KitchenAid 4.8L Stand Mixer KSM156

Great mixer – Great mixer. Very powerful especially for thicker mixtures like biscuits etc. Beats eggs very well and very quickly. Comes with many great attachments with a greay variety of extra attachments for purchase. Large mixing bowl is plenty big enough for double batches of cookie dough etc Show details

Works well – I have various attachments for this mixer and use the drum kit for grating and shredding the most. It is expensive and I would have kept adding to this, but a bad experience with aftercare turned me away from the brand so I no longer buy kitchen aid. Expensive products like this that dont followup with good aftercare are not worth the price premium  Show details

A kitchen essential – This mixer saves so much time, and it's very easy to use. The spiraliser attachment in particular is great, and so far the KSM156 has easily handled everything from making dough to spiralising hard veggies like carrots. Its size and weight would be my only complaints - not super practical for apartment living.  Show details ·  1

love it – Bought this one to replace my old one that was over ten years old. It was still going but developed a problem that i should have just got fixed but i thought i will just get a new one .Its just a good as the old one wouldn't be with out one now.I also have the pasta maker ,Spiralizer Attachment and the Food Processor Attachment and these all work… Read more ·  1

well with the mixer .It came with the Flat beater, stainless steel wire whisk, dough hook and the glass bowl love the fact i can now see what im doing .also all of my old attachments and bowls work on the new model

Beautiful and Functional – I purchased this mixer after my hand mixer died, and I am so glad I did. It sits proudly on the bench top, and I use it almost every day. So far it has done everything that I have asked of it beautifully and quietly - I just made my first ever pavlova from scratch, and I think it's a beauty! I purchased the spiraliser attachment with it that the… Read more ·  1

kids love, although I haven't yet worked out how to do absolutely everything with it yet. very glad I purchased this mixer, and the glass bowl is not all that heavy, as some may say - I prefer it to stainless.

Good mixer – It is quite pricey compared to other brands. I have not purchased the extra attachments yet, but the three attachments with the standard package are good enough for the daily bakery. Hopefully, the price of the machine can be more affordable. I will recommend it to other people because of its strong power.  Show details

Looks good, feels solid. 1 star each – The KitchenAid stand mixer is an iconic appliance. I bought one without ever having used one before, looking forward to having a good looking, strong and reliable stand mixer that I could leave on the bench top. I thought that machine would be the KitchenAid. In short, it failed at almost every basic level. It could not properly cream 230g… Read more

butter without assistance. It could not mix 3 cups of flour into the liquid in the bowl using the dough hook. It could not beat 2 egg whites. I'll go into more detail in a moment. It did do well in two areas, though. It looked great and sat sturdy on the bench top. Unfortunately the sturdy build is misleadingly advertised on the side of the head as "made is USA" but in actual fact you will find the KSM 156 is "assembled in USA" if you lift it up and look underneath at the rating label.

Now for the negatives. After unboxing the mixer, I wanted to make a loaf of bread. Every person who makes bread/pizza dough probably knows that wet ingredients go in first, with flour added until the mixture cleans the side of the bowl. Well, the dough hook of the KitchenAid doesn't come near to the bottom of the bowl. In fact, it's about 15mm shy of touching it. I understand that having a glass bowl and a spinning metal hook require some separation, but seriously. After adding 2 cups of flour, and mixing for close to 5 mins, there was liquid pooled at the bottom, and dry flour on top. Increasing the speed had no effect other than making a cloud of flour dust. Upon raising the mixer head, I discovered a safety failure. The mixer does not cut power to the drive if the head is tilted back. It just keeps on spinning at whatever speed you had it on. Every other stand mixer I have used has a safety shut off that when you tilt the head back, it cuts the power until the head is locked back down in the bowl. Useful for when you're having to constantly scrape down the sides of the bowl, like with a KitchenAid. My $99 Aldi Ambiano stand mixer has this safety feature. It also has a larger dough hook than the KitchenAid. Yet a slightly smaller bowl. This enables thorough mixing of dough without intervention. In the end, after a number of scrape downs and mixing by hand, I had the KitchenAid kneading a dough ball. Rather, spinning a dough ball about the bowl. After about 7 mins, the kitchen smelled like burning. The top of the KitchenAid was extremely hot to touch. I switched off the mixer and finished the dough off by hand. I was annoyed.

