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The model features an eye-catching wooden bowl. But can you whip egg whites in it?
KitchenAid’s 2024 Design Series Evergreen stand mixer. KitchenAid
By Rachel Kurzius, Becky Krystal, Washington Post
updated on September 20, 2024 | 2:49 PM
When KitchenAid unveiled the latest designer version of its iconic stand mixer this month, the century-old appliance had some new features: a deep green matte finish called “Evergreen,” brass accents and the coup de grâce: the brand’s first-ever walnut wood bowl.
“Evergreen brings the beauty of nature to your countertop as it connects you with the outdoors every time you enter the kitchen,” proclaimed the company’s press release.
And there’s no denying that the stand mixer, which retails for $699.99, is gorgeous. But the many people who want to, say, use the appliance, well … they have questions. Bakers, in particular, find the walnut choice perplexing at best, a gesture at aesthetics that renders the product useless.
KitchenAid grants that “the walnut bowl requires different care and maintenance than other KitchenAid Stand Mixer bowls,” Brittni Pertijs, design manager of color, material and finish design at Whirlpool Corporation, which owns KitchenAid, said in an email. Still, she maintains that “Evergreen was designed to create in the kitchen.” Like KitchenAid’s comparable mixers, the designer version is compatible with more than 10 of the company’s attachments, including its metal bowls – sold separately, of course – to make “anything from fresh pasta and burgers to veggie noodles, ice cream and more,” she adds. (You cannot, however, buy the walnut bowl separately.)
The new member of the stand mixer family has received “an overwhelmingly positive response,” Pertijs says. “The response has been so positive that in less than one week, Evergreen sold out on KitchenAid.com. We are working diligently on restocking product to allow more customers to bring Evergreen into their kitchens.”
KitchenAid’s mixers put the “stand” in “home cook’s standard.” They’re consistently top-rated, deeply trusted and among the top wedding registry items at retailer Crate & Barrel and Zola, an online wedding registry and e-commerce business.
They’ve also become something of a status symbol. “The KitchenAid mixer in a lot of ways for younger folks could mean, you know what, I’ve made it,” says Tracy Morris, principal of Tracy Morris Design in McLean, Va. “I have arrived in my kitchen and I am doing big things.”
Morris has had the same white KitchenAid stand mixer for more than 20 years. “It was just super, super, super important to me to have a stand mixer because I absolutely love, love, love to bake,” she says. She’s bought new attachments multiple times when the old ones dulled, but otherwise it’s still working great. (She loves how the Evergreen version looks but acknowledges that the walnut bowl is better for serving salad than mixing baking ingredients.)
While other kitchen appliances tend to make their homes in drawers or cabinets,