I have a friend who has an Hobart commercial mixer. It's fabulous ... you
could knead lead in it.

I quite like my Kitchenaid ... and I think you're right ... it's hard to
determine whether the quality has truly dropped. I suspect the reason the
price has come down is because so many more are being sold. When I bought
mine, it was definitely a "specialty" item. There weren't that many places
in town that carried them. Now you can buy then anywhere ... they've become
very chic. Even people who can't cook seem to have them ...

In any case, I am intrigued by the Magic Mill ... the fact that it can
handle 25 cups of flour puts it almost in the same league as a small Hobart
....

Allan

"Kenneth" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 16:20:31 -0500 (EST), wrote:
>
> >Hi - I've had good luck with my KitchenAid stand mixer. However, I bought
> >it over 10 years ago, and I've heard rumours that they aren't produced
> >with the same quality today as they used to be.
>
> Hi Allan,
>
> Many years ago, the smallest Hobart mixer design was sold to
> KitchenAid and became the familiar mixer we see today. The Hobart was
> a true commercial mixer with all that implied. The KitchenAid version
> was a fine home machine, but certainly not in the league of its
> ancestor.
>
> Ever since that transition, the rap on the KA has been that "they are
> not as good as they used to be." That certainly may be true (ion the
> sense of a deterioration in the quality of the post Hobart KA mixers,
> but I do wonder how folks can assess that sort of thing. Most of us
> would own one (or maybe two) in a lifetime rendering the comparison a
> bit difficult.
>
> One other thought:
>
> The fact that the cost (even in inflated dollars) has come down would
> concern me. These machines have not changed in very significant ways
> in many years. Why would they be much cheaper to manufacture today
> than years ago?
>
> Enjoy whatever you decide to get!
>
> --
> Kenneth
>
> If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."