Later I decided to make a double batch of cookies. Using the paddle attachment, I put 230g softened butter in the bowl and started the mixer. It spread all that butter evenly around the bowl, and spun in a planetary, yet entirely pointless manner in the centre of the bowl. Stopping the mixer, scraping down the sides, start again. Again, evenly coating the sides of the bowl. Thankfully the Platinum model I ordered came with a bonus scraper/beater attachment with a silicone scraper on one side. Finally! It creams butter. I added the sugar. It pushed some of the butter up toward the top of the bowl, forming a ring, just above the beater. Constantly having to stop the mixer to raise the head to scrape down the bowl. After mixing other wet ingredients, I've gone to add the flour. This model has no soft start to the motor. It's on, or it's off. It does however have speeds 0-10 printed on the side. There are actually only about 5 speeds to choose from, not corresponding to the numbers marked on the side.

Beating one egg white proved pointless. The wire whisk didn't even touch the top of the egg white. Adding another egg white wasn't enough. I left the mixer on for about 5 mins until the top was uncomfortably hot to touch. I transferred the egg whites to the Ambiano which had no difficulty. Apparently this is normal, according to the KitchenAid manual. The manual also suggests mixing dough with dry ingredients first, and then adding liquids. I'd suggest that this is actually a way of countering a poorly designed dough hook/bowl/planetary action relationship.

I promptly cleaned up and repacked the KitchenAid and sent it back for a full refund. It was a good looking machine (in "Black Storm") but having a useless kitchen mixer looking so good on the bench is somewhat pointless. And frustrating.

KitchenAid make a "spiraliser" attachment for the mixer. Any such attachment and associated mixer should not be taken seriously. Any serious baker, or any baker at all, for that matter, should seriously consider a different kitchen mixer. There are plenty that do a much better job than the KitchenAid, for a lot lower price.

In summary, the KitchenAid Aritsan Platinum series stand mixer is gorgeous looking machine, that is assembled solidly (in the USA). Unfortunately it's performance is substantially lacking. And that's just going on the basics of what a mixer should do. Let alone a $650 mixer. Definitely not worth the money. And if you're buying a gift for Mother's Day, please don't buy your mum a KitchenAid. I understand this review may ruffle a few feathers, but KitchenAid stand mixer lovers' feathers need to be ruffled.

I have now purchased a real stand mixer, the Ankarsrum Assistent Original. Amazing machine.

Great product – My Kitchen Aid came with the glass bowl and 4/5 attachments. I have been using the cake beating and dough making attachments regularly and they have been great - it is easy to clean, easy to attach and detach parts, it's not too noisy and looks great on the kitchen bench top!  Show details ·  1

Believe the Hype – I've had my KitchenAid for almost a year now, I was skeptical at first due to the cost. But since we got it we've been using it almost daily and it hasn't let us down yet. I've been baking my own bread and have gone up too 750g of dough. The KA does make a little bit of noise when this is going on, but that's to be expected from a large amount… Read more ·  1

of tough dough.

I got the Ice Cream attachment at the time of purchase and sadly as a result of put on a few KG of weight, the Ice Cream you can make yourself is amazing! We use Vanilla Beans and every time we serve it our guests can not believe the quality. It's better than any store bought ice cream.

Cupcake Mix, Cake Mix, Cookie Dough. Any day to day baking is an absolute breeze, I even make my pancake batter myself in the KA (make it the night before to use in the morning, much smoother fluffier pancakes).

I find myself looking for reasons to use it, this year we are making our own Gingerbread House thanks to the KA. My wife has also taken up making savory baked goods.

The not so good as I've said is that it foes produce a little bit of volume and the top of the Mixer can move slightly under strain (big batches of tough bread dough).

