I bought a Sunbeam Heritage Series MixMaster

[madmax]

Model 2349 you can see and read about it here: http://www.goodmans.net/item.asp?n=SN-2349&k=SN-2349&sc=mysm

It was on sale at Kohl's for 129.99 plus an additional % off - paid $105.00. It comes with 2 bowls and 3 different beaters - but no paddle beater. Is that a must have? The Sunbeam has 450 Watts - which I thought was good. The bowls are nice stainless steel but do not have handles. I could live that. :-)

I know most of you are diehard KitchenAid fans but, I'm not a big baker or bread maker so I'm hoping this will see me thru the 5 or 6 times a year I make cookies and cheesecake.

So what's your honest opinion. Should I bite the bullet and buy a KitchenAid Artisan which I saw and like: http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/Products.aspx?DeptID=0&CatID=023994&Grptyp=PRD&ItemId=0903a80

I've never been big on baking and cooking but, with you guys and the Food Network I'm hooked. Plus I quit smoking 14 days ago and all I can think about is fooooooood!!!
:9

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I am aware of the Sunbeam, but have never used it. On the other hand

I would recommend that Kitchenaid to **anyone**.

I now have the large 6 qt professional, but one just like that Artisan has served us well since 1972. My son now has it and its still going strong and actually looks and sounds like new. My other son just got the very same model, of about the same age, when we cleared out my mother's house last year. They just keep on keepin' on.

But more to the point, the Kitchenaid is the power source for quite an array of accessories. I'm not sure if a similar array of accessories are available for the Sunbeam.

As for the quitting smoking thing, Congrats!!!!! I wish I could. I fear the change from me looking like this: (.) to looking like this: (....), yanno?:hi:

[madmax]

3. Oy oy... I've got to make a decision before I start

making Christmas cookies which I planned to start on Thursday of next week. I like that Artisan model KitchenMaid.... <sigh>. Maybe I should just do it.

As for not smoking. I only quit 14 days ago but over the last 5 months I gained 30 lbs. Don't ask - I haven't a clue. I only eat one meal a day. Not by choice but, my life has been in the crapper so aggravation must agree with me. Had to break down and buy new jeans size 12 and underwear. Even the damn underwear were bothering me! x(

[bearfan454]

2. You can have a lot of fun with your new toy.

I have lot's of kitchen appliances.

[madmax]

4. oooooo and gadgets bearfan!

Mellon ballers, microplaner, tongs!! No not thongs, tongs. I've never had them and never used them before they're great. An that wire thing that the chinese chefs use - I love it. Turning into a regular little Juen Cleaver here in my old age.

I remember when I smoked pot and burned my bra. Hell, those were the good old days. Now I ponder the pros and cons of a mixer. :hippie:

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Hahahaha .... as to the mixer, here's another teaser for ya .....

Sparkly and I were in Bed Baff and Beyond tonight. She hadda get some towels, so i was in the hardware (cookware/small appliance) department .... and there, in all its newly introduced glory ..... made to fit any Kitchenaid mixer ........ all in a nice, alluring new package ..... just calling my name ........... m i k e y ......... oh mikey .... lookie here, sweetie ........

An ice cream maker! Freezing liquid filled bowl, special scraper attachment ....... I can taste the sorbet already. Sevenney nine bux.

So I go get Sparkly .... hey, wanna know what ta getcher husband fer Christmas ..... ? All my charm and all my best smiles an shit.

"But you just spent $200 for those two copper pans on Tuesday! I thought *that* was your Christmas present."

Sometimes she's no fun.

MMmmmm .... thongs ....... maybe ..... if they're my size ...... maybe I can convince her ....... dunno .......

(and no, no one *really* calls me Mikey. Just her when she feels ..... well .... :) )

[madmax]

10. Well, Mikey

Maybe Sparkly will surprise you, now that she knows you're a big kid! ;)

Copper pots - very nice.

I'm going to ban myself from BB&B. I'm a kid in a toy store.

[NMDemDist2]

6. yeah? but what about your new cookware

has that come yet?

[madmax]

8. Haven't gotten it yet.

They said they would ship it on the 9th when the check cleared. I can't wait for them to come. :bounce:

[yellowdogintexas]

7. I love my Sunbeam, it is my second one

makes wonderful cakes, cookies, etc.

I also have a hand mixer which is perfect for making meringue, whipped cream and small stuff

[madmax]

9. That's good to hear.

Does yours have a paddle beater?

[yellowdogintexas]

11. no, and I don't feel that I need one. I have the regular beaters,

the dough hook and two bowls. My old 1969 model did not have dough hooks either.

It will be strong enough to mix bread/roll dough up to the point you need to take it out and knead it by hand anyway. It really does a good job of the early blending in of the first flour additions, to get the gluten going good ...

