Excellence, efficiency, and colours are three ingredients that have helped to put KitchenAid on the top tier in the world of kitchen appliances. The renowned American company has recently unveiled its Artisan 4.8L stand mixer in a new and rather splendid Juniper colour, and in this feature, we explain what it can do.
Before I get into the meat of what the KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-head 4.8L Stand Mixer can do, I want to give you a nice insight into the history of the company:
A little over a century ago, Herbert Johnson, an innovative Ohio-based engineer, wanted to simplify life in the kitchen. He got out his drawing board, and before long, a machine Herbert named the “H5” household eggbeater was sitting in front of him.
It was 1919, and the First World War had recently ended. This, coupled with a dearth of handy appliances, meant there was little to cheer about in the kitchen. Herbert’s revolutionary household eggbeater helped change this, and little did he know that his vision would become the catalyst for a whole new industry.
As with any new and revolutionary product, the H5 needed to be tested, and one of the people tasked with doing it was the wife of one of the directors of the company he worked for. She found it to be extraordinary and was heard to say, “It’s the best Kitchen Aid I’ve ever had.” Her words became the inspiration for one of the most revered names in the kitchen appliance industry.
More than 100 years later, KitchenAid still brings joy, beauty and efficiency into kitchens by designing and manufacturing a wide range of market-leading products, including stand mixers that always set a benchmark, winning the hearts of cooking experts and gourmets’ lives worldwide.
KitchenAid’s latest offering is an Artisan 4.8L tilt-head stand mixer in the company’s newly launched Juniper colour (rich green combined with blue). Like the company’s other products, this mixer is a lovely-looking appliance that sets a statement of intent in the kitchen.
KitchenAid doesn’t go overboard with its use of cardboard packaging, which cannot be said of many other manufacturers. The stand mixer arrives securely packaged in a product box set snugly inside a KitchenAid-branded brown cardboard box. Too many brands seem to go completely ‘bonkers’ with their packaging to impress consumers with an illusion of ‘bigger is better’.
Inside the Box
Alongside the stand mixer body is two stainless-steel bowls, one 4.8L in size and a 3L bowl. In addition, there is a dough hook, wire whisk, flex-edge beater, paddle, and pouring shield.
The Artisan Tilt-head 4.8L stand mixer measures 36 (H) × 24 (W) × 37 (D) cm and weighs more than 11kg thanks to its die-cast metal construction; the design, engineering of the motor and weight combined give it superb stability, particularly when it is operating on one of the faster settings.
The mixer’s ten speeds are selected via a lever on the side of the mixer. The speeds operate from 58 to 220 RPM. To better understand how they work, setting one would be used for gentle stirring while setting ten would be used for fast whipping.
To ensure the best results, the mixer uses KitchenAid’s ‘planetary action’. This simple and clever design feature turns the beater shaft one way, with the attachments turning the opposite way. The Planetary Action allows all the attachments to reach at least 59 points of the bowl, ensuring nothing is missed.
Switching between the attachments is simple. All you need to do is press the release button, tilt the head back, remove, and swap.
The inclusion of the two bowls is also very handy. KitchenAid’s larger 4.8L bowl can process 1kg of all-purpose flour, which should be more than enough for most people’s needs.
Having the two bowls does make sense, particularly when you are making something that requires multiple ingredients. While the stand mixer does its job with one bowl, you can use the other to prepare the next ingredient(s) and swap them over without the hassle of bowl washing each time.
As mentioned at the beginning of this feature, I am a ‘paid up’ member of the KitchenAid fan club. I am also fully aware that, particularly in these times, cost is likely to come into play, and some readers will automatically default to thinking they can buy something cheaper that will do a similar job.
Most of us will be familiar with the adage, “You get what you pay for.” Although the Artisan Tilt-head 4.8L stand mixer’s price is likely to be higher than other appliances claiming a similar capability, what you get with KitchenAid is an enviable history of excellence and ‘peace of mind’, as the company provides a 5-year guarantee + 15 repairability with this mixer.
The few companies offering warranties like this wouldn’t do so unless they had complete faith in what they are putting out into the consumer market.
Final Thoughts
The KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-head 4.8L Stand Mixer is an excellent machine. Although I am a huge fan of KitchenAid’s iconic red colour, I must admit that the Juniper runs it close. Although brilliant at what it is designed to do, the retro design and the Juniper colour make it equally at home as a design statement.
Before I conclude this piece, I want to mention one final thing that increases its appeal further: its compatibility with the company’s multipurpose attachment hub, which adds churning, spiralling, grinding, milling, shredding, and more to its arsenal.
In today’s world, I don’t doubt that the woman whose word spawned the company’s name would surely say, “The Artisan Tilt-head 4.8L Stand Mixer is the best Kitchen Aid I’ve ever had.”
ARTISAN Tilt-Head 4.8L Stand Mixer 5KSM175PSBJP Specifications:
- Wattage: 300
- Motor Type: AC (Alternating current) with Direct Drive
- Max. output motor power (Horsepower): 0.19 HP
- Voltage: 220 – 240 V
- Frequency: 50 / 60 Hz
- Revolutions per minute (Speed 1 to 10): 58 to 220 RPM
- Bowl capacity: 4.8L
- Material body: Die-cast zinc
- Speed control type: Hybrid electronic
- Size: 36 (H) × 24 (W) × 37 (D) cm
- Weight: 11.29 kg
- Length of Cord: 106.7 cm
The Artisan Tilt-head 4.8L Stand Mixer is available in ten colours, which are:
- Empire Red
- Ink Blue
- Pistachio
- Dried Rose
- Juniper (as tested)
- Onyx Black
- Almond Cream
- Ice Blue
- Fresh Linen
- Majestic Yellow
The ARTISAN Tilt-Head 4.8L Stand Mixer is £549.00, and it can be purchased at www.kitchenaid.co.uk.
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