Well in general in my experience older is better to a degree, there are some exceptions.
I am not sure what an old Hobart KA would sell for.

BUT you can get a 575 watt KA 550 Professional model at Costco for around $250 after 2 rebates.
Not sure if both rebates are still active or not but were a few weeks ago.
Was $50 off instantly from Costco and a $30 KA rebate mail in that you just do on the Costco website, takes about 1 minute.

Granted we have only had it for a couple weeks but we have used it virtually every single day for 2 weeks for making Bread Dough and several batches of cookies.
Works great.
We don't make massive batches of bread dough, we use 3 cups of flour and it has absolutely no problem with it.

I would not suggest getting anything under 575 watt though.

No need for any bread machine, those are a waste.

Having said that if you can find an old KA or Hobart from the 60s I bet they would still outlast a new one.

Buying it from Costco though I feel good because if it messes up in the first year or so I can take it right back for a full refund no questions asked.
I also hear that Kohl's has good deals on them.

I have a 325 watt K. A. stand mixer
(the bowl-lift kind)
That is around 20 years old.

While I can't answer your questions
as to price, etc,
Nor compare it to newer models,
I can highly recommend it for bread!
I have 'kneaded' a LOT of bread with it,
It does a great job!

The recipe I use the most has
7 1/2 C flour and 2 1/2 C oatmeal,
and makes 3 loaves.
The mixer has no problems at all
With those amounts.

I did burn out a gear one time
About 5 years ago, though,
With my first, last, and ONLY
Attempt at making Divinity!

Took it to the repair shop,
It's been humming along beautifully ever since.

I agree with Nunyabiz1 about bread machines.
I have one & it is just a "space-taker-upper" for me.
It is a Breadman, though,
So maybe one of the high end brands would be different.

Rusty

You don't say how the Hobart KA compares in price to the new KA's. That would be a big factor in my willingness to take risk with an older machine. I have a 30 year old KA made by Hobart. It is a solid beast of a machine. I use it not only for mixing cakes, cookies and bread, I also use the attachments regularly. I have the meat grinder, pasta rollers, pasta extruder and vegetable strainer. I probably use the grinder or pasta rollers once a week. I used the strainer to process bushels of apples and tomatoes this summer. My KA hasn't skipped a beat in all these years of heavy use.

The new KA's, made by Whirlpool, are altogether different. Regardless of how powerful their motors are, they often have components made of plastic. So they fail at a higher rate than the older machines. I had to buy a new meat grinder to be able to use the vegetable strainer. Comparing the new grinder to the vintage grinder I got from my MIL which is probably 50+ years old, it was like night and day. The old grinder is solid cast aluminum. Everything is original, and it works perfectly. The new grinder is much lighter weight, with plastic housing and plastic parts attached to the screw. The cutting blade is a flimsy piece of pressed steel. Brand new out of the box, it mangles food instead of mincing it cleanly.

I've used the KA for making bread for decades, but recently in the CF someone said they had stripped something in the motor while mixing a heavy load. That gave me palpitations. I now have a bread machine that makes perfect bread with almost no effort on my part. I got it from Amazon for about $75. Since getting the bread machine (Panasonic SD-YD250) I have made sandwich bread every other day for DH, I have used it to mix dough for baguettes, ciabatta, bagels and panettone. I think it well worth the price of the machine. Even if it dies, I would not mourn its passing, unlike my KA.

Cheryl

Thanks for responding. Am reading all the comments/reviews that I can find on this issue and they aren't very telling as half the people rave about how great they are and the other half talk about how bad they are. I do pay attention when the same problem appears frequently, but that isn't even a given as quite often a few reviews later, someone has a good explanation for why the person is having the problem and not the machine's fault. I know no one can guarantee I will love what I get, but just want to do as much research as necessary before I make a decision.

Rusty: If yours is just 20 years old, is it Hobart made? It's good to know you are able to do the bread with no problem.

Jadeite: I don't know the price as the ones I have been watching are on e-bay (auction) some rebuilt, some just very well cared for or not used much. If I bought on e-bay, I would only buy from a top rated person and only if returnable. I imagine one could run onto these occasionally at estate sales, consignment, etc.

