KitchenAid mixer trivia

My vintage KitchenAid stand mixer has made countless batches of cookies, cakes, and other items. Even though I have a newer and larger KA, I drag out the old one for nostalgia’s sake from time to time, and used it for a small batch of cinnamon roll dough earlier today. As I was scrolling through my news feed this evening, I saw a link to an article titled “Surprising facts you never knew about KitchenAid mixers,” so of course I had to click on it. It turns out that there are a few things I didn’t know about my trusty sidekick.

Although new KitchenAid mixers don’t exactly come cheap, they are a bargain compared to what they used to cost. The first models made by Hobart back in 1919 sold for $189 USD – that translates to a whopping $2,800 in today’s dollars. Until 1955, the machines were only available in white, not the rainbow of colors you can purchase now.

As to the mixer’s iconic look, you have to go back to 1937, when Egmont Arens designed the Model K stand mixer that has the familiar shape we all know and love. The name that has become ubiquitous with cooking did not come from a marketing department, but rather from the wife of an executive at the company. The story is that she called the appliance “the best kitchen aid I’ve ever had.” Even if that is not true, it does make for a good story.

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3 Comments

  • riley  on  August 19, 2020

    A silver buffer attachment! Anyone have one of those?

  • averythingcooks  on  August 19, 2020

    My strongest KitchenAid memory from childhood is not about the countless wonderful things my mom made for us nor is it about learning to bake by her side and developing the love of baking I still have today….. (I did say “strongest” NOT best :). It was the day that I leaned way over the bowl while mixing and one of my braids got caught in the double beaters. That was a batch of cookies that never made the oven. and as I recall the other braid basically got cut that day as well.

  • stepspior  on  August 19, 2020

    I bought my first kitchen aid mixer 30 years ago. I had a sidewalk sale in Brooklyn that raised $260. I traveled up to Zabars and picked one up for $250 . I have my second one a pro modelth as t I bought attachment for, pasta and spiralizer

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