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KitchenAid puts a new feature in an old mixer: a stepless speed dial [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2026-03-30  

KitchenAid's Artisan Plus Stand Mixer is 70 years old, but the new model has a significant spec bump: a continuously variable speed dial. How do you close a request ticket with a negative timestamp, again?

For $600 ($100 more than the old model) you also get a stainless steel bowl, an edge beater with silicone edges that scrape the bowl during mixing, a dough hook, wire whisk, and a flat beater, all dishwasher-safe. Though the mixer's speed is controlled with a stepless dial, the old numbers are still inscribed—generations of cookbooks thereby remain relevant. A half-speed "fold" setting is included to gently pull in delicate ingredients, and a "Soft Start" feature gradually ramps up to the selected speed to reduce splatter. There's even an LED light to illuminate the mixing bowl, another first for its stand mixers.

The new dial. Image: KitchenAid

The stepless model launches in four new colors: "Sundried Tomato" (above) and "Wild Blueberry"in a crinkle finish, "Iron Ore Bronze" in a satin metallic finish. and "Oat" in a standard satin finish. It also comes in 11 existing KitchenAid colors, and is compatible with all the existing attachments, such as pasta rollers and meat grinders.

The fixed-step speed dial didn't bother everyone, but smoothing it out creates a bigger incentive to upgrade from inexpensive entry-level models: the reviewers will surely be reviewing that dial more than anything. And the price bump over the old model keeps it cheaper than KitchenAid's bowl-lift Pro line, found for about $700.

Image: KitchenAid

Check out KitchenAid's "2026 color of the year," which it calls spearmint but is essentially the calming seafoam color of midcentury military and industrial installations. Beth Matthews recently wrote at length about this somewhat mysterious color, which now registers to me as hospitalcore.

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2026/03/30/kitchenaid-puts-a-new-feature-in-an-old-mixer-a-speed-dial.html

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