When it comes to bringing some colour into the kitchen, no company is better known for doing this than KitchenAid. In 2021, the renowned kitchen appliance brand picked honey as its colour of the year and for 2022, they’ve chosen Beetroot.
It’s difficult to think of stand mixers without the name KitchenAid popping up. It was more than a century ago, 1919 to be precise, when Ohio-based engineer Herbert Johnson unveiled the KitchenAid H5 to the world, the very first food mixer on the market. Eight years later KitchenAid launched their follow-up model and it became an instant sensation, attracting a fanbase that included luminaries such as Ginger Rogers, Henry Ford and E.l. DuPont.
It wasn’t until 1994 that KitchenAid decided to produce their kitchen appliance in different colours, with Sunny Yellow, Satin Chrome, Petal Pink, Antique Copper and Island Green being the first colours available.
Following the popularity of the initial colour range, they added Tangerine Orange, Cobalt Blue, Apple Green, Pastel Yellow, Anthracite Grey and the colour most cooks associate with the brand, Empire Red.
KitchenAid is a company that truly understands how powerful colours can be, and they are using it on their appliances to remind us to savour the simple joys in life.
It is well known that colours inspire creativity in people, and the kitchen is an ideal home for creative minds. KitchenAid’s colour in 2021 was honey, and it’s no secret that honey is one of the world’s greatest superfoods. We might have stumbled upon a pattern here as KitchenAid’s choice of colour for 2022 is Beetroot, another of nature’s fabulous food creations. If this is the case, could we be seeing mixers and blenders in blueberry, lime, ginger or even salmon in the future? Who knows!
What’s so special about beetroot?
If you weren’t aware of what this incredible bulbous and sweet root vegetable can do, you might be surprised to learn the following: Beetroot can (amongst other things) increase energy levels, help to lower blood pressure, maintain skin health, and slow down the progression of dementia.
The earthy flavour of the vegetable works well roasted, boiled and juiced. It is also low in fat, full of minerals and vitamins and jam-packed with powerful antioxidants. It is perfect for many dishes, including pancakes, hummus, salads, soups, cakes, and even brownies.
KitchenAid’s Beetroot colour is a gorgeous magenta with a luxurious satin finish. The company wants this beautiful colour to remind cooks to make the most of everyday moments, and it will also act as a reminder to use a bit more of the rather special root vegetable in your cooking and baking.
The beetroot colour created by KitchenAid is, as mentioned, very similar to magenta. This colour has some special properties that are ideal for cooks and bakers. First and foremost, it is an uplifting colour that also stabilises emotions when one feels frustrated.
It is also known for its ability to create a sense of contentment and optimism. In addition to this, it promotes rational and practical thinking, helps people become more expressive, and encourages them to seek solutions beyond the conventional, all of which are perfect attributes when spending in the kitchen.
In this fast-paced and frequently stressful world, it’s far too easy to look past even the simplest of joys life brings. One place renowned for generating pleasure is the kitchen, and KitchenAid wants the uplifting hue of the Beetroot colour to energise cooks and inspire them to be more adventurous.
The New Beetroot colour is available on the Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer 4.8L and the Artisan K400 Blender. KitchenAid provided us with the opportunity to test the stand mixer, which we will come to a little later in this feature. Before that, we will look at what makes their Artisan blender so popular.
The Artisan K400 Blender in Beetroot
The Artisan K400 Blender is an excellent kitchen appliance capable of powering through even the toughest ingredients. It can make short work of some quite tricky food items, including almonds, coconut, apples, carrots, seeds and even ice.
The list of things that separates the K400 Blender from others is long. It is armed with a powerful 1.5 peak HP motor set upon a stable die-cast metal base. It also has unique asymmetric stainless-steel blades, which have been precisely angled to work with the 1.4L ribbed glass jar. The combination of these creates a blending vortex that can tackle even the toughest of ingredients without fuss.
The Artisan K400 Blender is brilliant for making extremely smooth soups, smoothies and sauces, among other things. And, while we’re on the topic of sauces, here’s one to try. For a speedy pasta sauce, place some peeled roasted beetroot into the blender along with some salt, olive oil, chilli flakes and garlic. Then simply whizz them into a smooth paste, and voila!
