KitchenAid KFE5T Tilt-Head Flex Edge Beater

The Kitchen Aid "flex edge flat beater" is an essential item in any kitchen that boasts having a Kitchen Aid standing mixer. If you cook a lot, your attachments are going to wear out much sooner than the powerful KA standing mixer itself. In fact, the standing mixers are made to last a lifetime, and, now that I think about it, mine is workhouse that has, so far, never failed after decades of use. The durable and well-made attachments, however, will ultimately wear down; and, it was a comfort to know that I was getting a real Kitchen Aid blade (this one is the one I use, btw, for cookie dough and things like that) and not a counterfeit version, when I needed a new KA flat beater. This leads to another point, and something to remember: always buy the same brand when you are looking for attachments to your electronic tools. It is no myth that a lesser piece will not perform the same way, and most likely it will be hard to use, and wear out even sooner, which makes your entire purchase a very poor investment. Put another way, if you are going to have the best mixer, make sure that you equip your device with the best parts made by the same maker. And this leads yet again to another point having to do with prolonging the life of your machinery and attachments: try not to put your pieces in the dishwasher, even if you are told they are dishwasher safe. Best to hand wash. Why? For one, the flex edge part of the flat beater is rubber--and dishwashers are brutally hot, which can erode the rubber not to mention the fact that dishwashing soap is very hard on everything. An aside, with some Kitchen Aid attachments, certain portions are made of an aluminum that can undergo aluminum oxidation after being exposed to harsh chemicals (i.e. heat, and dishwasher soap) or being left to soak for too long. With the latest and newer attachments, KA has been coating all of them and this problem has largely gone away, but aluminum oxidation is a "thing" that changes the texture of the metal and the metal will give off a black powdery residue (this metal part is usually at the "neck" of the attachment, or the part that snaps onto the turning fixture). It happens over time and the cause is usually manmade, so avoid exposing your attachments to harsh soaps and heat, and wash and dry them promptly. Lastly, I know that I could have ordered the flat beater from the maker or from a smaller kitchen parts shop, but, truth be told, Amazon offers the best price for this piece, and, as we know, if something goes wrong, Amazon is responsive and makes returns and exchanges quite easy.

I love that I don't have to stick a spatula down in the mixing bowl anymore!This gets everything up and off the sides perfectly. It seems like it gets dry ingredients up off the very bottom better, too.The only downside that I can note is that when youre done mixing and you lift the tilt head up slowly with the mixer spinning so that whatever you're mixing spins off the beater ... know what I mean?... when you do that with this beater it splatters out of the mixing bowl more. I used to be able to do it perfectly fine whether I was using the whisk or the original beater and didn't have any splatters, but with this Edge Scraper version you have to be more careful because the stuff flings out and splatters much more often and more easily.So, it means you have to do more scraping of the beater to get all your mixture off of it, whereas with old beater you could lift the head a little, control the speed, and have mixture spin off into your bowl.Youre not having to scrape the mixing bowl anymore to get everything incorporated and mixed, but you do have to scrape this beater now. Fair trade off, I think. I'd rather scrape the beater after mixing than have to keep scraping with a spatula or scraper while mixing.Update after prolonged use: The edges of the Flex Edge are getting pretty beat up. The edge sort of curls up a little bit and there are little cracks in. In some spots, it looks like tiny chunks are missing from the very edge. It doesn't effect the performance, but I didn't expect it to end up this way. I imagine i'll need to replace it before too long. It doesn't seem to be an accessory that has the same life span as the mixer.

I noticed a short time ago that the original paddle had a chip in the enamel. Im not sure how that happened, but beside the point. I’ve always wanted this paddle with the scraper, so perfect opportunity. I used it for the first time yesterday to make a cookie dough, and it worked great! I was so excited I called my husband over to marvel at it. As KA users know, scraping with a spatula can be a bit difficult with the paddle in the way. So don’t hesitate. Get this paddle.

Love it! Easy to clean and it scrapes bowl well. Should have bought it years ago.

Pretty happy with this replacement part. My original chipped. This has gone through couple rounds of baking and seems pretty decent.

Love this beater. No need to scrape the bowl anymore.

So glad I bought this! It works well, scraping the bowl as it goes ‘round. Easy to clean (I hand wash it).

Great replacement, and provides that flex edge which is very valuable when you want to be able to scrape the sides without having to stop the mixer all the time.