bowl for mixing and kneading. You can see how much more effective this tool is. I have already ran 5 different bread recipes through this mixer, and I haven't had to finish any of the by hand yet. Just enough to shape the dough before proofing. The 6 quart bowl is a must have for bread makers! Now I just have to figure out how to give away all this bread!

I have owned this machine for a little over a year now. Well, actually I have gone through five of these machines in the last 16 months, as each one has broken while kneading wheat dough. I use approximately 6-7 cups of wheat flour per each batch of bread. This should not be too much for this powerful machine, especially since it is advertised to handle wheat dough. I have since also had to purchase a Bosch Universal for my bread making. I have also heard excellent reports about the Electolux mixer for kneading wheat bread.

My recipe calls for a 6 minute kneading time, but each Kitchenaid got too hot and shut off after only a couple of minutes of kneading.(This time fluctuated with each machine.) I would have to wait for it too cool down. I even tried blowing a fan on one of them while it kneaded to keep it cool. It was useless.

The first time I called Kitchenaid they told me I should only knead my bread for 2 minutes at a time. This bothered me since I bought it to make wheat bread and it was advertised as being able to handle the job. They also told me not to knead above speed 2, which I never did, as the instruction manual warned against it. They sent me a new machine and I kneaded for only 2 minutes. Then the machine really began to sound rough. I sent it back 2 more times, each time getting a new machine with no questions asked. Each machine failed in the same way. This was over a period of a year. I just decided to be quiet and use the 4th one thinking they were probably growing very weary at hearing from me, but it finally died completely. It wouldn't even turn on. When I called again, my one year warranty was up, but they kindly sent me a refurbished one to replace the dead one. I decided not to make any more bread in this machine because I wanted to save it for my everyday regular use, like cookies, cakes, pancake batter, etc. So I never once made any wheat bread in it. I have had it for a couple of months now and it is beginning to sound like the other one just before it completely died. I reluctantly called Kitchenaid again. I am not sure what exactly I wanted them to do, but as you can guess they were getting a little annoyed with me, though I remained calm. I was put on hold for sometime and then offered a complete refund. So though, I am completely disappointed with the quality of the mixer, I have to say their customer service is top notch to have sent me that many mixers and then offered me a complete refund after the one year warranty was up.

I am still very disappointed in the aggravation and time this has taken. After reading other reviews I have found that mine is not an isolated case. I was beginning to feel like a big pain in the rear to have to keep calling and complaining, and have new mixers sent to me. My UPS man was even wondering what was going on. But I feel as a customer, spending that much money, I should not feel bad about expecting a product to do what it is advertised to do. Especially one with such a good reputation.

I don't know where this leaves me exactly. I considered purchasing a smaller model thinking that maybe there was simply some engineering quirks with this particular model. I love the look and convenience of the Kitchenaid mixer for everyday use, but I have not found anything to replace it yet. The Bosch is just not something that seems convenient for my everyday use, nor is it stylish enough to leave on the counter.

I still have my Kitchenaid Classic Stand Mixer for 17 years and it is still kicking, but I have wanted this newer, bigger Kitchenaid for sometime. The price was the only thing keeping me from buying. My husband convinced me that in spite of the price tag, it's a well-made machine and if it lasts as long as my Classic, it would be well worth the plunge. I checked prices all over and Amazon was the best price (especially since I got mine w/o shipping costs!). I also lucked out because I opened an Amazon account, and Kitchenaid offered a mail-in rebate!! It was a great Christmas gift to me! I purchased dark pewter which wasn't what I thought it was when I got it. I called customer service at Amazon and they couldn't have been nicer. They said that I could switch it for the correct color, no problem, since the color appeared different on the website. I decided I didn't want to wait any longer and kept the dark pewter--which still looks good with my black appliances (licorce was my other choice). It's great to know that Amazon was so cooperative. I also like purchasing from Amazon because of the very helpful reviews.
Now about the machine. It's beautiful. I don't have a problem with the size, but please note it is BIG (height and width). I love the fact that the bowl is 6 quart so you can mix batches of cookies, potatoes, etc. You can even add ingredients easily since the bowl was made wider--I can add while it's mixing. I love the bowl-lift design...easier than the tilt head of my older Kitchenaid. And the soft-start feature really does work. I can't comment about the different speeds, because in the 17 years of having Kitchenaid stand mixers, I hardly use the higher speeds (except the occasional home-made whipped cream, etc). At any speed, Kitchenaids are very powerful work horses. I haven't used the accessory hub yet, but I know it will work wonderfully. You used to have to unscrew the cap; now they put it on a hinge so you just have to flip it!
If you want a dependable, long-lasting, well-made, beautiful machine, forget the other machines and get a Kitchenaid. You won't regret it.

