Review of KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixers

I was a bit nervous about this Kitchen Aid model based on the research I'd done on Amazon and the internet of previous models in the 6 quart range. I own and cherish a K5SS I bought 25 years ago. I will never part with this machine (with all its chips and cosmetic wear - it's been a faithful workhorse and one of my most prized possessions). I was ready for greater capacity, more power and a more cosmetically appealing mixer, so I took the plunge with the KP26M1XC (licorice). I'm glad I did. The machine is a bit louder with more of a high whine at higher speeds, but I would expect that with the added power and size. This morning I took it for a "test drive" with a 600 gram (flour) batch of pizza dough using very high gluten flour which I kneaded at speed 2 for 5 minutes. The sound under load wasn't at all unpleasant and the spiral dough hook really works the dough like the professional mixers I used in culinary school and on the job. I've mostly used my 5 quart Kitchen Aid for cakes, muffins, pate choux for eclairs, mashed potatoes and whipped cream and meringue. I've made my bread dough exclusively in my large capacity Cuisinart food processor. Now that I have a more powerful Kitchen Aid mixer, I feel confident it can take the challenge of the high gluten dough (Take heed: DO NOT USE MORE THAN 8 CUPS PER BATCH OF HIGH GLUTEN BREAD FLOUR, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR OR ANY OTHER HEAVY GRAIN FLOUR. THE 12 CUP CAPACITY REFERS EXCLUSIVELY TO ALL PURPOSE FLOUR. ALSO, ONLY USE SPEED 2 when kneading dough. (Repeat this to yourself 20 times and post a notice above your machine, especially if you have a spouse, kids or roomate(s) in your household that might use the machine.) Caught up in the excitement of this new, beautiful machine I was inspired to purchase the pasta roller accessory based on the terrific reviews on Amazon, I also added the sausage stuffer to my order (could this be used to fill eclairs? I wonder....) as an addition to my collection of accessories. Currently the attachment I use most frequently is the shredder which I use exclusively for shredding cheese for pizza and casseroles like lasagna. And, the Licorice is a matt, slightly pearlized finish, which nicely complements the black trim on my larger appliances. An unexpected bonus of this dark color is that it really shows the "dirt/flour/batter enabling me to get it "spanking" clean after use. With my middle-aged eyesight I find it hard to see the accumulating mess on my white machine.