Others have mentioned that the Glass Bowl is a bit heavy, this is true. But there is a reason. This is big boy glass, it thick, tough and you never get a sense of "will this thing crack if I set the mixer to 10"

All the bits and piece go in the dishwasher and come out spotless. The Mixer itself wipes down easy thanks to its sleek Retro Space design.

The color choices are an obvious plus. I would recommend Candy Apple red for most people, its timeless. Unless you have a Kitchen you are 100% happy with and wont be remodeling, in which case a more niche color might be the cherry on the icing.

Cant recommend it enough, I look forward to getting the pasta attachments next.

PS: I have the food Slicer/Grater attachment, I mainly use it for dips and things like salsa, takes all the effort out and super easy to clean.

The glass mixing bowl with the KSM156 – If you are an older person beware of the weight of the glass mixing bowl/jug. I find it difficult to manage when transferring ingredients into a baking tin. The stainless steel one would be easier to manage. The retailer didn't consider it necessary to point this out to me, instead a sale was the most important ingredient. Now at a cost of A$100 the stainless steel jug is over and above the $799 already paid.

The Perfect Mixer – I was going to have to wait until retirement before I could afford to buy one, and was planning to buy a KitchenAid KSM150. However I was lucky enough to win a blueberry KSM156 this year at the Cake Bake & Sweets Show. It comes standard with a 4.7litre glass bowl. The obvious benefit of using a glass bowl is watching the beater in action through… Read more

the glass, scooping up all the ingredients and mixing more thoroughly than I could with a handheld mixer or a wooden spoon. The unexpected advantage of the KitchenAid is its power and thorough planetary mixing action - it mixed my standard triple choc chip cookie batter in 15 seconds, four times faster than I can by hand, and more thoroughly. And, because it did all the work mixing, my hands and arms weren't tired as usual.

Great machine for domestic baking – Got a KitchenAid KSM156 from David Jones with 20% off. Great deal as well. Looks beautiful in my kitchen. I used the machine every week. I tried dozen of receipts already and all with much better results. I also ordered a meat grinder which is solid and easy to clean. It works perfect for one bread/pizza dough (about 500-600g flour), bit struggling for two dough once. But it is not a big issue for domestic usage.

Life is better with Kitchen Aid – As l love cooking and baking for my family I was so excited to purchase my new Kitchen Aid to replace my old Kenwood of 39 years Best investment ever ,i cannot believe how quiet and powerful this machine is . My cakes are better than ever I am thinking of entering my Ginger Fluff Sponge in the next Adelaide Show Go KitchenAid you rock

Hasn't missed a beat – We use our machine regularly and last weekend made 5 roll up Pavlovas the result were perfect, the mixture was beaten smooth and consistent and if you follow the instructions and scrape down the bowl occasionally it is next to perfect

Absolutely sensational!!! – I have dreamed of owning a KitchenAid for a few years now and was lucky enough to win one last year. The unit exceeded my expectations. I had a Sunbeam Cafe Series Mix Master for 10 years and I always thought it did a great job.....boy was I in for a surprise. The KitchenAid makes light work of everything whipping up a full size pavlova in under 5… Read more

minutes, it creates the fluffiest, lightest cupcakes I have ever tasted and the hot cross buns I made recently were absolutely delicious and even better the machine did all the kneading for me with no effort at all. I purchased the small stainless steel bowl so that I can whip up small batches of whipped cream etc while using the large glass bowl to make something else, it has come in real handy. I have also invested in Jo Richardson KitchenAid recipe books which are fabulous. I am now saving up for the ice cream bowl and pasta press to compliment my gorgeous mixer. I highly recommend this product for any body who absolutely loves home baking and wants their food to go to the next level of yum!!!

Good Morning Mixer – Best purchase ever! I make bread, cakes, cookies, dumplings, shred meat, make hamburgers, dough, pastry, meringues, macarons, pasta, pancakes, etc etc etc. I use this nearly every day and I now make all of the family's bread and deserts. I save money and I know what goes into my food. It looks amazing on my counter top. I just wish I could… Read more ·  2

clip on new colours to suit my mood and decor when I change it.

