Brushed Chrome Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer SM-55BC

---

I bought this to replace a 5 qt. KitchenAid Artisan. I do a little cake decorating and I needed something that would handle large batches of buttercream icing a couple times per week, as well as general kitchen use. It was a toss up between this one and the KitchenAid Pro. I was a little nervous about spending so much money on something that doesn't have the solid reputation that KitchenAid mixers have, but I'm so glad I took the chance! This is a wonderful mixer!! In my opinion, it is far superior to the KitchenAids in almost every way. I would recommend this to anyone.
Pros:
It handles large and small quantities equally well.
The more powerful motor is wonderful! It handles lots of heavy dough and icing with ease.
The splash guard forms a tight seal. Not air tight, but when I make huge batches of buttercream icing (using 5# of powdered sugar) it keeps in all the powdered sugar dust and I don't have quite so much to clean up afterward. In fact, I have very little to clean up!
If you start on a high speed it gets faster gradually so that you don't end up splashing what is in the bowl all over you.
The timer turns the mixer off automatically when time's up. No more over mixing!!
The paddle, whisk and dough hook are dishwasher safe.
I can't say anything about the attachments as I don't have any yet, but I love that I can add a blender or chopper to it without having to by the whole small appliance.
Cons:
It is mostly plastic and therefore much lighter than the KitchenAid. I haven't found this to be a problem at all with it walking of wobbling like I thought I would. But, the plastic body makes it look kind of cheap.
It is louder than my KitchenAid was.

Overall, the cons are very minimal. I've not found them to be enough of a bother to skew my opinion of the mixer. I absolutely LOVE this mixer and I will never go back to KitchenAid!

White Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer SM-55

---

I was originally looking at KitchenAid stand mixers (I needed to replace a 20+ year old mixer that I had - a Sunbeam Mixmaster) and then I saw the Cuisinart SM-55. It had more power and just as many features as the KitchenAid mixers did and it cost considerably less (I had bought the SM-55 in white and saved an additional $50).

As soon as it arrived I couldn't wait to run it through its paces!

I couldn't be more thrilled with my purchase. I look at it on the counter in the kitchen (it slides right under the cabinet overhang) and am just very pleased with my purchase decision.

Buy this mixer (if you don't care about it being chrome, opt for the white and save another $50), you won't be disappointed!

Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer

---

This stand mixer features a powerful 800-watt motor that can handle the heaviest mixing tasks. Its large, 5-1/2-quart, stainless-steel bowl accommodates big batches--even double recipes. The unit also provides 12 mixing speeds, along with a 15-minute countdown timer and automatic shutoff, for maximum precision. Choose the slow-start function to eliminate splatter or the ultra-gentle fold function to carefully blend in delicate ingredients. The mixer's tilt-back head allows for easy access to the mixing bowl and makes attaching accessories simple.

Accessories include a chef's whisk, a flat mixing paddle, and a dough hook, as well as a splashguard. The whisk aerates ingredients to increase volume or can also be used on slow speed to gently combine dry ingredients. Contoured to reach the bottom and sides of the bowl, the flat mixing paddle ensures thorough mixing. The dough hook makes hand kneading obsolete, while the splashguard offers an extra-wide pouring spout for easily adding ingredients. The stand mixer also contains three power outlets, including a high-speed outlet for its optional dedicated attachments (meat grinder, citrus juicer, blender, food processor, or pasta maker--all sold separately). The stand mixer measures 15-1/2 by 10 by 12-1/2 inches and carries a three-year product warranty and a five-year motor warranty.

From the Manufacturer

More than 30 years ago Cuisinart changed the way the world cooked. Now it's changing the way the world mixes with the Cuisinart stand mixer. The new extra-large Cuisinart 5-quart mixer has the power, capacity, and precision to handle any job a recipe requires and delivers more power to mix even the heaviest dough. There’s also more capacity to double and triple recipes. The mixer comes with three accessories, allowing you to mix, whip, or even knead dough. It has 12 speeds to ensure splatter-free starts and fabulous finishes. In addition, Cuisinart offers optional attachments that can be purchased separately. Each attachment connects to one of the three power outlets on the mixer (two on the top and one on the front) to let you blend, process food, squeeze juice from your favorite citrus fruits, make homemade pasta, or grind your own meats. Multiple Outlets Mean More Functionality High-speed power outlet for the blender and food processor attachment (sold separately), which connects to the rear power outlet on top of the stand mixer. Mid-speed power outlet for the citrus juicer attachment (sold separately), which connects to the front power outlet on the top of the stand mixer. Slow-speed power outlet for the large meat grinder and the pasta-maker attachments (sold separately), which connect to the power outlet behind the slow-speed outlet cover on the front of the stand mixer head.

