Customer Reviews

West Bend 41125 12-Speed Stand Mixer with 2 Mixing Bowls, Black

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I have owned and used several different mixers, including the expensive one which I gave away because I didn't like it at all. Another Famous Brand I owned was so lightweight, it would move around on the counter while in use and would not turn the bowl, therefore, I had to stand there and continously scrape the bowl.
I am only giving the West Bend 41135 four stars because it is not perfect but it does come close! The bowl turns, there is room to add ingredients without stopping the motor, and raising the beaters, it is heavy enough to stay in place, it can be used as a hand mixer, and it has all the speeds anyone could want or need. If the mfg. had just color coded the beaters and the holes they belong in, they could be inserted quickly and easily. But that is no big deal--only a minor thing. I have color coded them myself so now, it is my dream machine! I am a proud and happy owner of this West Bend mixer.

I have had several mixers, and this is a good one. It is quiet, something that cannot be said for many mixers. It does not spatter. It blends really well. Some reviewers have complained about confusion about which beater goes into which hole, and the instruction manual is confusing on this matter. It appears that the beaters and their holes have been changed to remove the confusion, all since those reviews and the instruction book were written. One beater has a hexagonal metal piece at the insertion end, while the other has a circular one. The mixer, in turn, has correspondingly shaped holes, and this removes all potential for confusion. Very pleased!

Of the three mixers I bought in the last year this one satisfies me the most. It's got a wide bowl making it thus easier to add ingredients to. It's more like the mixers of the past which were actually better than the ones that are currently being promoted.

It's apparent that commercial interests are seizing on certain products or types of manufacture, and forcing the consumers to be satisfied with the shoddier inferior products being foisted on us. All this comes from China. The exploiters get more profit and benefit from trading with China, thus others options are being suppressed.

I've had some perturbing experiences with products in the last few years. I bought first a Sunbeam mixer. It was junk!

I sent it back and bought next the Kitchen aid. It weighs a ton, and is thus difficult to move around or maneuver into position for various uses. The bowl is tall, which for when whipping cream or egg whites is desirable, but it's rather a tight fit to the machine making it difficult to add ingredients to. The plastic device that is supposed to be used for adding ingredients can't satisfactorily be used for certain things, like adding boiled sugar to whipped egg whites.

I do a lot of baking and cooking so I wanted to be sure to get a good dependable mixer. I spent months researching mixers. If I was going to spend a lot of money I wanted to make sure I bought the best one for my needs. After reading many reviews and shopping around I chose this mixer. I am so glad I did! It is light yet sturdy, with suction cups on the bottom. It has many speeds to choose from that are very easy to read and select, and the motor is perfectly powered for this mixer. It is so quiet even when kneading bread doughs! I've used it for everything that I bake. None of the ingredients fly out of the bowls while it's mixing. All this quality for such an awesome price is too good to pass up. I have nothing negative to say about this mixer. I love it!

I bought this at Carson's on Black Friday a year ago. I have a super powerful hand mixer, so I would say that I have only used this mixer maybe 20 times over the last year. Today it broke while mixing melted butter and suger together. I have no idea what actually broke, but I bought a "600 series 6 quart Kitchen Aid" today on Amazon for $209.

There were other design flaws with the West Bend as well. It does NOT mix flour in very well. It poofs it all over, even at the low speeds, and I have to hand mix the batter before I pour it in a pan because there is always a pile of flour on the bottom of the bowl that is never mixed in. I also felt that the unit was too lightweight. It relies on suction cups to stay in place. That annoyed me to no end. The bowl does not turn regularly while the unit is mixing. You often have to push it along by hand. The beaters do not manage to mix the sides of the bowl. Batter is pushed up in ever-heightening piles on the sides of the bowl, leaving empty trails behind the beaters. You have to constantly scrape and push the dough back down.

Perhaps these flaws are minor to other people. Part of the problem for me may be that I grew up using a Kitchen Aid, and I am SO happy to be done with this mixer so that I can return to a Kitchen Aid.

I looked all over the place for an affordable mixer, and it was a very confusing process. I don't cook THAT much, but when I do decide to bake something, mixing by hand or even with a hand mixer gets really tiresome, and it always seems that I don't mix everything thoroughly. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $[...]-plus for an appliance I would likely only use two or three times a year!

So, I started reading reviews here on [...] (and elsewhere), and I ran across this West Bend mixer. Admittedly, it caught my eye because it matches the black/brushed metal scheme of my other kitchen appliances, but a more in-depth review of the specs, the price and other user opinions led me to take a chance on it. It took a while for Amazon to get one in stock (over a month), but the wait was worth it! It was delivered in time for the holidays, and what a godsend this little mixer proved to be! It mixes evenly, it doesn't "walk" all over the counter, and its myriad speeds will take care of just about any mixing job. I love it!

UPDATE 12/24/07: Well, unfortunately, my mixer seems to have given up on me; when I went to use it the other day to make my holiday desserts, I found the beaters would not lock into place. I tried for over an hour to get both sets of beaters to lock in, but they simply fell right out of the mixer head. It's been quite a while since I last used the unit, but I remember having no trouble getting the beaters to eject. I did periodically have a little difficulty getting the beaters to lock in, but I thought it was because they needed to be installed in a certain order, because I was always able to get them to lock in by trying to install them in a different order. This time, no go. Oh, well, it was good while it lasted. I am tempted to just get another one, but I have not decided yet.

We have a very large family and we bake every single day, sometimes twice or more. I chose this mixer because I was tired of the deep narrow bowls of both the kitchen aid and the big $500 Viking mixer that we already have. This mixer is more like traditional ones from when I was a kid, with the wider and more shallow bowl. It is so much easier to add ingredients as I go along and the mixing action has been fine-my cakes are actually coming out with better volume, since we got this. I like how easy it is to pull the mixer forward (unlike the bulky kitchen aid, and the much heavier Viking. It has a nice system for adjusting speed from very low to high. It seems to me that this is just right for light to medium duty. The two beaters have different little shaped flanges, one round, and one hexagonal, near the top so that you can be sure you are putting them in the correct hole. The stainless steel bowls are sturdy and light compared to using a glass bowl, and I like having two rather than the one that came with the others. Often, the smaller bowl is just right for a smaller quantity, for example, using the large one to make cake and the small one for frosting. I have not seen this mixer in stores, only here on Amazon. I like it so much that I'm considering ordering another one or two more, for our future needs (our family is very hard on appliances) in case the manufacturer discontinues it. We have had it for a couple months now, and use it at least twice a day.

I purchased this mixer for my wife because she enjoys cooking and baking and her old Sunbeam stand mixer was on its last stand. Before reserching the various stand mixers on the market, I thought Kitchen Aid was the one to buy. However, I was perplexed over some of the consumer reviews reporting problems on the Kitchen Aid stand mixers. Considering the cost, power, looks of other mixers out there, I decided on the West Bend. So far, my wife and I are very pleased. It came with two bowls and a nice supply of beaters and it has plenty of power for all types of jobs. It's also a good looking unit to have setting out on the counter.

I used this mixer twice for light batter like a cake and the motor burned out! It smoked up my whole house!!!

I purchased this mixer to replace a still-functioning ancient mixer whose replacement beaters kept bending. I chose it based on other reviews on the web, and am not disappointed. It is heavy duty allowing me to mix thick dough. The speed dial is easily visible, the beaters equal to the task, and it even comes with dough-hooks (which I have not tried yet.) The mixing bowls are metal.