The Best Stand Maker: KitchenAid vs Ankarsrum Mixer Review

When I first moved into my apartment and decided to upgrade from a hand mixer, I took a look at all the stand mixers and ultimately went with Ankarsrum Assistant.

It’s been 5 years, and I still love my Ankarsrum mixer more than ever!

But I grew up using the classic American KitchenAid (and my parents still love and use their KitchenAid) so I feel like I have a good grasp on what makes each mixer unique.

Here’s my comparison of the KitchenAid mixer vs the Ankarsrum and a mini guide to figuring out which stand mixer is best for your baking needs!

KitchenAid Mixer

Ankarsrum Mixer

Despite launching during World War II, the Ankarsrum Assistant had huge demand.

Eager customers would send doctor’s notes citing hand disabilities that required an Assistant in an effort to jump the long waitlists.

Today, the mixer design is virtually unchanged from its original.

KitchenAid vs Ankarsrum: Design Differences

KitchenAid and Ankarsrum work very differently

Bread, Bakes & Everything In Between

Both the KitchenAid and Ankarsrum can make cakes, cookies, bread, whipped cream – practically any kind of dough.

But the KitchenAid is slightly more suited to baking while the Ankarsrum is more suited to bread making.

I love how easy it is to make bread in the Ankarsrum with the dough roller

the KitchenAid uses a traditional dough hook (with no other mixer attachment). my mom prefers the KitchenAid!

Ankarsrum Review

With the Ankasrum, they give you 2 bowls, 2 whisks, a scraper and a plastic lid.

I like their 2 bowl design:

• stainless steel bowl
• plastic bowl

Stainless Steel Bowl

The stainless steel bowl is meant for bread making.

It includes a dough hook for kneading or a dough roller and scraper.

assembling the stainless steel bowl, dough roller and scraper for making bread

The company’s proprietary method of kneading bread is with the dough roller and scraper. It’s designed to give a finished bread that resembles dough kneaded by hand.

But if you prefer, you can use the kneading hook and stick with the traditional American stand-mixer way of kneading bread.

I typically use the dough roller and scraper.

I watched a couple instructional videos to learn how to use it, and found it pretty easy to pick up!

Essentially, you want to add any liquid and wet ingredients first, then dry.

Occasionally, you’ll move the dough roller into the center of the stainless steel bowl, to help incorporate all the ingredients.

Plastic Bowl

Meanwhile, the plastic bowl is designed for cakes, cookies, essentially everything else but bread.

It comes with two types of whisks and a scraper tool.

I like that Ankarsrum also includes a cover.

You can use it to cover the stainless steel bowl during the bread proofing / rising stage.

Or, you can cover the plastic bowl to prevent any splatters. Since the plastic is clear, you can keep an eye on your batter while still keeping the bowl covered.

assembling the plastic bowl and single whisks for baking cookies!

The plastic bowl comes with single whisks and double whisks.

The double whisks are incredibly fast – it can whip together cream into stiff peaks in 30 seconds!

So you definitely want to stand close by to keep an eye on things!

Everything comes apart really easily for cleaning.

Which is Better?

To judge between KitchenAid and Ankarsrum, I compared a couple things:

• Ease of use
• Learning curve
• Motor
• Design
• Capacity
• Warranty

Ease of Use

Because the KitchenAid mixer is on top, hanging directly over the bowl, it covers most of the opening.

The mixer is a little cumbersome, it’s hard to easily add ingredients while the machine is mixing, and when you stop the mixer to tip back the motor, the machine feels very wobbly.

The Ankarsrum, in contrast, has a much more ‘open’ design.

the Ankarsrum’s open bowl design and built-in timer makes it really quick to whip up a cake. just pour, set the clock and voila!

You can see directly into the bowl and easily add in your ingredients while the machine is working.

There’s two knobs at the base, one is a built-in timer and the other is the mixing speed.

I love that I can set the machine to knead for x amount of time and walk away, and not worry that the mixer will topple over.

using the Ankarsrum to whip cream for some strawberry shortcakes

The Learning Curve

I grew up using a KitchenAid so I was much more familiar with their planetary ‘style’ of stand mixer.

The Ankarsrum has a slight ‘learning curve’ but overall, I find it much easier to use.