After reading your and Rusty's list of the things you can do with yours and the cheapness of the materials used in the newer ones, I am inclined to wait for an older model that was made by Hobart. With that in mind, is there anything I should look for as far as a time period it was made or a particular model, wattage, etc.?

Nun: didn't mean to leave you out. Thanks for the info on your mixer. If I change my mind, it's good to know about Kohl's and Costco.

Lizbeth, the 20 years old is a guess,
I don't remember exactly when I bought it,
It could be a little less than that.
To me, 20 years old really isn't
All THAT old!

I just looked it over real good,
The only name on it is Kitchen Aid.
I'm assuming one that was made by Hobart
Would have that name somewhere on it.

This one does say "Heavy Duty".
Also "Made in the U. S. A."
And, "St Joseph MI".
If any of that tells you anything.

Rusty

Rusty...recipe please!!!! Thanks :)

Lizbeth and Rusty - Whirlpool acquired Kitchenaid from Hobart in the mid 80's, so about 25 years ago. I assume the mixers were unchanged for a while after the change in ownership. It's not clear to me when the mixers started to be made with lighter, less durable materials. My mixer has a Hobart plaque on the side of the head.

I have the K5SS, the model with the 5 quart bowl lifter. The good news is that most (not all) of the attachments are compatible with the older machines. As I mentioned above, the vegetable strainer works only with the new grinder. I also have the ice-cream maker which doesn't fit my machine as well as the newer mixers. I can use it, but when the ice cream thickens, the part that connects to the head slips.

Like Rusty, I've used the mixer to make big batches of bread and cookies. I grind beef fat to make suet cakes for the birds, which I make up in 20 lb batches. The (old) meat grinder whizzes through the gristly fat with ease.

Can you tell how much I love my mixer?! With this and my Cuisinart DLC-7 (also about 30 years old) I can face anything!

Cheryl

I have a cobalt blue Kitchenaid Hobart K5SS and I love it,
but I wouldn't buy one from Ebay. Think what it will cost to ship! They are heavy!

I have a 38 year old Hobart KA (5 qt bowl lift), one that's about 13 years old (4 qt tilt top), and a newer (about 2 years old) KA (6 qt bowl lift).

Both the old ones are workhorses. The new one? Is a piece of junk. It's light, it's got the weird feature where you turn it on and it takes a second or two to comply (supposed to keep stuff from flying out of the bowl????). It has nowhere near the power of the others.

I bought the new one to match my kitchen--well it looks nice there, but I pretty much use the 38 year old one exclusively--it's such a fantastic machine and has always handled whatever I ask of it--from whipping cream and eggs to making large batches of cookies to stiff bread doughs. Honestly? I've never tried the new one for bread, and don't think I'd trust it--it's just not that powerful.

There's really no way any of us can answer your question. The 'old' hobart may or may not be a good deal--it's going to depend upon the price, and what kind of shape it's in. If it's been abused or not properly cared for, it may not be a good choice. On the other hand, I can almost guarantee that if you've ever used a Hobart, you won't be happy with the new one, either.

Cheryl is correct on the quality of newer machines, basically from ANY US company take your pick they are all the same.
They are more interested in making it as cheap as possible to make as much profit as possible.
In the case of the KA not made by Hobart anymore but is made by Whirlpool, thus is no doubt made as cheaply as possible like virtually every American made product today. Pretty embarrassing really.

So it is highly unlikely that a new KA mixer is ever going to last like one from 30-40+ years ago.
In fact I bet one that is already 30 years old if it was properly taken care of will still outlast a brand new one today.

If you don't mind spending about twice the money, around $500 you can get a Bosch mixer which is better in every respect than the KA, easier to use, works better for bread dough, has I believe it is a 800W motor that is actually designed to last at least 35 years of hard use.

I was a bit dubious buying the Whirlpool, I mean lets call it what it is, and the ONLY reason that I did was because I could buy from Costco and for $250.
That way I know I can just take it right back with no hassles.
In fact my wife and I right now are nit picking the Whirlpool, using it a lot and really deciding quite honestly if we want to take it back to Costco and go ahead and bite the bullet on the Bosch.

Another really good one is the Electrolux DLX Magic Mill which does everything and actually even better than the Bosch in some respects but of course is also more expensive at around $700 just for the mixer with a few attachments.
You could probably spend I bet $3000+ dollars on the DXL Assistent if you get all the pasta makers, grain mill, sausage maker, meat grinder, and on & on.

