REVIEW – I’m always on the lookout for gadgets for our kids, things to help them as they transition to the next normal after college. I found a coffee maker for our daughter and a space heater and some tools for our son. As our daughter enjoys baking, I’m taking a look at a new stand mixer from Acekool.
What is it?
The Acekool MC1 is an entry-level stand mixer with ten speeds and a 7.5-quart bowl. It comes with three attachments and a splash guard. Acekool is a home appliance brand that wants to make life simpler and healthier for its users.
What’s in the box?
- Acekool MC1 Mixer and the bowl
- Three attachments (wire whisk, dough hook, flat beater)
- Splash guard and dust cover
- Instruction manual
- Mini cookbook (with 11 recipes)
- Warranty card
Hardware specs
- Color: Black, red, or silver
- Bowl capacity: 7.5 quarts
- Size: 14 D x 7 W x 13.75 H inches
Design and features
The Acekool MC1 has a design that is typical for stand mixers. A mixer head is mounted onto a base with a tilting hinge. Everything is made of plastic, and thus the mixer is very light; it requires suction cups on the bottom to keep it in place. It doesn’t exactly feel cheap, but neither does it feel sturdy and durable. My mixer is all black with a silver stripe across the top and silver controls, which give it a somewhat retro look.
Installation and setup
Setting up the Acekool MC1 mixer was easy. First, I found a location on my counter and gently pressed it down, thus activating the suction cups. Second, I set the dust cover on top of the flat beater attachment and then attached it to the beater shaft; this was done while the head was tilted back. Third, I set the mixing bowl onto the base and rotated it into the locked position. Fourth, I put the splash guard on the rim of the bowl. Finally, I lifted the tilt level up and lowered the mixer head into its standard operating position. It was ready to go!
You can read more in the Acekool MC1 instruction manual, which can be found online.
Performance
The best feature about the Acekool MC1 mixer is the 7.5-quart bowl. This larger-than-standard size allows me to mix more ingredients than normal without worrying about spilling them. A triple batch of chocolate chip cookies? Yes, please! It also comes with a sturdy handle on the side, making it easy to carry the bowl around after mixing. Unfortunately, this bowl is also the worst feature of this mixer. When Acekool designed the height of mixer and the angle of the tilting head, it seems like they failed to consider the taller size of the bowl. The attachments rotate in a circle. When I turn it off, the attachments might stop in a position closer to the mixer arm, or it might stop in a position further away. If it stops closer to the mixer arm, when I attempt to tilt the mixer, the attachment catches onto the side of the bowl; I’m unable to tilt it all the way back or remove the bowl from the base. The solution is to lower the head again, quickly turn the speed control on and back off a few times until the attachment winds up away from the mixer arm. Then it will come out. This is so frustrating, not to mention the inside of the bowl is already scraped up. Acekool needs to take this back to the drawing board and design a mixer where the attachments always come out of the bowl without banging into the sides.
When mixing, the Acekool MC1 performed well. I found that it had the power to mix all that cookie dough, the finesse to mash potatoes without turning them into cream, and the speed to beat the meringue for a beautiful chocolate pie.
With ten different speeds, I was able to precisely control how fast it mixed the ingredients. The splash guard kept the flour from the cookie dough from splattering all over the place, a common problem for me. I’m very happy with how well it worked.
When the Acekool MC1 is plugged in, and the mixer head is lowered into position, a blue light that rings the speed control begins flashing. And it keeps flashing. And it never stops flashing. The mixer isn’t even on, it’s just sitting there and flashing. Can you imagine what my kitchen would be like if every appliance I own had constantly flashing bright lights? It would be like having a Chuck E Cheese game room in my house. Acekool seems to think this is a good security feature–there’s a sticker just below the speed control that says, “When flashing avoid any contact with moveable parts–but in reality, it’s just an annoyance.
What I like
- Large bowl
- Capable mixer
What I’d change
- Delete that blinking light
- Redesign the tilting mechanism so it doesn’t get stuck on the bowl
Final thoughts
The MC1 from Acekool is a consumer-grade stand mixer that is priced to be someone’s first stand mixer. It has ten speeds to control the mixing, a very large mixing bowl with a handle, and three handy attachments. In my testing, I found that it had plenty of power and speed to mix a variety of ingredients for a range of recipes. The MC1 does, however, have a design flaw such that the attachment often gets stuck in the bowl when the head is tilted back. Additionally, it comes with an annoying blue ring light that doesn’t stop flashing until I tilt the head back or unplug it. Even though the MC1 mixes ingredients well, I can’t really recommend it due to these two problems.
Price: $119.99
Where to buy: Acekool and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Acekool.
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Cannot get replacement flat beater. I have gone straight to company. They are basically out of stock.
The handle on the bowl fell off. I would like a replacement bowl, but I can’t find someone who has one and could sell it to me. I also think the blinking light should go, and would redesign it so that the mechanism didn’t get stuck when the top is lifted.
I would try Acekool support: https://www.acekool.vip/pages/support
Good luck!