KitchenAid Artisan 5.6 L Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer Reviews

Their secondhand Professional squeals and grinds loudly with metal-on-metal noise, leaks grease at the front, and needed a new worm follower, bevel gears and gasket.

A brand-new KSM60 with the 500 watt motor ran fine for about 30 seconds, then stopped completely when the bread dough started to form; the speed switch did nothing and it would not restart, so they swapped it in store.

After about ten years of bread making, their Professional's head fell off: the planetary shaft's press fit had failed, a known flaw of that model type.

Their 6qt Costco-style mixer bought secondhand started screeching with a metallic smell after two uses, but KitchenAid chat support sent a brand-new replacement within a week.

Bought a new 5.5 qt bowl-lift at Target and says it was predictably defective, so they are waiting on a replacement.

Their lift mixer quit after 30 seconds and Target replaced it without issue, though they worry the replacement may fail too.

Their brand-new 5.5-qt bowl-lift stopped working after about 10 minutes of use, so they returned it for a 5-qt tilt-head, which has worked fine.

Paid $350 for the KSM60 and it stopped working and would not power on within 30 minutes of use, after sounding odd and whirring when first switched on. They are sending it back and consider it poorly made.

Bought the 6-qt from Costco; the first would not turn on, and the exchange cracked loudly and puffed blue-white smoke on speed 1 with dough, so they returned both and gave up on KitchenAid.

Their 5.5-qt bowl-lift broke on first use a few weeks after purchase.

Bought a 5.5-qt bowl-lift about a year and a half ago and found the quality not great, saying they would pick a different brand.

Their new refurbished 5.5-qt lift mixer struggled with a low-hydration dough, worse than their previous tilt-head, which they say was well within its capability.

Both they and their brother got 5.5-qt lift mixers that died within the first few uses; KitchenAid replaces them but the new one might also fail.

Upgraded from an older 5-quart KitchenAid to the new 6-quart KSM60 from Costco and it seems to struggle with the dough hook, which the old one never did; they wonder if the motors are smaller now.

Bought a Costco lift mixer to complement their tilt-head and found it a total piece of crap, so they returned it and bought one elsewhere that worked much better.

Bought this Sam's Club bowl-lift and calls it junk for bread: a trained baker, they have to babysit it on doughs for fear of overheating, the hook often won't grab the dough, and the bowl-height screw needs fiddling.

Their 600 Pro was repaired at the factory and failed again just 1 year and 3 months later.

Their Sam's Club 5.5qt bowl-lift died within the first few uses from a bad circuit board fuse; KitchenAid support was poor until they messaged socials, then sent a replacement.

Their Professional 600 stopped turning the planetary under load while the internal gears and shaft kept spinning, which a repairer diagnosed as a failed press-fit shaft.

Making stiff doughs in their 6-qt lift mixer warped the planetary stem, causing play and metal shavings; they paid about $75 for a new planetary and now reserve it for softer doughs.

Has returned a defective lift mixer to Target and is now on a second mixer that broke while making banana bread.

Their KA 6-qt bowl lift could not handle the amount of use it got over Thanksgiving week, so they bought an Ankarsrum.

Has had their 6-qt Professional 600 for a decade, and the bowl lock lever has started jamming.

Their Agave lift mixer shut off five minutes into first use and never turned back on.

Their new lift mixer stopped just as chocolate chips were mixed in; KitchenAid shipped a replacement after a three-hour call-back wait.

Their silver Target lift mixer stopped working during its third use after 30 seconds.

Had to return a new lift mixer with the exact same failure while making cookies.

Returned two Target lift mixers that failed the same way and went with the 6-quart from Costco.

Their new Target lift mixer ($299 on sale) died on first use, stopping completely when they added chocolate chips to cookie dough.

Their lift mixer from Target stopped working after the first try with bread dough, and it never came back on.

Their Sam's Club bowl-lift worked for one minute and then suddenly stopped.

Their brand-new Christmas lift mixer was used fewer than five times and then would not turn on at all.

Their exact-model lift mixer died, and a call to KitchenAid brought a replacement quickly.

Bought the 6-qt bowl-lift from Costco and it stuttered on bagel dough and died within three minutes, while their Artisan tilt-head had handled the same dough.

Is on their third lift mixer since September, the first two from Sam's Club dying within the first uses, and the current one bought directly from KitchenAid.

Their 5.5-qt bowl-lift from Kohl's stopped working after the second use, the motor just quit.

Their 5.5-qt lift mixer died after 30 seconds of use.

Bought the Costco deal years ago and the gears stripped in the second year of use, so they returned it.

Stripped the gears on their 6 quart KitchenAid making a stiff bagel dough at 54% hydration.

Had their KitchenAid Pro repaired three times at $150 each for stripped gears before switching to a used Hobart A-120.