So all depends what you want to spend, what exactly you want it to do, how much you use it.

We are seriously debating returning the whirlpool to Costco and using the $250 towards a Bosch.
My mother which is 95 years old, just gave us each $100 for Xmas because she cant really get around anymore.

With that $200 we could go ahead and just buy the Bosch.
Only thing I am hesitant about is it wouldn't be from Costco which means returning it if its lemon could be a problem.

This post was edited by Nunyabiz1 on Fri, Jan 4, 13 at 15:15

I have a 35 year old Hobart Kitchenaid and it is still going strong. I haven't used it for bread for 20 years, when I got my first bread machine. I use it for everything else though including some thick pastry dough which it handles with ease. If you want an old Kitchenaid machine, check your local Craigslist. I see them listed there all the time for really reasonable prices, if you don't care about the color. That way you can test it out to make sure it works and you won't have to pay shipping.
Clare

I have a 33 year old Hobart Kitchenaid. Still going strong. Never had to be serviced. If and when it dies, I would try to replace it with another Hobart Kitchenaid.

~Ann

I keep my mixer out on the counter and the way it looks is important to me so if I were to buy an older mixer, I would want it to still look good.
Some of the ones on ebay looked pretty beat up, i.e. rusty, etc. but not dirt cheap.
Looks aren't everything, of course, but if it mattered, I would put the money into something with both form and function even if it cost considerably more.

Trudy, here's the Oatmeal Bread recipe.
It comes from a very old Pillsbury cook book.

The first amounts are as the recipe was published,
The amounts in parenthesis after
Are the amounts I use for 3 loaves.
(9 1/2 X 5 loaf pans)

Oatmeal Bread

Ing:

2 tsp salt (3 tsp)
2 C boiling water (3 C)
1 C rolled oats (1 1/2 C)*
1 Tbsp shortening (1 1/2 Tbsp)
1 Cake compressed yeast (1 1/2 cakes)**
1 tsp sugar (1 1/2 tsp)
1/4 C lukewarm water (3/8 C)
1/2 C brown sugar (3/4 C)
1/2 C lukewarm water (3/4 C)
5 C flour (7 1/2 C)

Directions:

Add salt to boiling water.
Stir in shortening and rolled oats.
Let stand until lukewarm (about an hour).
Crumble yeast in large bowl.
Add white sugar and 1st amount lukewarm water.
Let stand to 'proof' yeast.
Dissolve brown sugar in 2nd amount lukewarm water.
Add to yeast mixture.
Stir in 1/2 of the flour.
Beat until smooth.
Add remaining flour and oats.
Continue to beat until smooth.***
Let rise in warm place until double in bulk.
"Punch" down and knead by hand until smooth and elastic.
Divide into 2 (or 3) loaves,
Place in prepared pans.

Bake at 425 for about 15 min.
Reduce oven to 375
And bake about 25 to 30 minutes.
Until done.

*I use only the old fashioned oats.
** yeast cakes are nowhere to be found around here,
So I use active dry yeast.
As per directions on the jar.
2 1/4 tsp (3 3/8) tsp
Or 1 packet (1 1/2 packets)
*** I don't hand knead at all before the 1st rise,
My K A does it all.

I've found the amount of yeast for the 3 loaves
doesn't have to be absolutely exact.
The bread will be good, no matter.

This is a soft, almost moist bread.
Makes wonderful sandwiches, toast and french toast.
I have also rolled the dough out
after the first rise and dividing it,
to about a half inch thickness,
The width slightly shorter than the length of my pans,
And lightly buttered it.
Sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar
and rolled up,
Then placed in the pans.
Raisins and/or nuts can be added here, too.

Enjoy!

Rusty

This post was edited by therustyone on Sun, Jan 13, 13 at 0:33

Simple to know if your KA is a true Hobart or WP-imitation. Every true Hobart KA has the name Hobart somewhere - either a plaque on the side of the machine (the K5), or engraved on the bottom plate where the SS mixing bowl screws in (the K45).

The K5 had enough oomph for bread-baking. The K45 did not. It can manage a 1-lb loaf recipe, but it just does not have the "heft" of the K5. I once made a very stiff peanut butter cookie dough and the K45 actually started hopping across the table; it was pretty funny! Never made that recipe again, LOL.

