Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsMo Mini Mo Problems
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2016
Okay, here is a review from someone who did not get this mixer for free from KitchenAid.
Some background: I’ve owned a KitchenAid Professional 610 for about 7 years. This is a 6-quart bowl-lift style mixer that was originally exclusive to an upscale kitchenware store. At the time, it was the biggest and most powerful model KitchenAid offered. However, over the years I’ve come to realize that I really don’t use its power or capacity, and it takes up a lot of space in my small galley kitchen. So when KitchenAid announced the Artisan Mini at this year’s International Home + Housewares Show, I was interested.
My first gripe comes before you even plug it in and turn it on. When my first mixer arrived, I could already hear the bowl and whisk banging around inside the box. This is caused by the way KitchenAid packages their mixers: they mount the bowl and whisk on the mixer, put foam blocks around the whole thing (slots in the foam contain the other beaters) and stick it in a box. There is no plastic or anything to protect the mixer or other parts, so the bowl and whisk came off and damaged the finish of the mixer quite badly. It was scratched and gouged in several places. My second mixer arrived with the bowl and whisk in place, although there was an ugly flaw in the paint job. For an appliance that is marketed so heavily based on its appearance (KitchenAid says it’s, “the hardest working piece of décor in your home”) this is unacceptable.
Now the second problem. Both of them had defective head locking mechanisms. On the other, larger tilt-head models, the lock lever engages a hook-shaped piece of metal from the head into the pedestal, preventing the head from bouncing up when mixing. On the Artisan Mini, the lever rotates a half-moon-shaped pin into one of two grooves in the pedestal (one for locking in the up position, one for the down position – unlike the larger models it must be locked in both positions as the head tends to fall otherwise). Both mixers had trouble locking in the down position because the pin didn’t quite line up with the forward groove. The first could be locked with some effort, but I worried about undue stress on the locking lever by forcing it into place. The second mixer just couldn’t be locked in the down position at all; the pin and groove didn’t match up.
Let’s talk about power. There seems to be some confusion about the wattage of this mixer. Note that the marketing states it has the same power as the KitchenAid *Classic*. That, like the Artisan Mini, is a 250 watt mixer. I have never seen one in stores, personally; usually even low-end department stores have the Classic Plus (275 watts) or Ultra Power (300 watts); higher-end stores will have the Artisan, Artisan Design Series, or Custom Metallic (all 325 watts). But none of this really matters anyway, because this is just the power consumed, not the power output. So is the Artisan Mini powerful enough to do what I need? Sadly I have my doubts. It struggled and slowed down even with the basic Toll House® chocolate chip cookie recipe. I put it to the test with the most taxing attachment I own, the pasta press; although it worked, it was very slow and eventually the pasta dough just got hot and gunked up the attachment. The Artisan Mini is advertised as working with all the existing hub attachments, but I don’t think it really has the power for the more demanding ones like the pasta press or grain mill. I probably wouldn’t make bread dough with it either, but for basic batters and cookie doughs it’s probably fine.
Related to power, I should also mention another aspect of the mixer’s design. Unlike the larger tilt-head models, the internal parts of this mixer are divided into two sections. A plastic box containing electrical components is hidden in the base of the pedestal (in the other models, this is just empty space and everything is inside the mixer head) and connects to the motor in the head with wires that go up through the tilt mechanism. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. I assume it was done in order to shrink the size of the mixer. Perhaps isolating these components from the heat and vibration of the motor will make them last longer as well, or perhaps the connecting wires will fail from the stress of repeated tilting. That remains to be seen. What I can tell you is that, on speed 10 (and only speed 10) the mixer vibrates like mad. Both mixers were incredibly loud and annoying even with no attachments or beaters; simply cranking the mixer to this speed caused something to make a lot of noise. I suspect it is that plastic box vibrating against the metal of the pedestal, but I don’t know for sure.
Let’s talk about some other comparisons between this and the larger tilt-head models. Firstly, the bowl; it has no handle. This is in line with other KitchenAid mixer bowls, as the 3 qt. and 4.5 qt. bowls lack a handle as well. It does streamline the look and contribute to its “mini-ness” but it is impractical. Since it is a smaller size, you won’t be able to get a larger metal bowl or those pretty glass or ceramic bowls (unless they eventually make versions for this mixer). The ice cream maker won’t fit either, but trust me, it sucks, so you won’t be missing much. The beaters that come with the mixer are coated, and burnished versions are not available. Although this allegedly makes them dishwasher safe, they have a tendency to chip, as angry customer reviews of other coated beaters will show. The manual mentions a Flex Edge beater (coated paddle with silicone scraper) and a pouring shield as the only optional accessories, but they are nowhere to be found. Granted, the original announcement listed this mixer as a June 2016 release, so we’ll give them a little more time.
Bottom line, should you get this mixer? I don’t think so. Consider that the other tilt-head mixers aren’t really that much bigger or heavier. They have many, many more color options, and more available accessories. They can also be had for a much lower price, depending on how picky you want to be about the color. I think the Artisan Mini was a good idea, but it needs some design tweaks and KitchenAid needs to up its quality control measures before I could recommend it.