Kitchen Aid Mixers: 600 vs 610

[Porthos]

Almost 2 years ago my wife and I replaced our 27 year-old 5 qt Kitchen Aid mixer with a 6 qt model 610. I got to wondering what the difference was between the model 600 and the model 610. I haven't successfully found an entry for the 610 on Kitchen Aid's web site. This is not particularly important but I'm curious what the difference is. Can anyone shed light on this small mystery?

[Alcuin]

It's a Williams-Sonoma exclusive version of the 600. When I was looking into getting my mixer I remember seeing a WS version of the 600 made of copper or something like that. Upon googling, I see that the copper one is the 620 (a steal at $899.95-wow). The 610 seems to have 15 more watts than the 600. Other than that I can't see much of a difference.

[paulraphael]

Aparently there's a little light bulb or LED inside the 610 that accounts for the 15 extra watts. Draw your own conclusions ...

[Marlene]

I have a 600 at the cottage and a 610 at home. The wire whip on the 610 is different. At one time you couldn't buy that whip separately, but I think you can now, and i'm sure it will fit on the 600.

[andiesenji]

I recently got the Pourfect Whisk-A-Bowl from Chefs Catalog for my KA 600 and like the way it beats egg whites and whipped cream.

I haven't timed it exactly but it seems to produce a finished product faster than the regular wire whisk.

Of course I have also begun using a stabilizer for the whipped cream

ChantillyFix which this vendor sells to individual in manageable amounts. I used to use "Whip-It" but I could only get it in those little packets and far too often it would be outdated and caked solid in the sachet.

(I also bought some of their fruit powders and some Pink Pectagel but haven't tried them yet.)

[paulraphael]

I have a 600 at the cottage and a 610 at home. The wire whip on the 610 is different. At one time you couldn't buy that whip separately, but I think you can now, and i'm sure it will fit on the 600.

Right, that's the 11 (i think) tine whisk. You can buy it and it's worth every penny. Not just because it works faster and whips in more air, but because it lets you whip small quantities. You can easily whip a single egg white with it. Forget about trying this with the original whisk ... maybe you could do it but would take half a day.

[Marlene]

I have a 600 at the cottage and a 610 at home. The wire whip on the 610 is different. At one time you couldn't buy that whip separately, but I think you can now, and i'm sure it will fit on the 600.

Right, that's the 11 (i think) tine whisk. You can buy it and it's worth every penny. Not just because it works faster and whips in more air, but because it lets you whip small quantities. You can easily whip a single egg white with it. Forget about trying this with the original whisk ... maybe you could do it but would take half a day.

Exactly. I love that whip and I am going to buy one for my 600 at the cottage as well.

[Porthos]

Right, that's the 11 (i think) tine whisk.

I have the 11-tine whisk.

I appreciate all of these answers.

[Porthos]

I had reason to use a 600 with the 6-wire whip to make whipped cream this past weekend. I started with one cup of heavy cream and it didn't want to whip. I had to add a second cup before it started thickening up. Never had that problem with my 11-wire whip.

[CaliPoutine]

Im curious if anyone has done stiff( such as bagel) dough in the 600 or 610? I had 15yr old KA, I think it was 325 watts( classic?). I made half batches of a bagel dough and maybe after the 10th time the KA blew up( litterally). It popped, it smoked, sparks came out, not pretty. My ex found a 350watt at a yard sale for 20 bucks. I used that a few times, but it strained and groaned with the half batch of bagel dough. We split up and I moved back to California. I went back and forth with KA vs. Cuisinart and went with the Cuisinart. I bought the 800 watt for 279 on Amazon. Then, it dropped in price to 239 a few days later and they gave me the difference back. A few weeks later, I saw it at Sears on clearance for 125.00. I got the food processor attatchment with the original purchase( free bonus). I found the blender on clearance at Macy's for 20 bucks, but I later returned it because a vita-mix was in my future.

on Saturday, I was at Sur La Table in Santa Monica and I found the beater blade on clearance for 9.99( reg price 44.95). I'm happy with this mixer so far. It did have a problem with the full batch of bagel dough( it strained a teeny bit), but I've seen no problem with the half batch of dough. I've made a few cakes too, and I'm happy with the performance. Still, IM curious to know if the 600 KA could have handled the dough.

[paulraphael]

Im curious if anyone has done stiff( such as bagel) dough in the 600 or 610? I had 15yr old KA, I think it was 325 watts( classic?). I made half batches of a bagel dough and maybe after the 10th time the KA blew up( litterally). It popped, it smoked, sparks came out ...

I've made stiff doughs. Just like with any mixer you have to pay close attention and use your judgment. KA's guidelines are useless; they don't take into account actual dough stiffness. Listen to the machine, feel how how warm it gets, be wary of burning smells. With any dough recipe, start with a smallish batch and work up to bigger ones. You just have to get a feel for what the thing can handle.

I find the capacity to be quite a bit higher than KA's recommendations with some doughs. And quite a bit lower with others.

[MollyB]

Im curious if anyone has done stiff( such as bagel) dough in the 600 or 610? I had 15yr old KA, I think it was 325 watts( classic?). I made half batches of a bagel dough and maybe after the 10th time the KA blew up( litterally). It popped, it smoked, sparks came out, not pretty.

Be very careful with the 600 and stiff doughs. My husband and I bake a lot, and we have had stripped gears on 4 KitchenAid mixers over about 5 years; the last 2 mixers were the 600 model.

After the last burnout, we replaced it with an Electrolux Magic Mill DLX (also known as the Electrolux Assistent). After about a month of use, we are very happy with it and it handles large batches of bagel dough with no problem whatsoever. The manual actually instructs you to turn the mixer to high speed while kneading, which is a wonderful change from KitchenAid, who instructs you to never knead above speed 2, a speed so slow it barely kneads.

[andiesenji]

Im curious if anyone has done stiff( such as bagel) dough in the 600 or 610? I had 15yr old KA, I think it was 325 watts( classic?). I made half batches of a bagel dough and maybe after the 10th time the KA blew up( litterally). It popped, it smoked, sparks came out, not pretty.

Be very careful with the 600 and stiff doughs. My husband and I bake a lot, and we have had stripped gears on 4 KitchenAid mixers over about 5 years; the last 2 mixers were the 600 model.

After the last burnout, we replaced it with an Electrolux Magic Mill DLX (also known as the Electrolux Assistent). After about a month of use, we are very happy with it and it handles large batches of bagel dough with no problem whatsoever. The manual actually instructs you to turn the mixer to high speed while kneading, which is a wonderful change from KitchenAid, who instructs you to never knead above speed 2, a speed so slow it barely kneads.

Exactly the reason for which I bought my DLX years ago. It was Peter Reinhart's "Struan" bread dough that did in two KA's for me.

And it holds more dough and it is much easier to add ingredients to the bowl while mixing.