KP26M1XNP Professional Series FAQs
If you've been shopping for a KitchenAid stand mixer for any length of time chances are you have a few questions. After looking at all the model numbers and specifications things can start to get confusing. After a while they all start to look the same! Here's a few questions you might have about the KitchenAid KP26M1XNP stand mixer.
Do I really need such a big stand mixer? 6-quarts seems a bit much. Before puchasing a KitchenAid stand mixer you need to take into consideration what you'll be using the stand mixer for. Mostly cooking or baking? What do you plan on baking? Small batches of cookies? The occasional loaf of bread?
The KP26M1XNP Professional stand mixer is perfect for those who plan on cooking or baking for large groups of people. This stand mixer is also the best KitchenAid available for bread makers. I read about one woman who bakes over 70 types of cookies during Christmas with this mixer. That would take a lot longer with a smaller mixer! However, people who work with much smaller batches of food and dough might become frustrated due to the large size of the mixing bowl.
However, many people become very interested in cooking and baking AFTER they purchase a KitchenAid mixer! You or your loved one might decide quickly that their current stand mixer is too small! I guess the easiest way to put it is that no one ever seems to regret purchasing the larger 6-quart KitchenAid stand mixer--while some people who opt for a smaller model at first eventually may want to "upgrade". Just make sure there's plenty of room in your kitchen for the KP26M1XNP. You probably won't want to lug this thing out of storage every time you need to use it . . .
Some people are complaining about plastic gear box covers. Is this a concern? For a period of time KitchenAid used a plastic (black) gear box to hold the metal gears together. This caused some problems with overheating. KitchenAid has since fixed the problem and now uses metal (silver) gear housing on all newly manufactured models.
Just got off the phone with Kitchen Aid and was informed that all 600 series with an x in the model number have a metal gear housing. This eliminates the only problem experienced in the past. For the price Amazon has them (less than a artisan) you can't beat it. Happy mixing! -- Mixer Man, Arkansas, December 12, 2008
I am sorry but I don't understand the hullabaloo about the plastic cover. I have had three mixers (still have two sold one) that have the plastic cover. I make bread every weekend. Stiff french breads. I have never experienced an issue. I have a Pro 600 and a Pro 5+ (had a pro 6) and I never experienced a failure with any of them. I use them weekly, and I am none too gentle. People say PLASTIC like it is some kind of moral failure. Fact is the plastic used in the KA mixer gear box cover is a thermoset plastic designed for high stress applications. Similar plastics are used on Formula one race cars. People are allowing themselves to be scared away from the highest rated, most reliable mixer on the market because some are beating a drum about plastic gear box covers.
I was at the KA factory in Greenville. We went through the room where units are refurbished. I saw mixers that had obviously been dropped, bowls that were bent out of shape, beaters that looked like they were wrapped around a pole. They all went in the recycle bins. All of this, the lady working in the room told us, was replaced under warranty. -- Kar Dell, Amazon Reviewer, January 22, 2008
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