KitchenAid Artisan 4.8L Review: The Icon, and Its Real Limits
The Artisan is the stand mixer most people picture when they hear the words, and the reviews mostly earn the reputation. But it is a 300-watt tilt-head, not a bread machine, and the flour figure that decides whether it suits you is printed four different ways depending on who you ask. We have put them side by side.
Where the reviews line up
The evidence comes from three different places: a hands-on editorial test by Expert Reviews, years of home bakers' experience on the bread forum The Fresh Loaf, and around 3,500 buyer ratings on the Currys, Habitat and John Lewis product pages. On the things a cake baker cares about, they agree almost completely.
Three points come up everywhere. It is superb at light work — egg whites, buttercream and cake batter — and the flex-edge beater in the full kit genuinely cuts down on scraping. It is built to last, which is what the five-year KitchenAid guarantee on the 4.8L Artisan backs up. And it is heavy and big: 10.4 kg on the retailers' spec sheets, 11 kg in Expert Reviews' test, and 36 cm tall, so plan where it lives.
The honest caveat is bread. Expert Reviews heard the motor clunk on a 1 kg dough; Fresh Loaf members say keep the hook on speed 2, keep batches modest and expect the tilt head to bob on stiff dough. KitchenAid UK's own current listing says up to 1 kg of plain flour. If you bake two big loaves a week, that matters more than the colour.
The buying decision is mostly about the box, not the mixer. The same 5KSM175PS body is sold with two bowls, a pouring shield and a flex-edge beater, or more cheaply as the 5KSM125 with one bowl and three tools. We found the full kit at £463 at John Lewis and £549 from KitchenAid on 5 October 2026 — and £599 elsewhere, where one listing appeared to be the smaller kit. Check the box contents line by line before you pay.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- Expert ReviewsHands-on test: egg whites, buttercream, cake mix and a 1 kg bread dough. Recommended, with reservations.
- The Fresh LoafBread-baking forum. Two threads, 6 and 9 replies — the source for real dough limits and speed advice.
- Currys, Habitat & John Lewis4.9/5 from 1,980, 4.8/5 from 1,509 and 4.3/5 from 14 ratings, checked 5 October 2026.
Before the review: 4.8 litres or 4.7?
Most UK retailers, and every review we read, sell this as the 4.8 L Artisan. KitchenAid UK's own product pages now call the same 5KSM175PS a 4.7 L bowl, and the second bowl is listed as 3 L by KitchenAid and John Lewis but 3.3 L by Expert Reviews and T3. It is the same mixer either way — we think it is a relabel, not a redesign, but KitchenAid does not say. Do not pay extra because one listing says 4.8.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Model | 5KSM175PS (full kit); 5KSM125 is the one-bowl version | KitchenAid UK, both on sale 5 Oct 2026 |
| Main bowl | 4.8 L stainless steel — or 4.7 L on KitchenAid UK's current pages | Retailers and reviews say 4.8; KitchenAid says 4.7 |
| Second bowl (175 kit) | 3 L — or 3.3 L | KitchenAid and John Lewis say 3; Expert Reviews and T3 say 3.3 |
| Power | 300 W, 10 speeds, direct drive | John Lewis, Currys, Expert Reviews, T3. KitchenAid quotes “0.19 HP” |
| Flour / dough capacity | “Up to 1 kg of all-purpose flour” · 2 kg bread dough · 2.7 kg dry working capacity | KitchenAid 175 page · KitchenAid 125 page · John Lewis. Not the same measure — see below |
| Weight | 10.4 kg — or 11 kg | John Lewis and Currys say 10.4; Expert Reviews says 11 |
| Dimensions | H 36 × W 24 × D 37 cm. Allow headroom: the head tilts back | John Lewis and Currys |
| In the box (175 kit) | Two bowls, pouring shield, wire whisk, flat beater, flex-edge beater, dough hook | KitchenAid UK and John Lewis agree |
| In the box (125) | One bowl, wire whisk, flat beater, dough hook. No shield, no flex-edge beater | KitchenAid UK |
| Attachment hub | Front power hub for optional attachments (mincer, pasta and more) | John Lewis; attachments sold separately |
| Guarantee | 5 years on the mixer; 2 years on attachments and accessories | KitchenAid UK guarantee page. Registration offered, not required |
| Noise | Not published | No source gives a dB figure |
| Typical UK price | £463–£599 for the 175; £459 for the 125 at KitchenAid | Checked at four retailers, 5 October 2026 |
Expert Reviews
Expert Reviews ran the mixer through the jobs most buyers will give it: whipping egg whites, which it took to soft peaks in minutes; buttercream, where the flex-edge beater scraped the bowl so well that it barely needed stopping; and a creamed cake mix on medium-high speed. The verdict was Recommended, and the headline sums up the tone — this is excellent at what it does, and you pay for it.
The criticisms are the useful part. The reviewer found it very heavy and greedy for worktop space; thought the pouring shield felt flimsy, resting loosely rather than clicking into place; warned that it is easy to overmix cakes and icing because it works so quickly; and, on a 1 kg bread dough, heard the motor clunk under strain. It still kneaded the dough, but the reviewer was openly doubtful about the 2 kg maximum. The test is from 2020 at a £499 price; the mixer has not changed since in any way we could find, but the price has.
