KitchenAid Classic Plus KSM75WH Review

As a member of the distinguished KitchenAid family, the Classic Plus has the hereditary body type with the motor in the tilt-head perched above the bowl and the broad base. This model comes with the traditional flat beater, dough hook, and wire whip that can work at ten different speeds. Additionally, it has the standard attachment port in the head that fits aftermarket tools such as a pasta roller or meat grinder. Finally, this model comes in various wellspring of colors. While the aptly named Classic seems to be the archetype mixer, its competitive price sets it apart from the competition of stand mixers we tested.

Performance Comparison

Mixing

Mixing is arguably the most common task of stand mixers for in-home kitchens. We extensively test these products for this application, and the results make up a whopping 30% of each product's overall score. Our tests are the mixing portions of common recipes. However, each recipe isolates specific kinds of mixing tasks and desired outcomes.

To be specific, we use a prodigiously packed cowboy cookie recipe. These cookies challenge the motor and beater paddle to uniformly mix the chocolate chips, nuts, oats, and coconut flakes into a supple dough without masticating them in the process. We also utilize the first few steps in a pizza dough recipe to test the machines' ability to incorporate wet and dry ingredients with the dough hook for an attachment. Lastly, we make a classic buttercream frosting to test the mixers' ability to keep ingredients in the bottom of the bowl instead of smeared all over the sides of the bowl. As with the pizza dough recipe, we look for a smooth, even consolidation that doesn't present any clumping or dry spots.

While making these recipes, we closely watch the mixers' reactions to the work, asking ourselves questions: Does the task cause them to labor? Do their motors whine? Is the rotation of the mixing attachment even? The Classic Plus lives up to the KitchenAid standard of excellence with a few hiccups in the frosting and pizza tests that required the tester to bring the spatula into play briefly. In all other recipes, it was at the top of the class, proving that these machines can reduce the work while at the same time producing high-quality results.

Ease of Use

You might be asking, so, what does the ease of use metric cover? It's a comprehensive evaluation of the enjoyability of the product, focusing on the user interface, the sturdiness of the machine, the user experience, and the cleaning burden. We believe any design flaws will stick out like a sore thumb with frequent machine use, and we consider these performance aspects vital. Therefore, this metric accounts for 30% of each product's overall score.

Compared to other stand mixers, the Classic Plus fairs well in this metric. The interface is simplistic — in a good way — facilitating single-handed operation and bowl insertion/removal. The machine is stable, even when mixing at a high speed. We also appreciate that when mixing or beating, the user is infrequently required to use a spatula to scrape the bowl for unincorporated ingredients. The machine is easy to clean, partly because the body and bowl are easy to wipe down, and since spilling is limited in the first place. The Classic's motor has a slow start-up speed regardless of setting, so dry ingredients don't get thrown. The tilt-head can be tilted back to access the bowl without dumping the ingredients onto the head. All and all, this model is a pleasure to use.

Whipping

For some mixer tasks, having a powerful motor with high RPMs on its own isn't enough to get the job done. Whipping, which accounts for 25% of a product's overall score, is one of these tasks. Whipping is simply the aeration of a medium such as egg whites. Like so many simple culinary tasks, whipping is easy to overdo.

The challenge lies in working the egg whites enough that a matrix of air-filled bubbles develops but not working them too aggressively such that the bubbles are broken apart. We test for this directly by measuring the volume increase in whipped cream and baking a sponge cake that uses whipped egg whites as a leavening. The height of the rise and sagging at the center of the sponge are good indicators of the whipping quality.

The Classic struggled with both of these tasks. To put it bluntly, it is among the poorest performers in the class. The sponge failed to rise to an inch and a half — the mode for the group — and it sagged considerably in the center. While this outcome could be attributed to a number of other variables, the fact that we barely doubled the cream volume in the whipped cream test supports this assessment.

Kneading

Kneading produces an elastic structure in doughs that make them substantially better at retaining CO2. This outcome is critical as gas caught in the dough causes it to rise, and these voids produce light, airy bread. Kneading is an excellent task to hand off to a mixer as it's mechanical, time-consuming, and physically demanding while not being particularly technical.

To test the Classic Plus kneading effectiveness, we used a basic pizza dough recipe and mixed it with the standard dough hook that comes with the machine. The process was straightforward and effective, although it required a bit of assistance with a spatula. The result was a thoroughly mixed dough that was springy and elastic. Upon consuming the baked pizza, all agreed that the crust exterior was delicate and crisp, while the crumb was light and open. Yum!

Should You Buy the KitchenAid Classic Plus KSM75WH?

The KitchenAid Classic Plus is an affordable kitchen appliance for those on a budget. This mixer performs at the highest level in the mixing, ease of use, and kneading test metrics. If it weren't for its mediocre showing in the whipping metric, it would be an all-around leader in the class. That said, this machine is considerably less expensive than some of the competition yet outperforms the majority of the class.

What Other Stand Mixers Should You Consider?

Indeed, stand mixers can be a big investment. However, we think it is worth spending the money to get one that can adequately perform the tasks you have in mind. Typically, an increase in cost coincides with an increase in performance. The Aucma 6.5qt is an exception to that rule as it offers average performance while not draining your bank account.