The blender has a ‘Soft Start’ option, which starts the motor at a slower speed, allowing it to pull the food onto the blades. It then quickly increases to the desired speed setting, and the advantage of doing this is it reduces splatter, something none of us wants in the kitchen. To help users to get the perfect taste and texture, it uses something akin to a superpower called the Intelli-speed Control that senses the ingredients and maintains the optimal speed to ensure a chunky or silky-smooth end product.
One of the reasons why the K400 Blender is so popular is it is very easy to use. It has three pre-set recipe programmes that will crush ice to make tasty smoothies and icy flavoured drinks. In addition to this, it has a pulse feature which is perfect for tacking fibrous vegetables, and one final thing we particularly like is its self-cleaning cycle.
There are also some optional accessories to increase the capability of the Artisan K400 Blender; these include a 500ml personal jar, 200ml small-batch jug and 1L citrus press.
ARTISAN K400 Blender 5KSB4026
• Wattage: 1200
• Power rating: 1.5 Peak HP Motor*
• Voltage: 220 – 240 V
• Motor RPM: 600 – 16000
• Speeds 5 variable speeds, Pulse, 3-pre-programed and cleaning cycles
• Capacity pitcher working capacity: 1.4 L
• Style jar square, single wall jar
• Material body: Die-cast metal
• Material coupler: Metal
• Product dimensions: 40.1 (H) × 19.28 (W) × 22.91 (D) cm
• Net weight: 6.62 kg
• Cord length: 91 cm (the cord is wrapped underneath the base)
The Artisan Tilt-Head 4.8L Stand Mixer in Beetroot
The Tilt-Head 4.8L Stand Mixer is a beautiful looking piece that looks even more stunning with the addition of the new beetroot colour. Sat on a countertop, it is every bit a statement piece and will immediately draw the owner and guests’ eyes to it.
The mixer is made from die-cast metal, and it weighs in at 11.29 kg. It is a very high-quality piece of equipment, and you can immediately notice the excellent build quality. It comes with a stainless-steel bowl; however, KitchenAid also makes a range of other bowls, including ceramic designs, hammer effect and quilted bowls which can be added depending on your preference.
In addition to the stainless steel bowl we’ve mentioned, it also comes with an extra 3L stainless steel bowl, a dough hook, wire whisk, flex edge beater and a pastry beater. If you want to add even more versatility, you might want to consider investing in the attachment-ready KitchenAid Culinary Hub that enables you to do mincing, chopping, weighing, grating, slicing, peeling, spiralling, and it will even juice.
The Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer is a joy to look at. Its curvy body makes it look cute and something you want to gently pat and run your hand over. To my eyes, it has something of a timeless retro look, akin to a Jaguar car from the 1960s. However, a powerful ten-speed culinary beast lurks beneath its cute and curvy exterior.
When using the mixer, we found it to be surprisingly quiet even on a high-speed setting, and we didn’t notice any significant wobbling, which is something we’ve found with other stand mixers. We didn’t try anything too adventurous when testing the mixer, we kept things simple with some whisking, mixing and kneading tests, and each time, as expected, it performed flawlessly.
I will admit that I am not a regular in the kitchen. However, my cake mixing and cream whisking experiments did turn out much better than I hoped and have provided me with enthusiasm to try to attempt some of the cooking and baking in our household.
Even for someone like me who has limited kitchen experience, I found the Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer easy to use, and its undoubted prowess aside, it’s the looks that do it for me. KitchenAid considers it to be the ultimate culinary companion, and I won’t argue with that!
ARTISAN Tilt-Head Stand Mixer 4.8L 5KSM195PS
• 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
• Product dimensions: 36 (H) × 24 (W) × 37 (D) cm
• Net weight: 11.29 kg
• Cord length: 106.7 cm
For more information on KitchenAid and to see their full range of products and accessories and where to buy, visit KitchenAid.co.uk or follow them on Instagram, @kitchenaid_uk.