No. Hobart sold to the KA brand to Whirlpool long ago.
Wondering if the newer Whirlpool made ones will have the same longevity as my over 35 year old one which I am sure was made by Hobart.
Not that it matters that much. They are still great mixers!
Good question. Hobart sold KA to Whirlpool in 1986. Nowadays many of the parts of the mixer are made in China (and assembled in the USA).
I thought that was my friend’s idea! She buys little (really little) decals everywhere she travels and has been decaling her mixer with them! She says it gives her immense pleasure every time she uses the mixer.
The longevity and ease of use of the attachments to units of all ages is impressive!
Any more thoughts on glass bowl vs stainless steel?
I’ve got work to do people! Instead I’m here looking up mixer decals!
Wow I don’t think I would have the guts to spray a new item!
Some of the decals are cool but I really prefer a solid color - as opposed to a floral pattern or something - I’ll
Figure it out!!
I found this on a “painting your KA mixer” tutorial down in the comments and thought it interesting. Guess it’s not only where parts are made but the lubricant also. The writer had taken off a trim band so she could paint and found what she thought was food residue but it was not.
“I am a small appliance repair person and thought I would share some valuable information about the Kitchenaid mixers. The nastiness under the trim band is not food residue, it is the result of the internal grease (food grade, but nasty tasting) breaking
down into a waxy and oily component. The oily part leaks out, making a mess and leaving your machine poorly lubricated. It is an easy, but messy job to regrease it. If you are lucky, you can find a repair shop to handle it for you. There are some videos on YouTube to walk you through it. Though the ancient Hobart versions of these machines are often plugging along with the original 50 plus year old grease, the modern ones have a less durable grease. If used heavily, the grease job should hold for 4 to 5 years, however if used lightly, it will make 3 years, if you are lucky.”
Old lubricant formulations occasionally contained components that were not environmentally friendly, and for this reason they got banned. Could be one of the reasons the grease formulation got changed.
But nobody ever gets rid of their KA!
Think I’d prefer the stainless bowl over glass just because of the weight. The glass bowl makes it possible to put it in the MW if needed which doesn’t mean much to me.
I have one of each. I like the glass bowl because I look at it from across the kitchen and get an idea of how the mixing is going but it is so much heavier. The overall size of the glass bowls are bigger than the metal ones of the same capacity.
I have been wanting a glass pouring bowl for my 25 year-old lift KA mixer but have read some reviews that there is an issue with the bowl breaking rather easily while in use.
Has anyone experienced this first hand or heard of this?
Lol, mine is 33 years old and still going strong! It was a wedding gift.
ETA: mine is a tilt head-I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a bowl lift.
Jumping in here just to brag that I have one of those kitchen cabinets that stores my KitchenAid mixer so I never have to lift it up. When I want to use it, I open the cabinet and lift the shelf that it sits on. It’s already plugged in to a plug behind the cabinet. It’s very very handy.
I have an appliance garage with a pull down roll top kind of door, but it’s full. So the KA mixer sits out, but it is the only appliance in my entire kitchen that does. Yours sounds really cool.
Mine sits in the corner. It’s so old that it doesn’t tilt nor lift.
For the price I paid for my KitchenAid, I want the world to see. It stays in plain view.
If I kept mine on the counter, I would add a spotlight as well.
Well, I really like clean, clutter-free countertops. With all the things that MUST remain out – the coffee maker, the toaster oven, cookbooks, Kleenex boxes, a radio, paper towels – I really want to hide everything I can. And I don’t really use the mixer that much – maybe once every other month.