Watch: KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer Review (2022)
A general hands-on review of the Artisan tilt-head — the closest video match to an editorial run-through. Confirmed by search listing; we could not open it to check the channel.
Watch on YouTube ↗The Fresh Loaf
The Fresh Loaf is where serious home bread bakers go, and it is the right place to stress-test the one job the Artisan is weakest at. These are small threads, not a survey, and the second is about the bowl-lift sibling, not the tilt-head — but members quote the tilt-head manual directly: no more than about nine cups of plain flour or six of wholemeal. That is broadly in line with KitchenAid UK's own “up to 1 kg” line, and well short of the “2.7 kg” working capacity on the John Lewis page, which seems to be a total dry-mix weight rather than a bread figure.
The practical advice is consistent. Knead on speed 2 and no higher, which is KitchenAid's instruction too. Keep doughs reasonably wet — one experienced member suggests above 55% hydration — and avoid very stiff mixes. Expect the tilt head to bob or float as the dough comes together; the fixes offered are adjusting the tilt-lock screw under the head or, more crudely, a large rubber band between the lock lever and the hub. Members also note the top can get warm on long kneads, and that the mixer has an overheat cut-out. None of this is a fault. It is what a 300-watt tilt-head does with bread, and the Artisan's buyers should know it going in.
Watch: KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer Real Review
An owner's review of the US-market 5-quart Artisan — the same tilt-head body sold here as the 4.8 L. Confirmed by search listing; we could not open it to check the channel.
Watch on YouTube ↗Currys, Habitat and John Lewis
These are customer ratings on pages that sell the mixer, so cite the numbers, not the verdict. The large Currys and Habitat counts are very likely pooled across colours and possibly across kit versions, which flatters any one listing. The small John Lewis sample is the lowest score, which is what you would expect from fewer, less filtered reviews.
The comments follow the editorial line: it does the hard work on bread, it “works like a dream”, the planetary action gets everything in the bowl, and the look earns it a place on the worktop. The complaints are specific and worth having. One Habitat buyer reports paint chipping off a coated beater after little use — a common gripe with coated tools, and one reason the stainless whisk and dishwasher-safe beaters matter — and the same buyer found KitchenAid hard to reach about it. Nobody in what we read mentions noise.
The retailer pages also show how much the kit varies. John Lewis and Habitat list the full two-bowl kit with pouring shield and flex-edge beater; the Currys listing we checked lists one bowl, a flat beater, a whisk and a dough hook at £599 — £136 more than John Lewis was charging for the full kit the same day.
Watch: Unboxing KitchenAid Artisan 4.8L Stand Mixer
An unboxing of the UK 4.8 L model — useful for seeing what should be in the box before you compare listings. Confirmed by search listing; we could not open it to check the channel.
Watch on YouTube ↗Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Fast, thorough on egg whites, cake batter and buttercream — every source agrees.
- Flex-edge beater (175 kit) cuts down on stopping to scrape.
- Five-year KitchenAid guarantee on the mixer, longer than most rivals at the price.
- Two bowls in the 175 kit, so you can whip whites while the cake mix waits.
- Front attachment hub turns it into a mincer or pasta maker if you buy the extras.
- Solid metal build and a design people are happy to leave out on the worktop.
What people complain about
- Bread is its weak spot: the motor strains on a 1 kg dough and the head can bob.
- Heavy (10.4–11 kg) and tall; you need headroom to tilt it back.
- Pouring shield sits loosely and feels flimsy.
- Easy to overmix — it is quicker than most people expect.
- Speed lever can skip notches, according to T3.
- Coated beaters can chip; attachments carry only two years' cover.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you mostly bake cakes, biscuits, meringues and icing, want a mixer that will last a decade, and like the idea of adding a mincer or pasta roller later. Buy the 175 kit if you will use the second bowl and the flex-edge beater; the 125 if you will not, and keep the difference.
Look elsewhere if bread is your main job, especially large or stiff batches. A bowl-lift model or a more powerful rival will cope better — our budget stand mixer round-up covers cheaper machines, and if what you actually do is chop and slice, a food processor is the better buy.
What we could not check
- The videos. All three were confirmed by appearing in two differently worded search listings, not by opening them, because YouTube would not load for us. The search listings did not name the channels.
- Noise. No source — manufacturer, test or buyer — gives a decibel figure or says much about it.
- Why KitchenAid now says 4.7 L. Its pages relabel the 5KSM175PS as 4.7 L while retailers keep 4.8 L. We assume the bowl is unchanged; KitchenAid does not explain it.
- Which flour figure is right. KitchenAid UK quotes 1 kg of plain flour on the 175 page and 2 kg of bread dough on the 125 page; John Lewis quotes 2.7 kg dry. They measure different things, and nobody explains which one KitchenAid tests to.
- Weight. 10.4 kg from two retailers against 11 kg from Expert Reviews. Neither says whether bowl and tools are included.
- The Currys £599 listing. It uses the unusual code 5KSM175BPT and lists only one bowl. We could not confirm whether that is a smaller kit or an incomplete listing.
- Retailer review pooling. The Currys and Habitat counts are probably shared across colours; we could not confirm by how much.
- Which? testing. We did not find a publicly visible Which? score, so none is quoted.
Sources last checked 5 October 2026. Prices and box contents change between colours and retailers — check the listing in front of you before ordering.