I had lusted after the KA mixers forever before a local retailer went out of business and sold their stock at clearance in the late 1970's. I paid $100 for the K45 and that was a real bargain. You have to allow $$ for accessories - a second bowl, second whisk beater, and the new scraper beater are essential if you're going to use it a lot, IMHO.

Hobart currently makes only one type of consumer mixer, the Hobart N50. It is $2200 (the N50-619 is $2400, if you've got an extra couple of hundred $$). Cook's Illustrated rated it the best, hands-down, if you've got the money.

Whirlpool did not buy KitchenAid from Hobart. Hobart sold the small appliances to Dart & Kraft in 1980 and Whirlpool bought it from Dart & Kraft in 1986. What changes, if any, that Dart & Kraft made, I don't know, nor do I know how Whirlpool changed things and when. Personally, I would be suspect of anything post-Hobart.

One caution, do your research. Don't just go by wattage, that doesn't tell the whole story. And shopping by price can be risky. There are bottom end KitchenAid units that are no better than a $10 hand mixer but it gives the status symbol to people who are looking for form over function.

I haven't verified it but rumor has it that the old Hobart units had steel gears. (Take it with a grain of salt, since admittedly it's a rumor and I haven't investigated it to confirm or deny.) A lot of the subsequent KitchenAid units had plastic gears and when they went to that, IDK. Some of the "heavy duty" or "professional" or whatever sales gimmick term they use are alleged to have aluminum gears, which would be better than plastic I guess but nowhere near what the old unit was assuming they were steel.

Jkom, I have to disagree with you. I have a 33 year old Hobart Kitchenaid K45 that handles six to 8 cups of flour without a problem.

I used it all the time for kneading bread dough until I bought a Magic Mill for that purpose.

Ann

Dart & Kraft essentially "held" the KA mixer name. It has been verified many times that Hobart continued to make the mixers for D&K until WP Corp. bought the rights and factories.

Ann_t, you're braver than I am. In the decades I've owned my K45 there have been two recipes - one bread, one the cookie I referred to above - that have made the mixer seriously labor. The grinding noise was not pleasant to hear, so I avoided heavy doughs after that.

I've pretty much given up most baking anyway, so I've no need for another mixer. I did have a bread machine once, which was an early model and not that great. I bought it after deciding not to use the K45 for bread dough again. Used it for a few years, then gave it to a friend.

I understand the new bread machines are much better, but these days we don't eat much bread so we don't need one.

This post was edited by jkom51 on Sat, Jan 5, 13 at 23:38

One of the important things I would suggest to all:

Remember when you buy a new car it is recommended to break-in the car gently for the initial miles? All mechanical devices should be treated the same way. That's why the same device for some lasts forever and for others only a few days.

When you get a new mixer, don't try to find out how tough it is the first day. The parts inside the machine needs time to smooth out to work with each other.

Especially the motor, typically the motor is a brushed universal motor, and the carbon rotor brushes need to be properly seated, otherwise the motor can have problems.

dcarch

My KA with the Hobart plaque was definitely bought after 1980, so whether the company was owned by Hobart or someone else, Hobart still put its name on the mixers. That stopped when Whirlpool took over.

I've often wondered why my vintage mixer can easily churn through heavy bread and cookie doughs where newer machines struggle. My niece has a new KA in some glamorous color with lots of wattage, but it shudders and heaves if she makes anything heavier than a cake. I concluded that the quality of the machinery has declined. What a pity.

The $2200 price tag on a new Hobart is well beyond my budget, but I have thought about a used commercial Hobart if my KA were to die. They're often sold in restaurant supply stores. But they probably don't have accessories to fit, so wouldn't be useful for anything except mixing doughs.

Cheryl

I have a very heavy white Kitchen Aid mixer, that lives in the only lower cabinet it fits in. There is no counter space for it at all. Tough to even use it on the counter... but what to do.... LOL

I have to have it sitting sideways to use it.

Yesterday I had it out, to make some banana bread. Thus, I looked. Mine is a Hobart, made in Troy, Ohio.

I got it back in the early 80's, brand new, for $290. I wouldn't give or sell it away. One of my daughters will undoubtedly get it one day, as the other has a nice dark blue one, I bought her for Christmas one year (around 1999).