I make wonderful cakes and cookies with it. I was afraid of the KitchenAid because it does everything so much faster..that I would overbeat my cakes ..so I just got another Sunbeam because I am familiar with them. I actually learned to make home made cakes on my mom's 1947 Sunbeam Mixmaster. So this is really my third one.

I have an idea that yours is stronger and fancier than mine since mine is 3 years old. I think you will love it and it doesn't weigh as much as the KitchenAid, another reason I stuck with the Sunbeam.

[madmax]

12. Thanks Tex

You made me feel so much better. I think it's going to work out just fine for me. In additon to getting it on sale for 105.00, I got $20 in Kohls Bonus money. So the final cost of this puppy was actually 85.00.

C'mere and sit by me Tex. ::pals:

[yellowdogintexas]

13. good shopper you!!!!!

We could definitely shop together, I love a bargain

[madmax]

14. Did I tell you about my crock pot!!

What a deal! Again, Kohl's - They had the crock pots all stacked on a table various sizes and shapes. All were Rival brand. There were the regular 3 settings and the programmable. There was a sign on a stand showing the Rival 6 qt 3 settings regular price 34.99 on sale for 15.99. I thought wow, good deal. The big 6 qt. puppy. I don't really need the programmable since I work in my basement I'm always home. In addition there was another little ticket attached to the sign stating another 10% off.

When I got to the register the cashier rang up 34.99 - I told her about the sign ...she called the manager and he said, yes that's the price, plus 10% off so I paid 14.39. The cashier freaked out, lol.

Must have been a mistake because when I went back later in the day the sign was gone. This is my first crockpot so if I hate it I won't feel I spent a lot of money for nothing. :bounce:

One other great find at Marshall's. A Henckels 7" chefs knife with the Twin logo made in Germany - the only Henckels I saw there with the twin logo. The rest had the one man logo which from what I learned from another DU'er are made in China. The Twin logo knives are made in Germany. Anyway... paid 9.99 for that. Hell, just must have been my lucky week.

[NMDemDist2]

15. i just want to know how big the addition to the house was when you

re-did your kitchen enough to hold all these goodies ROFL

:toast:

[madmax]

16. I have an older home

a 2 story 'colonial' fancy for old house. The rooms on the first floor are nice size. LR & DR 14 x 18. The kitchen is 13 x16 plus I have a 4x7' pantry and a 1/2 bath. When we bought this dump the only thing in the kitchen area was a stove build in 1949 - still working. There was no one base-cabinet of any kind or wall cabinets of any kind ever. In the room that I converted to a 1/2 bath there were 3 wooden shelves and the fridge, another relic. The pantry held the sink and a homemade type base cabinet with a china about that has glass doors.

The house was cheap but, it was a nightmare. It needed everything. I told my son it wasn't a fixer upper - it was a tear it down and rebuild. BTW... I had a condo with a teeeeny tiny kitchen. I ended up having to buy this from my son because he 'changed his mind' after I signed the mortgage for him. Kids!!!!

So here I am 11 years later finally finished with all the b.s. work - doing most of it myself cuz dear hubby doesn't know a hammer from a screw driver. I just do don't do plumbing, electric or roofing.

Now I have time to cook and a nice kitchen and it needs the toys like the crock pot, mixer, new pots and gadgets.

I wish you guys lived closer we could all get together, cook, drink eat and bash bush. :evilgrin:

[NMDemDist2]

17. take a stab at finish plumbing, there is nothing to it

I did all the finish plumbing in my little fixer upper bungalow in cal

when I married DH he "thought" he didn't know anything either, but last summer he replaced a section of green board and reset the tile (which is MUCH harder than doing it from scratch)

electrical is a bit trickier I'll agree

re roofs... heck I did an overlayment on my granny's roof when i was 19. as long as the plywood is sound, go to it :)

DH and I will probably end up doing the overlayment on this house this year since we can't afford to pay anyone else.

we ripped out all the carpet and laid vinyl "wood plank" flooring through out the entire house (except the kitchen which has very nice tile already). Folks who visit (4 years later now) still think it's wood and it is seamless and congruent from one end of the house to the other (which was quite a trick and a big heap of luck LOL)

congrats on your finished project then! lots of $$$ and headaches, but oh so nice when you get it done eh?

[Philostopher]

18. I love my Artisan series Kitchenaid ...

But I do bake bread fairly often in the winter, and my husband just spent a couple of hours making holiday cookies, so he uses it for that, too. We got a steal on ours on Amazon about a year ago, mixer, bowl, three beaters (paddle, stir, dough-hook) and a freebie add-on ... we took the meat grinder for the freebie. Paid $170 for the whole shebang.

That being said, my mother has only had two Sunbeam stand mixers since she got married in 1948. One of them she bought in the early fifties and used until the '80s, then she bought another one five or six years ago, she just used a hand mixer in the interim. She loved them, and I used the old one she had when I was learning to cook. I looked at them myself, but I couldn't pass up the deal on the Kitchenaid.