I have wanted a stand mixer for ages but never had the money to purchase a nice one. The KitchenAid models seem to be most popular but I wonder if I'd not be better off with something more frugal.

Primarily, I want the mixer for making bread products using the hook. Secondarily, I want to start making my own sausages and the KitchenAid has a handy little adapter thing for that.

Would I be best off getting the KitchenAid and its adapter for sausage making or should I purchase something else? I have no need for the pasta maker or slicer adapters for the contraption as I already own a pasta machine, mandoline, food mill, hand mixer, and food processor.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer-- what say you, EA? Is it worth the $200-$400 or should I go with a Cuisinart or a Sunbeam or some such and buy a sausage making machine separately?

I'm pretty fervent about my cooking and baking, so any mixer I purchase will most definitely be used several times a week.

Buy the Kitchen Aid. Get the one with the 5 Quart bowl. It's the one where the bowl moves up and down on it's support via a big ol' lever. That one is way easier to use than the smaller one that tips. I dislike that design. Makes scraping the bowl down hard, and makes adding things to the bowl hard. My wife has the small one. I have the big 'un, but it's at my house, not the house we live in. I'll be swapping them soon, because I like mine way better. I have the sausage grinder attachment too. It rocks...

My cookie technique and finished quality increased dramatically after I got my big mixer. You'll never need another one, so the money shouldn't give too much pause if you can afford it. If you're any kind of serious cook you will find endless uses for it, and you'll have the pleasure of working with real equipment. Like playing through a good plexi, or putting a real, cared for Neumann on a mic stand, the Kitchen Aid will help you raise your game.

When it comes times to change your stove, buy a Wolf. You'll thank me later...

Thank you for the advice. I've never met anyone with the grinder/sausage adapter for the KitchenAid and since it's a huge chunk of why I want that particular mixer, it's nice to hear that it actually works.

I have fibromyalgia so as much as I'd like to accomplish most kitchen activities all hardcore and Amish-style, it sort of hurts quite a bit to have to kneel on the floor hunched over and kneading dough for 15 minutes and then stand upright and hear every muscle and joint in one's back and shoulders making gristle-ly cracking and popping noises.

NOT CRAP, but definitely get the big one. I have the small one, and it doesn't get much use beyond pizza, petite pain rolls and soufflé. Otherwise the bowl is so small that it poofs flour all over the counter and floor.

What does one use for home made sausage casing? I would love to make my own sausage and I think I could convince the wife to get one of these mixers.

Just a few other thoughts while it's on my mind:

Making bread with one of these requires totally different techniques than when doing it by hand. For years I made loaves by hand and had a good recipe all dialed in. I blew off the mixer directions for bread dough the first time I used it and went with my own "mixer version" of my standard dough and it didn't work at all. So pay attention to how Kitchen Aid says you should do it. Using their approach has always worked for me.

At outlet mall cooking supply stores you can often find Kitchen Aids sold as "factory refurbished" for less (sometimes up to $100) than you can get a new one. My experience is that buying one of these "refurb" units is NOT a problem. The big 'un I got 12 years ago was a refurb and I've never had a lick of trouble with it.

re: sausage casings -> surf this here interwebs for a place called "The Sausage Maker". Used to be a place that had all of your sausage making needs: spices, various types and sizes of casings, stuffers, smokers, you name it. I don't make traditional casing sausage with my equipment, but I work with plenty many deer hunters who do...

totally not crap. though for bread most bread makers knead your dough, too.

Kitchen Aid Mixer: not crap. I want one.

Never understood these things could command a price of $400. Are they like the Versace of kitchen appliances or what?

They are actualy kind of heavy duty equipment. They have to be better made than most kitchen appliances due to the fact that mixing dough takes a powerful electric moter and metal parts.

The reason they are so expensice is most people buy only one and get it from their wedding registry. Why do people have $1,000 baby strollers because someone or a group of folks buy it from the registry.