Here is the banana bread recipe:

Banana Bread

2 c sugar
1/2 c shortening

2 eggs
3 c flour
1 pinch salt

1/2 c buttermilk
1 to 1 1/2 t baking soda

3 to 4 ripe bananas mashed
1/2 c nuts (optional)

Cream sugar and shortening, add eggs, flour, salt, buttermilk (mix the buttermilk and baking soda together) mix and finally bananas and nuts. Pour in to greased bread pans.
Bake at 350 degree for 1 hour, top should be split.

It made 3 small loaves.

My Hobart KA died after around 33 years of use. While they were great machines, they are getting quite old so I'd be hesitant to spend much on a used one now - depending on how it was used, it may be nearing end of life.

I've had a new KA since 2005. I don't know which model Azzalea bought, but my experience with the new one doesn't match hers. We got the 6 quart pro lift bowl model and it has plenty of power. I use it for bread dough sometimes - mainly when the batch is bigger than the bread machine handles. Each Passover, it whips egg whites for many sponge cakes. It hasn't had a problem with heavy cookie doughs either. I use the pasta maker and the shredder attachments too.

The slow start feature means that it is much better about not splashing on start-up. It isn't because it doesn't have the power to start fast because if I start it at a low speed to combine ingredients and then switch to high speed it changes right away. I prefer the slow start - it's a small advantage over my old Hobart KA.

You can get a new Hobart countertop mixer for only $2200.

I think the problem with an old mixer is that it's old, and you don't know the history, you could end up with an expensive problem. People here, who still have their 35 year old mixers know what they can and shouldn't do with them. But you don't know why someone is selling their 30 or 40 year old mixer, no matter what they tell you.

I think that if you do commercial baking, get a commercial Hobart, but if you make a couple of loaves of bread a week, get a good breadmaker and mix up the dough in that.

I have a KA, which I use for all sorts of projects, even bread doughs, and I love it, but when I start making bread every winter, I get my bread machine out for mixing dough. That's what it's designed to do.

Thanks Rusty for posting the bread recipe. Liking the idea of rolls with nuts and raisins!

Actually older mixer slows down speed by using fewer field coil windings or by cutting down voltage using a diode. As a result the motor has reduced power and struggles with heavy loads.

Modern motor speed control uses solid state electronics known as PWM ( Pulsed Width Modulated) design to slow down the motor with full torque.

In both cases, universal motors depend heavily on ventilation using internal turbines to evacuate heat, under slow speed and heavy loads motors can over heat.

dcarch

My old Hobart made was put into use around 1950 in a smallish commercial business until I acquired it a little over 30 years ago. It doesn't get as much use now as it did when I first got it and used it for catering and such. I had to redo the electrical cord once. I've bought a new whisk when a loose tine broke off. It's old and it looks yellowed. I don't hide it away [or I'd never use it]. I have furniture in my kitchen rather than traditional cabinets so the Hobart sits on a old red and white porcelain top table under a window. If anything happened to it I can't imagine preferring a modern Kitchen Aid. I'd go out of my way big time to find another very old Hobart that works.

This is gonna sound like I'm bragging, but I did snag a good deal on a Hobart N50 a few years ago. A nursing home was going out of business, and they had some good kitchen equipment and other items they were auctioning off. I got the N50 for around $300. It's built like a tank, heavy as lead, only 3 speeds but more torque than a John Deere. I've never been able to stress this machine. And most of the items--paddles, bowls-- from my 350 watt KA fit this mixer as well.

The nice thing is that it's completely serviceable by the local Hobart repair facility.

"----It's built like a tank, heavy as lead, only 3 speeds but more torque than a John Deere. ---"

You can get one of this motor speed control. It will give you variable speed control and soft start.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: speed control

I've never found that my "old" Hobart struggles with a heavy load.

~Ann

I got my KA with the bowl lifting and lowering device in 1974. It works well, and I highly recommend getting a 2nd bowl for when you beat egg whites with a recipe. It works well, but I strained it when I increased a yeast bread recipe, and the motor struggled and overheated. I think it was some motor oil. However, it works well nevertheless, and I do not double or triple yeast doughs since then. It is such a heavy sucker that I find I don't use it as much just to avoid lifting it onto my kitchen island.

I know this is an old thread, but it has lots of good info.

