Kristin S, I agree, the Ankarsrum (aka DLX/Electrolux) isn't something one buys on a whim! It will last, and most cooks pass theirs down to daughters and sons... I've a friend who dearly loves her KA and wouldn't trade it for anything... Re: the issues you mentioned with your KA, here's a photo I found after my first unboxing of the Ankarsrum... kinda shows you the inside and the most commonly used attachments (2) I use for mixing breads, brownies, and cookie dough's. This shows the 'roller' and 'scraper' attachment: You can move the roller away from the bowl side and fix it to any distance from the bowl side and tighten that setting easily, but the roller will still move outward into the bowl's middle freely on it's own helping to mix/incorporate. Sometimes, if there's a little something (and it's always precious little) in the middle that's not mixing, I just manually move the roller (holding the chrome arm on top) over to the middle, then let it go, so it moves back. It's a bit odd initially, using something called a 'roller' to mix ingredients... but it does an amazing job incorporating unbeaten eggs, sugar, flour, extracts, raisins and choc chips (without crushing - no more hand mixing chips and raisin!), anything, really. The bowl rotates constantly at the speed setting of your choice, it never stops unless you turn it off. I add ingredients as it's moving, and flours never puff out, or get on anything... easy cleanup, too! You've lots of open room to add ingredients even from large bowls. I always make sure my butter or cream cheese is super soft (for the roller and especially the whisks and cake whisk attachments. There is no lifting of anything... not until your batter/dough is mixed. You un-tighten the roller arm, it moves out of the way on it's own, and you lift the bowl out. You can see the scraper is naturally sitting against the side of the bowl. The scraper gets "everything" and I rarely move it unless there's a bit of unmixed floor or ingredient on the scraper, at which point I just move it gently out toward the middle of the bowl, then let it naturally go back to the bowl side. Now, if you need to whip egg whites first, you'd instead use the clear bowl and use the whipping attachment instead. If you are making a thin batch of cookie dough or a cake that's thinner, again, you'd use the clear bowl but with the cake whisks. The clear bowl does not turn on it's own, it stays stationary while the whisks move. Here's a photo of the dials.. One changes speed (variable so any speed, plus the high speed is well, very high! It's not got labels, so you basically just go by how it feels and looks to you. The other turns it on, and if you turn it past the 'on' it acts as a timer as well... you can walk away if you need to and it will shut itself off. Another nice thing is the scraper, a simple plastic spatula that fits into the grooves of the 'roller', making batter scraping so easy! Weight: it's no lightweight at 19 lbs, but I think the KA weighs in at 25-29 lbs. Height: I've got 18" between counter top and cabinets... easy fit. Noise: You can hear it, but it runs on a belt drive... it's much quieter than any mixer I've used. I ordered mine from Pleasant Hill Grain, and after it arrived they sent me an email with a .pdf to print out explaining attachments to use, speed control conversions, etc. So, yes, a learning curve, but it's not a huge learning curve : ) There are a multitude of attachments also, but you turn the Ankarsrum on it's side to use most of them. I think the KA is great for many people, but has drawbacks. The primary drawback of the Ankarsrum is the price, IMO.

The new Hobarts were not as well reviewed in that article. While they said it worked well with anything they threw at it, they added -- "Narrow bowl mouth (the narrowest) made it awkward to add ingredients, and turning off power to change speeds was a painÂbut not as much as transporting the 55-pound beast." And then there is the price tag. I think availability and actual pricing may be a deciding factor as well as features. I'd never seen a Cuisinart mixer before when I got mine. I know I can get service and parts on a KA, but don't on the Cuisinart -- which makes that warranty more important, but what will it mean if you have to put it into play? I still don't know where I could actually go and see the Cuisinart mixer -- maybe Williams Sonoma? Also, the KA pro model is listed at $399 -- more than the Cuisinart, but mine was under $250 at actual purchase. And I had a choice of colors. Bottom line, I don't think you're likely to go wrong with either of them -- and probably not any of the top models. Best bet is to see if one feels more comfortable to you or a color pulls at your heartstrings. Have fun deciding. :-)

On those older KA's, does the Hobart label show, or is it hidden somewhere? Just wondering, since DH goes to lots of estate sales, and one of those older KA's would be a great find if he knows what to look for. As for colors, remember avocado green? It seems to be back. I was looking at the KA's at Macys, and they had a green one that looked just like the old avocado green. I don't know what they call the color now. I didn't take the time to look at it that closely. Who knows, maybe the old "boring" colors will make a comeback. Sally

The restaurant supply one has a dishwasher safe stainless steel flat beater and dough hook. The ones on my 6 quart have aluminum and can't go through the dishwasher. Mine is doing fine and a nice dark grey color, but if it gave up the ghost, the stainless steel attachments would be desirable. The Williams Sonoma website doesn't state the material for the flat beater and dough hook but it says they should be hand washed. The KitchenAide site doesn't show the Williams Sonoma version of the mixer.