Top pick
This workhorse mixer is sturdy, relatively quiet, and easy to use, and it can last a lifetime.
The KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer has been our favorite stand mixer for over a decade because it can handle all variety of mixing tasks without difficulty, and it is usable and approachable for experts and beginners alike.
It’s simple and easy to use. It has a lever on the right to lock and unlock the head, which you can also use for leverage to lift and lower the head. The speed control lever is on the left, and it clicks easily from one speed to the next. A power hub to install attachments, like the meat grinder, is on the front of the machine.
We find this simple interface refreshing, with just a couple of switches to raise the bowl and adjust speeds; no need to fiddle with knobs, timers, and buttons to interrupt baking flow states. This machine would also be easy to learn for kids and beginner bakers.
It effortlessly powered through all of our tests. From chunky cookie dough to dense bagel dough, the Artisan Series 5-Quart mixer handled everything we made with ease and has done so for the past decade. The bowl was large enough for a big batch of chunky cookie dough but small enough that we did not have to constantly scrape down its sides.
KitchenAid states that kneading dough in its mixers can take two to 15 minutes, and we had success at both ends of that spectrum. After 15 minutes of kneading bagel dough, the dough was more than sufficiently kneaded, and the mixer was cool and quiet.
It is quiet and stable. The Artisan Series 5-Quart mixer has never wobbled or walked in our tests, meaning it’s heavy and stable enough to withstand the force it exerts. Plus, it runs relatively quietly, while other stand mixers can make shrill, loud whirring sounds.
With a little practice, you may be able to raise and lower the head with one hand. We favored stand mixers that allow you to lower and raise the head with one hand, because so often with baking, your hands are full. You can switch the head lock lever into an unlocked position and push the head up in one motion, or lower and lock it in one motion. Other stand mixers required awkward maneuvering or two hands to get the head up and down.
It’s attractive and reasonably sized. KitchenAid stand mixers are known for their cute, vintage-looking colors. The Artisan Series 5-Quart mixer comes in over two dozen shades, like pistachio, lavender, and beetroot. Plus, it has a relatively low profile for a stand mixer, with a smaller footprint than our other pick, the KitchenAid 5.5 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer.
It’s compatible with KitchenAid’s range of attachments. The Artisan Series 5-Quart mixer comes with a paddle, dough hook, whisk, and pouring shield. KitchenAid offers around three dozen extra attachments, and we highly recommend a few of them. We love that our stand mixer picks can serve double duty as ice shavers, pasta rollers, meat grinders, and even food processors.
It’s repairable. KitchenAid offers a one-year warranty and some replacement parts. You can also call the factory hotline to ask repair questions or to order a shipping kit to send your mixer in for repairs.
If you’re handy, you might even be able to repair certain parts of a KitchenAid stand mixer yourself. As part of testing, we disassembled and reassembled four stand mixers, with just a few YouTube tutorials as our guide. A wealth of videos and forum discussions about KitchenAid repair is available online. I’m comfortable with power tools, but I’ve never really worked on machines, and I certainly don’t know my way around a tub of gear lube, but I found the process pretty unintimidating and straightforward. You also might have luck finding a repair person in your area who works on KitchenAid stand mixers.
How the Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer has held up
We’ve been using the same Artisan Series stand mixer since 2013 in our test kitchen, and we haven’t had any issues with it. When we took it apart for this guide, we noticed the internal grease was very dark and slightly separated, but you couldn’t tell based on its performance.
Wirecutter writers on the kitchen team and beyond have also used their own Artisan stand mixers for years with no complaints.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
- The Artisan Series 5-Quart stand mixer doesn’t have a ½ speed, and the slowest speed is quite fast. It had one of the fastest first speeds of all the mixers we tested. If you set it to the first speed hoping to gently mix together dry ingredients, you’ll likely be faced with a flour cloud. But the tilt-head does make it easier to premix by hand without the whisk, hook or paddle getting in the way.
- The one-year warranty is fine, but not great. It would be nice for such an expensive machine to come with a longer one. If you have problems with your stand mixer outside of that year, we recommend looking into KitchenAid’s maintenance advice or searching for repair people near you who may be able to work on the stand mixer.