I watched a couple YouTube videos and was quickly on my way, making focaccia, cheesecakes, and chocolate chip cookies with no problem.

The main thing to keep in mind is that KitchenAid uses a dough hook for making bread while Ankarsrum recommends a dough roller.

(Ankarsrum provides a dough hook if you want to stick to a method you may be more familiar with).

Personally, I gave the dough roller method a shot.

(It’s what the company recommends and how the Ankarsrum was originally designed to be used)

I find it very simple to use!

Essentially, the roller should be relatively free to move back and forth from the center of the bowl to the wall.

You don’t want to overly tighten the knob. The scraper helps scoop off dough from the edge of the bowl so you don’t have to do it yourself.

I do find that dough takes a minute or two longer with the Ankarsrum, but it’s not a big deal.

I use the stainless steel bowl and dough roller to make cardamom buns

The Motor

Ankarsrum has a much stronger and better-made motor on a more stable machine. It’s noticeably quieter than the KitchenAid.

I love Japanese milk bread, but it’s a more difficult bake that requires a lot of kneading at a very strong setting.

It just isn’t possible with the KitchenAid. The machine isn’t designed to be used on high speed for longer than 2 minutes or so, and will start to jump around on your countertop.

It’s actually pretty dangerous!

KitchenAid’s motor also easily overheats. I think the company has slightly lowered the quality of their motors, as they recently changed their warranty terms.

If you do this, you’ll void the warranty.

For how much the machine costs, I think the motor simply isn’t strong enough for most bread recipes.

So, if you like making brioche, enriched doughs, high hydration doughs – I recommend the Ankarsrum.

If you primarily make cake, cookies, bakes that don’t require much heavy kneading – the KitchenAid will be adequate.

I’m constantly making cheesecake in the Ankarsrum!

Design

KitchenAid has many different variations in their product line (tilt heads, bowl lifts, lower power motors, higher power motors, etc).

It makes it a little overwhelming when it comes to determining which machine to buy.

But, the good thing is you can get a smaller machine with a lower quality motor for a more affordable price point.

Ankarsrum just makes one product that can handle everything. Their machine is definitely pricey, at $750.

Attachments & Accessories

Both KitchenAid and Ankarsrum sell optional accessories.

I have the meat grinder attachment for the Ankarsrum. It essentially uses the stand mixer’s motor to mince, strain, grate and pipe.

I really like it!

You can make your own sausage, mince any kind of meat and also grate nuts. There’s also a cookie press to make short crust cookies in various shapes.

I don’t have any of the KitchenAid accessories, but they sell similar add-ons, like a pasta maker, meat grinder, ice cream attachment, etc.

Capacity

There are lots of variations of the KitchenAid mixers. Their most comparable model, the Professional 600 series of mixers, has a 6 quart stainless steel bowl.

It can hold up to 15 cups of flour, and make up to 8 loaves of bread.

The Ankarsrum can handles up to 21 cups of flour, as the stainless steel bowl holds up to 7 liters (30 cups) of volume.

I’ve never used the machine to make that much (I’m a household of one lol) but if you have a large family, it’s quite convenient.

It translates to 12 loaves of bread in one go, or 150 (!!) cinnamon rolls.

What’s even more impressive is the mixer itself is quite compact. It’s designed as a rectangular base, with the bowl sitting neat and flush on top.

I can’t fit the KitchenAid in my tiny NYC apartment (the motor stand is way too large), but somehow the Ankarsrum can be easily tucked away on my kitchen storage shelf!

I use the the plastic bowl for making cakes

Warranty

KitchenAid mixers are machine-made and come with a 1 year warranty.

Ankarsrum mixers are built by hand and come with a 7 year warranty.

Price

The Ankarsrum is pricey and retails for $749.95. I’ve never seen it go on sale, unfortunately!

Overall, while it’s an incredibly expensive kitchen appliance, the strong motor, variety of attachments, huge capacity and extensive warranty stand up to the price.

The KitchenAid Pro retails for $499.99.

There are also smaller, less powerful motors in their lineup that retail for much less. For example, the KitchenAid 4.5 qt Artisan is a very popular model and retails for $329.99.

KitchenAid frequently has sales, so you can always find one for a good deal!

late night cookie sessions!

KitchenAid vs Ankarsrum

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