A stand mixer is one of the most expensive appliances in your kitchen, so it had better do it all—from whipping a single egg white to kneading thick pizza dough. Are you a home baker? Baking small amounts of baked goods, looking for the perfect electric stand mixer? Look no further we’ve tried and tested the KitchenAid Mini Mixer.
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First Impressions
The Mini Mixer is packed with an extra bit of horse power to suite anyone’s baking needs. This is perfect for people who aren’t baking large amounts of goods for big families. Also great for small intimate functions and dinners for 2 or 4. Mixing for smaller recipes doesn’t have to be a chore with this mini counter piece that comes in many vibrant colors. Great gift for a friend or family member starting out with baking and even better that there are awesome color options to choose from.
This mini KitchenAid also really cuts down your baking time saving you time and energy. We decided to try it out ourselves and we just loved the way it accurately mixed all our products due to its smaller size it’s much easier to control the product inside. Tired of using your arm strength? This mini is a great alternative to the hand mixer allowing you to multitask or rest while it does the work for you.
Product Specifications
Height: Mini stand mixer: 12.3″
Weight: Mini stand mixer: 18 lbs.
Wattage: 250 Watts
Capacity: 3.5 Quarts
KitchenAid KSM3311XHT Artisan Mini Series Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, 3.5 quart, Hot Sauce
Product description:
25% lighter, 20% smaller footprint (compared with KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer)
Compatible with all attachments. Excludes bowls and beaters.
The tilt-head design allows for clear access to the attached beater and bowl or accessories so you can easily add in your ingredients for a recipe. Locking the head into place during operation process keeps the beater-to-bowl contact close and very efficient.
With colors from bold to understated, there’s a Mini to match both your kitchen and your style
Powerful enough for nearly any task or recipe, whether you’re stirring in the dry and wet ingredients together, whipping cream or kneading bread dough.
Mighty Power. Mini Footprint. The Artisan Mini stand mixer makes up to 60 cookies in a single batch.
Neat Features:
The power hub turns the stand mixer into a culinary center.
More than 10 optional attachments.
The power of the stand mixer can make pasta from scratch, spiralize veggies and much more.
Powerful enough for nearly any task or recipe, whether you’re stirring wet and dry ingredients.
Great for kneading bread dough or whipping cream.
The coated flat beater is perfect for quickly and thoroughly mixing cake batter and cookie dough.
The flat beater is dishwasher friendly.
The coated C- dough hook mixes and kneads with ease saving both time and energy.
The 6 wire whip quickly incorporates air into ingredients for fluffy whipped cream.
3.5-Qt. Bowl stainless steel can accommodate up to 5 doz. Cookies a loaf of bread and more.
KitchenAid Mini Mixer Review:
KitchenAid introduced its new Mini Artisan Stand Mixer and demonstrated some of its features. In addition, the new Mini Mixer is 20% smaller and 25% lighter than the full sized Artisan KitchenAid Mixer. This is very ideal for urban kitchens and easier to lift into your storage cabinet. It measures 12.3 inches tall, 7.8 inches wide and 12.3 inches deep. It weighs 18 pounds and is the smallest KitchenAid you can buy. This mini comes in 10 colors. Our mixer colour is hot sauce red, a bright and vibrant colour.
Like most Kitchen Aids, there are 10 mixing speeds and tilt-head design. This mini is 250 watts. The deep stainless steel bowl is 3.5 quarts and has no handle. This is the power hub, unscrew, remove the plate and you can attach KitchenAid attachments like the spiralizer. The mixer comes with a much guided instruction manual booklet, nylon coated flat beater, nylon coated dough hook and a 6 wire whip. We’ve tested this mixer out by whipping cream, making cookie dough and pizza dough. The coated dough hook, bowl and flat beater are top rack dishwasher safe. The 6 wire whip is hand wash only. The mixer can also be thoroughly wiped down with a clean damp cloth and dried. You’re buying this mixer only for the compact size, not for the power.