I love baking and cooking now even more than I already did. I say "good morning mixer" when I have my morning coffee in the kithchen.

The only problem I have encountered is when I made a giant mango bread. There was over 1kg of flour and five mangoes. It did struggle under the massive load. I won't do that again.

Do yourself a BIG favour and watch the YouTube videos for the appliance. It tells you soo many tips and tricks. There's a reason you see these in nearly every cooking show. They're brilliant.

Love it but not great with small batches – Love, love, love the look and feel of this. In fact I often just stroke the smooth metallic pink finish as if it were a new car. It has been fantastic on 90% of things I've made but I find it cannot cope with small amounts of in the giant glass bowl. i.e. it just tosses the batter on the side and that's where it stays - even with the flexible… Read more

scraper blade. On occasion, apparently if the butter is not soft enough, the cake mix fails to whip up into a lovely pale fluffy mix. Instead it is more like a biscuit dough and the cake is accordingly heavy. I didn't have this problem with my old sunbeam and as my KA is only 1 year old, i'm not yet sure if the butter softness is the issue. When it works well it is amazing. The jury is out on whether the failures are my fault or not.

Glass and metal bowls are not the same – Mixer now works OK but not worth the money, not very powerful,and glass and metal bowls are not the same despite what Peter McInnes tells you. First one I bought did not work ie. no motor sound at all. So there goes the marketing spiel about every machine in Australia being adjusted and tested and that is why they are so expensive. Customer… Read more

service wanted me to return it to them for repair AT MY EXPENSE. I had not used the machine.Myer where a lot more helpful and got a replacement.

The mixer really struggles with a biscuit batter using 250g butter, I have to finish it by hand. Similar to my hand mixer. It cost $50 and does not take up all the bench space.

I wanted a 2nd bowl,(I had two bowls with previous mixer.) The platinum comes with a glass bowl so I called customer service for advise on buying a 2nd metal bowl with the handle, I specifically asked if the bowls were the same and could I change bowls mid recipe. The helpful lady at customer service told they are definitely interchangeable she said " I do that with mine all the time no problem, There is a demo on the web site " So I purchases one from a authorized retailer. But they aren't interchangeable, they have different base heights. As a result I have scratch marks in the metal bowl after 1st use. Contacted customer service again, I was told I need to adjust beater height between changing bowls. The beater rubbing on the bowl will take coating off beater and could damage the motor, and void the warranty. So customer service emailed me instructions to adjust beater height and I was told to check beater clearance you need to be able to slip a piece of paper between bowl and beater.

How helpful is that when making a sponge. I bought the genuine kitchen aid bowl and even though customer service assured me that it would not require adjustments between changing bowls, it looks like you have.

The staff obviously don't cook and don't care what miss information they tell people and don't take responsibility when the advice they give is wrong. It mixes Overpriced. Untrained customer service staff.

Simply delightful – I love this machine, it is truly amazing. Everything I have ever made comes out perfectly. Quite simply, the best mixer I have ever used (my last one was a sunbeam cafe series mixmaster which to be honest was a complete waste of money). We make a lot of macarons and they turn out perfectly with this machine. Never fails to please. I love it, especially the flex beater - a wonderful attachment. Functionality accompanied by a sleek look.

A Worthy Investment – I wanted an ice cream maker for years, but couldn't justify the expense of a one-trick pony... and the kitchenaid is the same - If you're looking to buy *just* a mixer, this is an expensive item. However, for anyone who does anything more than the basics, this is a really good tool and a worthy investment. I got half of mine as a present, and… Read more

I use it all the time. It's just so gorgeous too (mine is pink) and I can't wait to have a kitchen where it can sit on the bench where it belongs. Design, colour range, versatility with the range of attachments It's expensive if you want just a mixer

Sits on my bench! – Absolutely Perfect. I use it nearly everyday for everything from dough to cakes to pastas. It's great! It comes with three attachments but there are so many to choose from, we bought the ice cream maker attachment and now we use that all the time too. Home made ice cream Yum! Every recipe I have tried since buying the mixer has turned out… Read more

perfectly. The dough hook has saved me both time and energy, i simply throw the ingredients in turn on the mixer and do something else while the hook kneads dough perfect everytime! Absolutely reliable eveytime!! It is expensive but it is worth it.

