The West Bend Kitchen Stand Mixer: A Product Review

There's nothing like the aroma of fresh warm bread right out of the oven. The one key to success when it comes to making bread is you have to knead the dough. Unless you're ready to exert some serious energy the best way to accomplish this task is with a quality kitchen stand mixer equipped with dough hooks.

I've owned a number of bread makers in the past and everyone proved to be less than adequate when it comes to making a good loaf of bread. At the very best I would mix the ingredients and let it whirl until the "knead" cycle was done. Then transfer the dough into loaf pans and proceed like I was making the bread from scratch.

This worked to some degree but limited me to one loaf at a time and maybe 50% success ratio over all. Not good enough. I wanted a kitchen stand mixer that was designed to knead dough. Lets make the mess in one bowl and be done with it.

Of course the top of the line standard in mixers is the well known Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. If money was no object this would have been the way to go, but for a guy that might make a couple loaves of bread every two weeks or so it's hard to justify the serious investment required to have one taking up space on my counter.

While pining away at the variety of colors, attachments, and yes even flame decals that can be purchased for the Kitchen Aid lineup I found an advertisement in the local paper. ShopKo had a 12 speed West Bend Kitchen Stand Mixer on sale for just under $50.

That's right, $50 would get me a decent stand mixer complete with two aluminum bowls and both beaters and dough hooks. I was up and running to the store in no time flat.

First off lets not kid ourselves. A $50 mixer, no matter how much of a bargain it is doesn't equal a $300 long term kitchen appliance like the Kitchen Aid model. My biggest concern was if it could do the job and was it strong enough to have an acceptable life span. I was impressed enough that off the store shelf it went and I was homeward bound itching to give it a good testing.

Assembly was a snap, literally as the mixer head is held in place by a clasp that allows you to easily remove it from the stand and use it as a hand mixer. The beaters and hooks release at the press of a button and speed is controlled by turning the tail of the mixer which has 12 red led indicator lights to let you know what speed your in. A nice steady "knead" up to a high speed listed for egg whites. No more limp meringue

In the past two weeks that I've used this wonderful appliance I've conquered 100% whole wheat bread with results being a nice soft texture. Something 100% whole wheat isn't known for. The key is a lengthy period of kneading, a chore that is a snap now that all I have to do is set the speed and a timer and let it go to work. The whole key to good bread is working the protein into gluten in the dough. The West Bend 12 Speed Kitchen Stand Mixer makes yummy fresh bread a simple process. Do I hear caramel pecan nut rolls? Yes, they came out perfect too.