I replaced an old Sunbeam Mixmaster with a KitchenAid 250-Watt mixer more than 15 years ago, and it has served me well. Having lately gone to mixing bread dough with a mixer rather than by hand, I had for some time been thinking of upgrading to the KitchenAid Pro 600. Some of the reviewers scared me with their criticism. I went to the internet to see what else I could find out. I found one site where the writer said he had expressed concerns that matched my own. He was finally persuaded to set aside his qualms when he read an article from America's Test Kitchen. From a field of 18 stand mixers, the final three included the KitchenAid Pro 600 and the Hobart 5-qt mixer for home use which sells for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500 dollars. The KitchenAid Pro 600 actually performed better at mixing than all the rest! Since, in my case, it was either get a stronger mixer, or give up making homemade bread due to the many ravages of age (I have long since celebrated by "diamond jubilee" birthday,) I opted for the Pro 600. I ordered it from Amazon on October 10, 2007 and it was delivered to me October 11th! Coming to Vernon, Texas from Dallas, Texas makes for overnight deliveries! I made pizza dough from the KitchenAid recipe that weekend. It was the easiest pizza I'd ever made. Early this week I tried the mixer with one of my own recipes for San Francisco Sourdough Bread. Again, perfect results with nothing but shaping on my part. Then today I made up a recipe for Everlasting Icebox Rolls that my grandmother, born in 1877, had used. That really put the mixer to the test. There's a quart of liquid in the recipe, so that takes a lot of flour. Again, not a grunt or groan from the KitchenAid. The spiral dough hook is wonderful. A little shaping with my hands to make the dough into a ball, and it was ready for the storage container that is sitting now in my refrigerator. I did go ahead a pinch off enough to make two dinner rolls tonight. I have a wonderful Maytag Gemini range with a small oven at the top that I find great for two little pie tins holding one roll each. I would say to anyone with concerns about this mixer, just be sure you understand the rules: one minute of kneding with this mixer is equivalent to 12 minutes of hand kneading. Change your personal recipes to the method used in the KitchenAid ones. I believe you'll find yourself pleased with its performance. I can hardly wait to try the Honey Oatmeal Bread from the KitchenAid booklet.

Mine died after one month past its warrenty. The shaft that holding the attachment was falling! Which you can't fix by yourself becasue it was air-compressed to the place. Sending back to the factory won't make sense. For one, it cost $150.00 or more. Secondly, it is doomed to happen again becuase it is a design flaw. Googled how to fix kitchenaid pro 600, you will be amazed by the numbers of people owning a broken Kitchenaid mixer.

I should have seriously considered the negative reviews. I didn't realize that Kitchenaid was no longer made by Hobart which earns the previous models amazing reputation. Sad to have to add a big trash to the landfill.

My Kitchenaid 600 never worked right-it was so loud from day one you couldn't hear anything else-after 90 days it stopped-after $125 repair it worked better for a few months then stopped during Cinnamon Rolls (soft dough and only a half batch) another $95 it kinda works-i bought many of the attachments and this is what keeps me from throwing it in the trash!! Save yourself alot of money and go with another brand!!!!

Works well especially with the usual baking, but with my Challah bread recipe of 8 C flour kneading time left a slight burning odor and eventual auto shut off. Had to complete kneading by hand, which was reason I purchased a heavy duty mixer, to eliminate the hand kneading.

But be careful what you pay for this mixer. I've seen prices anywhere from $400 down to $289 (including free shipping) for the exact same mixer. Any price around $320 seems reasonable (which is what I paid).

When you use it at high speed, the all-metal gears do "whine" very loudly. My wife said she expected that, but I was somewhat nonplussed when I couldn't talk with her in the kitchen over the din of the mixer.

Overall, this is the best mixer of the Kitchenaid genre - higher quality gears than Artisan and cheaper models, 6 quart bowl, 575 watts, bowl lift, and package includes a 1-piece pouring shield.

For a little more, buy this mixer (or one like it) versus the cheaper mixer. In the long run, you will be happier.

This is the best kitchenaid has to offer...just get it if you are serious about baking. The kitchen aid artisan models just are not powerful enough for heavy loads, since mine gave out after a year, but the professional series is just a great machine overal

I bought this for my wife and so far, the only thing I noticed is that it's alot of mixer!! If you occasionally need to use a mixer for smaller items, I would save the money and buy a smaller version of this mixer but if you plan to do a lot of kneeding of breads and pizza doughs, I would go ahead and get this one but it is a fairly big mixer. Otherwise it's a very nice mixer.