Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

MOST METAL AND PLASTIC PARTS ARE SUBSTANTIAL --- BUT STILL WISH SOME PARTS WERE NOT PLASTIC & SOME METAL PARTS COULD BE MORE SUBSTANTIAL A BRIEF PROS AND CONS REVIEW I have wonderful memories as a kid making preserved apples and apple pies with my family using a utensil similar to this that screwed onto a thick wood counter top. Snacking on fresh apple spirals as my mom worked on the crust. Our device back then didn't have the extra options these machines do now. This attachment has substantial feeling parts in terms of it's body and bases, and is an absolute snap to attach and put together. Some parts feel a little less substantial but not necessarily cheap. With all the really fun stuff you can do (Kitchenaid already supplies a lot of photos), you just might even get a finicky child to eat their vegetables in those spirally straw shapes. The metal is fairly thick and sturdy, but there are still some plastic parts and some thin metal by design, and even aluminum in areas you might not expect given other very sturdy parts. Most of the plastic is also quite sturdy though. As you can see, the back end with prongs that stick into the core has plastic spikes and the small skewer feels more like aluminum rather than steel. I worry about those parts in the long run. However, I had no problem with slippage on things such as large apples or potatoes. All the attachments are dishwasher safe though the body is supposed to be hand washed according to the information. It's a great way to change the texture of your food and eat more fresh things. SOME GREAT THINGS MADE EASY -- THINGS YOU CAN DO, AND SOME THINGS YOU CANNOT: --- With quick set up you can start running apples through for storage or apple pies in quick succession. Peel or don't peel while you spiral them through. It's just a matter of sliding the peeler attachment onto the setup. For those who have not used a spiralizer, you do have to cut the spirals down the middle to make them into just slices (after creating the spirals on the machine). That's not a big deal obviously. Whether you are making potato fries, apple pies, or thinner sliced fresh apple or vegetable bags for lunch, this thing makes them easy. --- There is no end of cool things you can make with the spiral straws from vegetables, from unique textured soups to salads your kids might even find fun. I have a spiral potato/onion thing I came up with that is fried like a bloomin onion that I think is awesome! The imagination is the only limit. --- There is a large core slicer and a small core slicer for different sized fruits or vegetables. Those adjust to the size of the core on the front end metal gripper (back end spikes are plastic as I mentioned) and will make a smaller or larger core left over as appropriate. However, they cut roughly the same size thickness of slice and YOU CANNOT ADJUST THE THICKNESS OF THINGS LIKE APPLE OR POTATOTO SLICES. Both the small and large core slicer cut just slightly greater than 1/8th inch thickness. --- As with most spiralizers, it works best when you can make the produce reasonably symmetrical by cutting ends off and any weird large bumps like potato eyes. It is not made for soft, pulpy fruits of course. That seems intuitive, but they actually state that. BRIEF RECAP OF NEGATIVES: Though I love this machine, I don't want to sound unrealistic with points to consider: There are rare parts that seem less substantial despite overall feeling of quality. The thickness of vegetable slices cannot be adjusted. The container box is a bit bulky (this attachment is a little bigger than you might expect), but you can always put that away. The peeler tool takes a pretty thick skin off, so you may feel you are wasting a tiny bit on apples and other thin skinned vegetables, though potatoes are a little more appropriate. There are cheaper options for those not into the Kitchenaid total nexus for the Stand Mixer. FINAL THOUGHTS: In my opinion this is partly about Kitchenaid user ability to replace another kitchen tool and keep it combined in one convenient kitchen tool system. I love having lots of options to attach to my mixer. But truthfully you can accomplish these tasks with a much less expensive tool. It may or may not be as substantial. It may even cut different width slices that this one won't. But if you use the stand mixer already, this is a terrific accessory. One of my favorites actually. It really comes down to what you need in your kitchen and what you want to spend. As I said before, I would feel more comfortable with at least one part being steel rather than plastic. But then more parts of this product are metal than a lot of spiralizers out there so I really can't complain that much. Amazon does not allow inserting links to other company product pages. But if you go to the Kitchenaid web site you can view very slick demonstration videos for this product.