KitchenAid Mixer

KitchenAid mixers were developed in 1919 by the Hobart Manufacturing Company. The ten quart C-10 model was the first to have the KitchenAid name. The stand mixer was invented by Herbert Johnston, an engineer who worked at the Hobart Corporation. It took him about 6 years to come up with this smaller stand mixer. The company came out with this smaller version in 1922 called the H-5, which was marketed for home use.

In the 1930’s, Egmont Arens was hired to design a more affordable mixer. The result was the Model K. Since then the design has remained relatively unchanged and it is registered with the U.S. patent and trademark office. Because of this, there is cross-generational attachment compatibility. This only applies to certain attachments.

The two key styles of mixers today are the bowl lift design and the tilt head model. The bowl lift is better “for heavy-duty baking, since it can handle a larger bowl size,” according to Delish. The models people are most familiar with are the 4.5-quart and 5-quart Artisan or the 6-quart and 7-quart Professional series. Originally the mixers were only available in white, but since 1955, they’ve expanded into a variety of colors.

Currently, KitchenAid is owned by WhirlPool Corporation, and the stand mixers are assembled in Greenville, Ohio.

(For KitchenAid blenders, see KitchenAid Blender)

While KitchenAid model numbers like 5KSM70SHXEER0 are definitely confusing, there is some degree of method to the madness. The model number can actually be broken down into seven distinct parts:

A B CCCC DD EEEE FF G

The values within these parts can tell you a lot of information about the mixer including refurb status, voltage/frequency/bowl-size/color/etc. Note that not all model numbers will use all of these parts and not all digits in a specific part may be used (e.g., CCCC has valid values between one and four characters)

• A: There are only two possible values for this part of the model number:
  • Blank (e.g., 5KSM70SHXEER0) - the mixer is brand-new or was brand-new when sold by KitchenAid. The standard warranty applies.
  • R (e.g., R5KSM70SHXEER0) - the mixer has been refurbished by KitchenAid before being sold and the refurb warranty applies rather than the standard new model warranty.
• B: This part of the model number is most commonly used to designate different voltage/frequency combinations but has historically been used to denote country/region-specific models as well:
  • Blank (e.g., KSM70SNDX) - a 120V/60Hz model
  • 3 (e.g., 3KSM95TWH) - a Taiwan-specific 110V/60Hz models.
  • 4 (e.g., 4KSM55) - a Canada-specific model. This code is only applicable to older mixers. For the most recent model lines, KitchenAid unified their model lines across the USA and Canada.
  • 5 (e.g., 5KSM60) - a 220-240V/50Hz model. This code covers the majority of the countries.
  • 7 (e.g. 7KSM70SKXZ) - a Brazil 127V model. Note: Brazil 220V/60Hz models use a totally different naming scheme than the rest of the world.
  • 8 - Old Taiwan-specific code. Not sure when or why it stopped being used.
  • 9 (e.g. 9KSM55) denotes a 100V/50-60Hz Japan-specific model.
• CCCC: This part of the model number denotes that within the vast array of model numbers in the WhirlPool/KitchenAid family that the product is a KitchenAid mixer. Some of the most common values are:
  • K (e.g., K45SS) - A KitchenAid Model K mixer. This family of mixers dates all the way back to the original Hobart/KitchenAid Model K released in 1937.
  • KG (e.g., KG25H0) - Unknown meaning but commonly used on the Professional HD bowl-lift models.
  • KP (e.g., KP26M1) - a KitchenAid Professional mixer. Used mostly for the 6-Qt. Professional Bowl-Lift models.
  • KSM (e.g., KSM195) - a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. By far the most common across KitchenAid's lineup of mixers. This seems to be the one KitchenAid now prefers to use having dropped most others.
  • KSCM (e.g. KSMC895) - KitchenAid Stand Mixer for Commercial-use
  • KV - Unknown meaning but commonly used on the 5-Qt Professional bowl-lift models.
• DD: If the first one or two digits after the previous part (CCCC) are numbers, it can sometimes denote the bowl-size. For example, the 45 in K45SS denotes a 4.5-Qt (4.3 L) bowl, the 70 in 5KSM70SHXEAC0 denotes a 7.0-Qt. (6.6 L) bowl, and the 8 in KSMC895 denotes an 8.0-Qt. (7.6L) bowl. It is important to note that tilt-head models, with the exception of the K45SS or K50SS, do not use this part even if they have numbers after CCCC (e.g., a KSM192 does not have a 1.9-Qt. bowl).
• EEEE: This is by-far the most important part of the model number. Unfortunately, KitchenAid has also made it the least consistent and most confusing. This part details the exact model/sub-model as well as specific combinations of accessories/attachments/bowls:
  • For example, both the KSM70SNDX and KSM70SKXX are 120V/60Hz 7.0-Qt mixers with identical internal parts. The KSM70SNDX comes with stainless steel attachments while the KSM70SKXX comes with coated attachments. Similarly, the KSM150, KSM192, and KSM195 are all 5.0-Qt (4.7 L) tilt-head models with identical internals but with differing types/numbers of accessories and attachments.
  • For the 220-240V/50Hz models, the last character can denote a country/region-specific variant. For example, in both 5KSM195PS_ and 5KSM70SHX_, the underscore can be filled in with one following to denote which country/region-specific variant the model is:
    • A – Australia/New Zealand
    • B – UK
    • C – China
    • D – India
    • E – Europe
    • I – Israel
    • N – Indonesia (Not for sure but evidence points to this)
    • P – Unknown (Maybe Singapore)
    • R – Argentina/Chile/Peru
    • T – Thailand (Not for sure but evidence points to this)
    • W – South Korea (Not for sure but evidence points to this)
• FF: Color Code. See the Colors section below for a full list of colors
• G: Model Revision. Until a revision occurs, this digit is often left off the sticker. The original version of the mixer is 0, the first revision is 1, and so on. These can be important when sourcing replacement parts as the changes can occasionally impact fitment of parts.

Going back to thee model number provided at the beginning of this section: 5KSM70SHXEER0. Using the information above, we can now decode the model number to learn the following:

• 5 - It is a 220-240V/50Hz model.
• KSM - it is a KitchenAid stand mixer
• 70 - It has a 7.0-Qt (6.6 L) bowl
• SHXE - It comes with a stainless steel whisk, stainless steel beater, stainless steel dough hook, and coated dual flex edge beater . The mixer also has the European-style plug on the power cord.
• ER - The color of the mixer is Empire Red
• 0 - This is an original design mixer and has undergone any revisions.

The following table lists a number of the common colors for KitchenAid mixers and their corresponding color codes. Use them in conjunction with the Repair Parts List in the Attached Documents sections to determine the color specific parts for your mixer. Note that not all colors are available for all models. Additionally, colors might have slightly different names depending on the region (e.g., AC = Almond Cream in some countries and Crème in others).

• KitchenAid Mixers official site
• KitchenAid Mixers on Amazon
• KitchenAid Mixers on Delish
• KitchenAid on Wikipedia