I sold commercial kitchen equipment when Hobart was still manufacturing all of their commercial mixers with steel gears. Hobart was the number one selling commercial mixer in the world. They only had one viable competitor at the time - used Hobart. The third place competitor was so distant it was practically in another galaxy!

If you are considering a vintage Hobart Kitchenaid - they can be painted any color you want. The dealership I worked for used automobile grade spray paint to refurbish all of their machines. I bought a K5SS at a thrift store recently for $13.99 - no bowl, no attachments. I'm just having a problem deciding what color I want!

I appreciate having access to all the great points made about Kitchenaid stand mixers. Does anyone know how to tell the year a mixer made have been manufactured? I have a pristine K5SS (solid state) 5 qt. bowl lift mixer. Its model # is K5SSDWH. I do not see a Hobart name on it but I will look again. Thanks for the excellent Oatmeal recipe by the way....

Look underneath the mixer; there should be a sticker inside with a serial number on it.

Call KitchenAid's 800 number, give them the serial number and they'll tell you, OR look at the chart on page 41 of this PDF of the KitchenAid manual from these nice folks: http://www.kitchenaidparts.eu/documents/pdf/service-manual/classic-svc-manual-new-email-version.pdf.

The chart should help you determine your mixer's age but applies only to post-1980 KitchenAid mixers. My pre-1980 Hobart mixer serial number doesn't line up with this chart.

Thank you very much for your advice. While my unit does not appear to be Hobart manufactured I, at least, know its history. Serial number according to page 41 identified my unit to be manufactured in Greenville, Ohio in 1997 during the 12th week of the year and well prior to the 99999 point necessitating reverting to the "1" beginning assignment. Based on this information I must assume that my mixer is a Whirlpool unit. However, based upon its performance to date I am satisfied that I have a good mixer and will enjoy years to come. Again, thanks for taking the time to respond and many wishes for continued good cooking!!!!!

I do have a Hobart N50 (bought for me brand new by my mother about 6 years ago) and yes, it was awfully expensive but I love it! I don't know that the present day Kitchenaids are made in the USA or only assembled in the USA from imported parts. I tried to purchase an N50 on eBay but it was a nightmare. It was described as being "like new" and the price was around $1000.00. When I received it, it had dings, the bowl didn't seat properly, and it was a general mess. I got a refund but I had to pay enormous shipping to return it. If I hadn't received the N50 as a gift, I think I would have looked for an old Hobart/Kitchenaid mixer.

I am glad to find this site. My question for readers: I have a K45SS tilt head and a KV25M (says "professional") lift head. I was going to sell the older one, but am thinking it might be the better one as it is made by Hobart where as it appears the newer one is by Whirlpool. Or should I sell them both and get a ? I haven't made bread with either (I have a decent breadmaker) but would like to use the KA. Thank you.

HI. I can only say my KitchenAid by Whirlpool, a 1997 model, has proven to be excellent. Personally when comparing mine with current models I do not see the same quality in materials used to make the machine. Heavy plastic just does not equal solid metal. Therefore, I suggest your trying out both over a period of time and deciding which machine is the easiest for you to run. This action may help you decide your next step.

I have never been disappointed with my first KA but had a chance to get the upgrade, or at least I thought it was an upgrade.. I'm not a fan of Whirlpool but I think you are giving me good advice, jojeda 17737. This newer one is probably from the late 90's so hopefully I will have the same enjoyment you have had with yours.

Sue Mart, I bought both my KA's from Craigslist. The first one I bought is a 1997 Whirlpool and it had speed problems (easily fixed but have yet to do it). I kept my eye out for a Hobart and scored one for $50 a year after a bought the first (also for $50). The Hobart didn't have any speed problems, and it was made in 1977!

If you have to sell one, I'd keep the Hobart as they are highly coveted.

Thank you. That is what I was thinking after I first read these posts. My Hobart KA is 250 watts and the newer one is 550 and has the lift bowl, which I like. I have pretty much decided not to sell the Hobart until I give both a complete and thorough workout. That means BREAD. But the space they take up...and I also have a 1940's Sunbeam which is on the counter because it's age fits my very vintage kitchen image. lol

does anyone have a serial number to a broken kitchen aid K5SS if so can you send me it wicklundshelly@gmail.com thank u in advance

Why?