KitchenAid’s new premium stand mixer has a brilliant feature I didn’t realize I needed in my baking

• KitchenAid has launched a new version of its classic Artisan Stand mixer
• KitchenAid Artisan Plus provides more power and control over mixing
• It’s on sale now in the US for $599.99 (approx £450 / AU$870)

KitchenAid has just launched a new version of its Artisan tilt-head stand mixer, with a more powerful motor, a bright LED light to help you see inside the bowl as you work, and more features to make working with flour and sugar less messy.

The classic KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer has remained largely unchanged since the 1950s, and for good reason: It’s a sturdy and reliable appliance that’s built to last and has pretty much every feature a baker could ask for. I’ve owned mine for 13 years now and it’s still going strong. It’s not quite perfect, though, and with the Artisan Plus, KitchenAid has made some thoughtful adjustments to the original design that make life easier for you and keep your kitchen cleaner.

For example, the new mixer has a more powerful motor and can move between speeds more smoothly. The classic mixer offers a good selection of speeds (1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 10), but there is sometimes quite a jump from one setting to the next, and if you’re not prepared, you can accidentally increase the power too suddenly, spreading flour all over your kitchen or flicking the dough around. With Artisan Plus, it is easier to find the right speed for the current baking task. There’s also a half-speed folding mode for tasks like mixing soft fruit into muffins without squishing them.

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The KitchenAid Artisan Plus also has a new ‘soft start’ mode which increases the mixing speed very gradually at first. I can see this being particularly useful for making buttercream without covering your kitchen in a layer of icing sugar. Of course, the classic KitchenAid Artisan comes with a shield to keep things inside, but it’s easier to see what’s going on in the bowl without it.