KitchenAid KSM8990CU 8-Quart Commercial Countertop Mixer, 10-Speed, Gear-Driven, Contour Silver

We purchased this mixer when we got fed up by the Hamilton Beach 63227 that we’ve had for about 1 year. I was always eyeballing a KitchenAid, but when I found the Hamilton for just 60 bucks new I pulled the trigger. It was not a bad mixer, but it was never powerful enough, and regretted my decision every time I was using it. Well, time came to get a meat grinder attachment (the stainless SmokehouseChef one) and what a better opportunity to change our mixer? So we searched and researched and stumbled upon this commercial KitchenAid. What a great find!This mixer is similar in size to the Professional 600 we also considered. It is almost 17” tall, so it fits perfectly under the cabinet (and it looks fantastic too, orange cord included - tucked away in the back). And because it doesn’t tilt, I can keep it in one position and never move it (the Hamilton - a tilt head model - we needed to take out every time as we couldn’t tilt it under the cabinet). Also, the 8qt bowl is big (or at least that's my impression after switching from a 4.5qt one), but it is mostly tall. It is so tall in fact that there are issues adding ingredients - when we use this bowl we always have to lower it to add ingredients. It seems (from what I read) that the pouring shield from the Professional 600 6qt bowl fits this unit. But we never bought the shield - instead, to mitigate this issue we purchased the KitchenAid KSMC5QBOWL 5qt bowl for about 40 bucks) and that one is perfect for our everyday mixing needs.We love the fact that all attachments are stainless steel. Very good quality too and NSF rated for restaurant use. They are BIG, and solid! We switched most of our small appliances and cookware to stainless, and this is one very important reason we chose this KitchenAid unit (the Hamilton aluminum-coated attachments started to chip after just a few uses). We have tried all attachments and all performed very well. But we needed to adjust the bowl height to get them to properly scrape the edges. There is one attachment that we considered (the KitchenAid KAFE7L) but didn’t yet really feel the need for it.Using it is a pleasure! This thing is a beast. Nothing can stop it! It has so much torque! And it is do quiet too. It features a slow start - when it gets to the speed selected all you hear is a very quiet motor driving the gear drive (I cannot really explain it; it just sounds like a well-built, solid machinery). It mixes anything we through at it - pizza dough, play dough, paleo (sticky) dough, panettone dough, eggs, etc. - with so much ease. It also drives that meat grinder without any strain - almost as if nothing is there.The lift-bowl is a bit more inconvenient than the tilt-head model (as my Hamilton was) but the torque on this puppy would have probably torn that hinge apart. To see the true difference in the motor design please refer to the pictures I uploaded - the KSM8990 has direct drive, and the entire motor unit is actually cheaper to replace (about 50 bucks) than replacing all parts that could go wrong in the other 2 models.It is one of my best appliances (I try to purchase commercial quality as often as I can - I also have the Waring WFP14SC, the Waring MX1200XTX, the Weston 08-0801-W, among others) and I reach for it every time I have the chance.All in all, highly recommended!

I am extremely pleased with this mixer! This our 4th KitchenAid mixer in 25 years. All of the others are still running like new - we just needed more. We wanted a heavier model for making various types of dough. Dough is the toughest thing for a mixer to mix. The commercial models have a completely redesigned transmission. I don't know exactly how the transmission has changed internally as they are now sealed and part of the motor assembly but it is now a right angle configuration. Previous models employed several gears which were prone to more rapid wear especially when making larger amounts of dough. It appears the motor is now in direct alignment/coupled with the accessory connection. The entire transmission mechanism is much simpler with fewer moving parts and the result is a significantly quieter mixer. Another benefit of this new transmission design is no leakage of grease as the mixer ages. Previous models after many years would begin to leak grease because the grease would break down and separate. This required periodic overhaul of the gear case where the old grease needed to be completely wiped out and replaced with fresh food grade grease.The mixer when running at high speed is very smooth. It depends on which attachment is being used and how well balanced it is. We purchased additional 8 quart and 5 quart "J" handle bowls designed for this mixer. The 5 quart is great for making small batches. The only thing is the bowl guard doesn't cover the gap between the top of the 5 quart bowl and the bowl guard because the dimension between the attachment tabs and the top of the bowl is much shorter. We also purchased 1 additional paddle, dough hook and wire whip available here on Amazon so we could prep or clean while another batch is in the mixer.One other major improvement is the wire whisk/whip. The design uses 11 wires configured more densely in a rectangular profile. We noticed that egg whites whipped significant faster vs our Pro 6. I think it is because the wires are positioned non-symmetrically so they are always whipping through in a different area of the ingredient being whipped.Everything that could possibly come into contact with food is made of stainless steel including the planetary and bowl guard. The attachments are significantly heavier especially the dough hook. The dough hook is not balanced and the manual warns to not run the mixer beyond speed 2. I ran a test and the mixer will wobble across the counter if it is run at high speed with the dough hook attached. The bowl guard is a great safety feature and extremely easy and non-intrusive to use. We especially like it when small kids are near the mixer when it is running. It will prevent their fingers getting inside where this stronger horsepower mixer would likely cause significant injury.

Great product. It came in its original packaging, impeccable and with all the components. Truly remarkable and would recommend to anyone looking for a good quality product.