An Array of Helpful Features

The mixer's tilt-back head securely locks the stand mixer into a raised position, which allows easy access to the 5-quart mixing bowl and makes it easy to attach accessories. The stainless-steel bowl includes handles, which makes the bowl easy to hold, scrape, and remove, and it's oversized to let you mix larger quantities.The mixer has a handy 15-minute countdown timer, plus a slow-start function that eliminates splatter for the most delicate ingredients. The fold function allows you to mix in ingredients at the lowest speed with two options--continuous, to blend ingredients, and pulse, to combine ingredients. Each pulse generates 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 revolutions of the flat mixing paddle, chef's whisk, or dough hook. The flat mixing paddle, dough hook, or chef's whisk spins independently while rotating around the mixing bowl for the quickest, most thorough results. No need to rotate the mixing bowl--Cuisinart’s stand mixer does all the work for you.

Features:

• Large 5-quart-capacity polished stainless-steel bowl
• Powerful 800-watt motor
• 15-minute countdown timer
• Auto shutoff and 12 speeds
• Includes 3 accessories: chef's whisk, flat mixing paddle, dough hook
• Splashguard with pour spout to prevent spattering
• Recipe book
• Power unit: clean with a damp cloth and dry
• Bowls and tools dishwasher-safe (tools top-rack dishwasher-safe)
• Warranty: Limited 3-year product warranty and a full 5-year motor warranty

---

Choose the Color you like to learn more:
White Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer
Black Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer 
Brushed Chrome Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer

Black Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer SM-55BK

---

We've been wanting a stand mixer for a while. I wasn't sure I wanted one since I have a Cuisinart hand held mixer (which hurts my hand after going for a while, btw). I felt hesitant, but my husband really thought we should have one since we both cook a lot, and are home gourmet cooks.

The negatives for the Kitchen Aid were a lot. The fact that they were using plastic parts, for instance, and that many people had a lot of problems with them made us leery of buying a KA, though, let's face it the KA design is classic.

We also needed something to fit underneath the the cabinets on the kitchen counter.

So we ordered the DeLonghi one from some place that just sells stand mixers on the internet. After ordering it, we phoned DeLonghi and found out that they are no longer making that stand mixer!!! So we cancelled our order.

Cooks Illustrated had rated the DeLonghi stand mixer very high, as a "recommended" item. It also rated the KA Artisan "recommended", but the DeLonghi was "highly recommended".

So, then it was back to square one, no mixer.

Then DH was perusing the Cooks Illustrated site recently and said, "Hey they said the Cuisinart is the best!". So that did it, it's the best? We're going to buy it. We also read ALL the reviews here at amazon.

So the mixer came, and here's what we've made in it. Right now we are using Active Dry Yeast to make the breads. (That's all that Costco has right now).

The artisan bread on the video and the recipe book that they give you in the machine is ok, not great. They say to rise it 3x, and we did exactly as they said, but 3x is probably way too many rises. It didn't do that well on the 3rd rise.

Chocolate Chip cookies. We made 1/2 a batch and they were soft and delicious, and it took almost NO TIME to make them, unlike before with the hand mixer. About a year ago we made cookies for my husband's relatives in England, and it took me 5 hours of prepping and baking for several dozen using a hand held mixer. With this it will be much much easier. You can use the timer function and continue to do more prep if you need to.

Buttermilk Artisan Bread - worked fantastically. We had it rise 2x, not 3, and baked it on the pizza stone. The recipe was something we found at Cooks.

Tonight I made Hamburger and Hot Dog buns by following Moomies recipe. [...]. They were great. And they rose great too! They were rising before I even put them into the oven to rise. (gas oven - lowest temp - put the oven on for 2 mins after it hits the correct temp).

I know the Cuisinart Stand Mixer is a relative newcomer to the stand mixer market but I hightly recommend it.

Lastly, right now you can buy this at Linens And Things, for the same Amazon price but 20% off with their 20% off coupons (google them, or they come to your home, they will also accept Bed Bath & Beyond coupons). So you can go to lnt.com and put this in, with your coupon and for us with tax it came to $302. We wanted the black one, rather than the chrome one (which looks silver), and silver one (which looks silver), there's also a white one. LNT has the silver ones and the white ones at their regular stores, so you can use your coupon (even outdated ones) there or online.    

---