If you don’t have much counter space and you want to leave the stand mixer out, then this is a decent option. If you have a large family, we wouldn’t recommend this mini. Go with one of the other larger models. The classic mixer is 275 watts and comes with a 4.5 quart bowl and costs less than the mini, but it’s 25% bigger and weighs about 7 more pounds. We’ll also put links to the Stand Mixers below, you can click on them to see the current price.
Using The KitchenAid Mini Mixer
We definitely love the fact that the motor is much quieter than the larger KitchenAid mixers, so baking with this can be a bit more therapeutic without too much of the rotating sound. We have the one in pale green. It fits on the counter without screaming “I am the monster mixer”. We can make a cake mix in a snap. We have kneaded two loaves of bread easily. We also just made a coconut pie. This can make mashed potatoes for 6 people easily. The 3.5 quart is a great size. The beater that is used the most… the basic one that is just a loop is so easy to clean.
The stainless bowl is easy to clean and does not have a handle to take up more space. It came with the basic beater, dough hook and the whipping beater for egg whites and such. We did order the beater with the scraper attached to it also ordered the splash screen for the mini. We usually hand wash everything! It is so easy to just rinse in hot soapy water. People come into our kitchen and admire our lovely mixer. The counter space gets limited from time to time, so this mini is always handy and plugged in. Great buy! Let’s talk about a few things before you buy a stand mixer. Stand mixers can be a major investment and there are a few things to think about before you invest in one. This will save you time and money. This is a valuable buying guide for a stand mixer.
Tips For Use
Before you use the mixer, wash the bowl at least 3 times to remove any dark residue. As we know that any kitchen appliance you purchase will for sure have to be given a quick thorough wash before use, that’s normal. Also wash all the attachments like the hook, beater and wire whip. Before mixing, we always check to make sure there is no residue left by wiping with a paper towel. This way, your whipped cream, egg whites or butter won’t have any grey streaks in them. Whenever you’re mixing anything, always make sure to start at a low speed and then slowly increase as you go.
There are some great tips given in the manual regarding the correct speed to use for different ingredients. The pouring plastic shield can also be washed in clean warm soapy water or on top rack of your dishwasher. The dough hook, beater
and whip wire are all hand wash only, do not put them in the dishwasher or they will get ruined. Wipe down the shaft and entire mixer with a clean damp cloth and leave to dry. We do hope you found this review useful
Pros:
- Attractive design very beautiful colors.
- Dishwasher safe.
- Compact and everything is intact.
- Convenient very easy to maneuver.
- Quality construction.
- Easy to use.
- Quieter motor less noise than the larger ones.
- Easy to clean due to the size.
- Easy to store due to the size.
- The beater goes all the way down to the bottom of the mixing bowl so every bit gets mixed.
- Great for whipping and creaming small amounts of product.
- Light, yet very sturdy.
Cons:
- To add ingredients you need to stop and raise the lifting head.
- Impossible to clear the whip while attached and messy when you detach it.
- Bowl has no handle.
- The gap between where you can add ingredients to the bowl is so tight.
- It impossible to add stuff in while the mixer is running.
- Can’t use ice cream attachment.
- The bowl is hard to remove after mixing dough.
Conclusion:
This mini KitchenAid stand mixer is not for large families or meant for industrial use instead bachelors, the elderly and 2-4 home families and those who are planning on downsizing on their living space will find the value in this mixer. With the many mixed reviews of this mixer probably due to its size, it’s always good to go according to your individual needs. We definitely enjoyed using this mixer for its lightness in weight and ease in storage and for a quieter motor. And that’s it for our KitchenAid Mini Mixer review.
If you want a larger mixer, we recommend looking into buyng the Kitchen Aid KSM155GBSA 5-Qt. Artisan Design Series with Glass Bowl for those who will be using it for much larger batters and dough. The attachments are easier to use and change and there are no hassles with replacing them.