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Kitchenaid is one of the leading names in the at-home baking industry, but in the last decade, they have begun to expand their product range to include some items designed to be used in professional kitchens.
Understandably, a lot of professionals have been skeptical about whether Kitchenaid understands the features a machine needs to be used in the catering industry.
We’ve put together this guide to help you decide if the main machine in this range – the Professional 600 Stand Mixer – can work for you and your business.
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In this article, we will be looking at all of the key features of the Professional 600 and seeing whether they stand up to the expectations of the catering industry.
If you are an at-home baker looking for the best Kitchenaid for your home please check out this article – Kitchenaid Classic vs Artisan.
Kitchenaid – Industry Shapers
Kitchenaid launched one of America’s first automated egg beaters in 1919, and since then have dominated their industry.
Originally designed to cut down the workload for kitchen staff and housewives, the Kitchenaid machines have evolved far beyond that.
After having only offered household kitchen appliances for nearly 80 years, in the last decade Kitchenaid has begun to roll out a range of professional tools. This started with the Professional 600 series – a counter-top mixer with the power of any floor mixer.
Kitchenaid continues to push the boundaries of possibility in the kitchen and does it with award-winning style.
The Kitchenaid Professional 600 Stand Mixer Review
If you’re wondering whether or not to purchase a Professional 600 from Kitchenaid read on. We have put together a guide to this standing mixer, it includes everything you need to know before deciding to make your purchase.
We also have reviews of the Classic and Artisan mixer options from
The Options
We will be talking about the Professional 600 Stand Mixer in this article, there are two options of this mixer available. One with a stainless steel, burnished bowl, and the other with a glass bowl. Both bowls come with handles.
Both options are available in many of Kitchenaid’s iconic colorways. The Professional 600 falls into Kitchenaid’s Large Mixer category.
The Accessories
Kitchenaid includes a selection of those their best selling accessories with each of their stand mixers. Each range comes with a different combination of accessories. The Professional 600 range comes with 4 high quality and industry-standard accessories that any professional baker or chef will find useful.
Removable pouring shoot – This is an accessory that is uniquely helpful for users of the Professional 600 series. It enables you to add ingredients to your mixer without stopping their process, like has to be done on the smaller machines.
11 Wire Whisk – The whisk that comes with the Professional 600 range comes with twice as many prongs on its whisk as the smaller machines. The 11 Wire Whisk is one of the most sturdy attachments provided by Kitchenaid. It can whisk twice as finely as the other Kitchenaid whisks.
Flat Beater – A powerful and classic accessory that works with every Kitchenaid machine. This is a great tool for working with thicker materials like cake batter, ice cream, and pancake mix.
Powerknead Spiral Dough Hook – This is a high-quality tool for creating bread though, in a standing mixer, it can cope with large amounts of dough at once, and can go through the dishwasher.
The accessories that come with the Professional 600 coated with industry-standard materials that are heavy duty and cope well with near continuous use.
Kitchenaid also offers a range of extension accessories that can be plugged into the universal point at the front of the machine’s head. These extensions are a collection of items that can turn your mixer into a multi-functioning machine. The extensions that work on the large mixers include an ice cream maker, meat mincer, and a pasta roller.
The Power
The Professional 600 series is the most powerful series that Kitchenaid offers.
The Professional 600 motor runs on 575 watts (for the record that is 250 watts higher than the Artisan range, and 300 watts higher than the Classic range). This is higher than most industrial countertop mixers and on par with a lot of the industrial floor mixers. It is very rare for a countertop mixer to even come close to the power level of a floor mixer.
This range mixes using the planetary action system like the other Kitchenaid ranges. This means that the attachment and the beaters spin in opposite directions, pulling the mix into the center of the bowl. This method results in all of the mixture being mixed equally. The Professional 600 runs planetary mix action at 69 points – 10 higher than both the Classic and Artisan mixers.
The Capacity
This range has the highest capacity of all the Kitchenaid stand mixers.
Both the Professional 600 with the glass bowl and the stainless steel bowl has a capacity of 6.9L. That roughly works out as 6 medium cakes or a batch of nearly 30 burger buns.
If you are an amateur baker, you may find that you don’t need this much capacity for cooking at home. However, this production level will very much appeal to professionals.
The Bowl Lift
One of the best features of the Professional 600 range is that it uses a bowl lifting system.
The other two ranges that Kitchenaid offers provide machines that work with a tilting head system. Meaning that to add new ingredients the user must pause the mixer, tilt the head out of the bowl, and then add the ingredients. This is a system that works well with lower pressure, at-home baking.
However, in many professional kitchens, this system will just not work. Therefore on their Professional 600 range Kitchenaid has introduced a bowl lifting system. With this system, instead of moving the head of the machine, the bowl is able to be moved up and down the body of the machine – so new ingredients can be introduced without stopping the motor.
This system works very smoothly in combination with the detachable ingredients shoot included with the Professional 600.
The Professional 600 range also comes with a durable full metal body. The model also includes industry-standard kill switches and a metal cage guard to prevent injury.
Kitchenaid has gone out of their way to make sure that this range meets all the required standards for the machines to be used in a professional capacity.
The Target Audience
This range is very clearly aimed at those working in the professional catering industry.
Although the idea of having a professional standard machine at home may sound appealing, most people would have very little use for the extra power and capacity that the Professional 600 range provides compared to the Classic and Artisan mixers. You pay for the extras, so why pay more if you don’t need them.
However, if you run a baking business out of your home or an industrial kitchen this is designed with you in mind. Kitchenaid has also worked hard to make this machine as lightweight as possible so that traveling caterers can make good use of this machine as well.
Our Thoughts
This is not a machine that is going to work for everybody. But for the group of people who fit its target audience, this could make a huge difference in your life.
If you are looking for a machine to bake from home with, you should look at either the Kitchenaid Classic or Artisan range. The Professional 600 has a higher price tag than both of these, and you will find that at-home baking doesn’t make the use of most of its features.
However, the other two ranges will serve your purpose much better, and for less.
On the other hand, if you work in the catering industry and are looking for a powerful machine that meets all industry standards, and looks good whilst doing it, then you’ve come to the right place.
Kitchenaid has really done a great job at converting their easy to use system into something that flourishes in a professional environment. From coating the whole thing in easy to clean substances to making a counter-top machine that competes with the best floor mixers – this machine really covers all bases, and does it well.
We love that they can pack so much power into such a small and lightweight machine. It will work well for restaurants and bakery kitchens as well as caterers on the go. Add to that its ability to be multifunctioning and this machine becomes a really valuable investment for businesses who are tight for space.
But, is the Professional 600 Stand Mixer worth the money? Yes, particularly if you are a traveling caterer, or if you want a multifunctional machine due to lack of space.