Ok...Very underpowered – It isn't very powerful but does manage to get the job done slightly. Very expensive for what it does. Mine has been returned to MYER twice due to the motor dieing. For the price you would expect it to last more than 11 months. Have to scrape the bowl lots but included was a flexi beater which scrapes as it turns. I have since been given a refund… Read more

and bought some Sunbeam Cafe Series Planetary Mixmasters. The KA was nice and solid and looked great on the bench but performance wise it just couldn't cope. The style, the flexi beater, the glass bowl, the customer service. Very underpowered and not good value for money, motor burns out.

Big mistake – I had saved for this machine for years and was so excited when it arrived. It has been a very expensive mistake. Ice-cream attachment does not stay cold long enough to make Icecream and vege shredders destroy rather than slice or shred. Mixer is loud and results sub-standard. Big mistake I greatly regret. Expensive, doesn't work! A lot of components not dishwasher safe.

A valuable piece of equipment – I saved up for this baby and it was worth it. It has been such a treat to use (almost daily) as I bake a lot, make bread and I find it's the 1 thing I don't put in a cupboard as it looks so good out. It's available in all kinds of colours and I am sure will last a long time. Whips, beats, mixes perfectly and effortlessly, looks good It's pricey

Great appliance! – Since buying my KA two years ago, it hasn't skipped a beat. Does everything from mixing meatballs to making great pasta, fab cakes to beautiful melting moments. I'm more than happy with my KA, and proud to have it on my bench. With easy cleanup, it inspires me to use it daily. Reliable, easy to use, gorgeous.

So stylish it can't hide hide inside a cupboard! – My pride and joy in the kitchen that makes perfect pizza dough, effortless pavlova & silky smooth cake batters. Quality through and through that is not only my 'kitchen aide' but a masterpiece displayed on my kitchen bench that creates reliability and efficiency in my kitchen. Reliable, efficient, an appliance you don't want to hide in a cupboard Perhaps a little heavy but nothing really

This is a great product! – I love my kitchenaid! makes cooking a breeze and a joy and the husband loves to watch it go especially when I mix dough. The recipes are endless and fun and the whole family seems to be enjoying them (maybe a little too much?). Looking forward to getting some accessories! Makes cooking so easy. Looks beautiful!

A well-oiled machine – This mixer was bought to replace my well-loved Kenwood Chef, circa late 1960s. The old mixer sounded like a lawnmower, and bounced around almost as much. What a revelation- the KitchenAid is smooth, powerful, solid and above all - so much quieter! I have the limited edition Candy Apple Red version of this mixer, which is more metallic in finish… Read more

- reminds me of an old American hot-rod car (which frankly is how it feels to operate too). It comes standard with the glass bowl, wire whisk, flat beater and the special 'flex edge' beater, which scrapes the sides of the bowl while mixing.

All in all, I haven't had it long, but it is a dream to use. It doesn't move around on the bench, it mixes thoroughly, and it has a huge range of attachments available that I can't wait to try. Smooth, powerful and relatively quiet

I love my kitchen aid, I use it almost everyday – Since I purchased the kitchen aid which I have wanted for so long, I have used it nearly everyday. When I'm not using it, it looks amazing sitting on the bench especially in red. I mostly use it for baking which I do on a regular basis and it whips my egg whites up to firm peaks within a few minutes while I do other things. We also use it a lot to… Read more

make pizza dough, saves a lot of time not having to knead for long periods at the bench! Everything, the look and the function, it is so powerful and I'm sure will last a life time