The 10 Biggest Mixer Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid
Next level, and for the third year running we have found that the 5-
Quart KitchenAid Artisan is the best mixer for the home baker.
genoise cake batter more effectively than nearly every other
model we tried, but it also effortlessly kneaded whole-wheat
Countertop (a common issue with other mixers). For this update
KitchenAid Artisan
This 5-quart stand mixer tackles nearly any recipe without knocking around on the counter, and it's
Among the quietest models in the KitchenAid line.
Although we weren't completely surprised to see a KitchenAid mixer come out on top, we did
Think the competition would fare a bit better. But after going through more than 16 hours of
research, consulting mixing experts, performing 30 hours of side-by-side testing on six stand
Mixers and two hand mixers, and doing two decades of long-term testing, we can definitively say
that the brand that rolled out the first tabletop mixer in 1919 is still the best. Sometimes you
Also Great
For bigger batches
With a bigger mixing bowl and footprint, this mixer is best left on the countertop. It isn't as good as
The Artisan at smaller jobs, but it's excellent at mixing heavy doughs and batters.
If for some reason the Artisan sells out, or if you make a lot of bread dough or thick batters,
consider our runner-up, the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer.
It has a bigger footprint and runs much louder than the Artisan, and it costs about $60 more at the
Moment, but it is a workhorse (confirmed by the fact that it's often found in pro kitchens).
Also Great
For occasional bakers and tiny kitchens
If a stand mixer seems like more than you need (and less counter space than you have), this
Cuisinart is a still-powerful but smaller alternative.
For occasional baking, or if you have a tiny kitchen, get the Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus 9-
Speed Handheld Mixer.
Is the most effective hand mixer we've found, and it does a more than adequate job of blending
doughs, frostings, and lofty cakes. We also like its compact storage case, which keeps All the
Attachments securely housed with the machine (no groping in a drawer for that extra beater!) .
Why you should trust me
I've worked with stand mixers during the course of my 18-year career in restaurants, catering
kitchens, and test kitchens. Though large Hobart mixers are common in commercial
kitchens, many kitchens also use a countertop mixer for smaller jobs. Restaurants and catering
dough for recipe development. I've used mixers in every condition--from brand-new to on its
last legs--and I've even had to work with one that would shock you if your hands were the least
bit moist.
We also spoke with mixing experts, including Sarah Carey of Everyday Food; Jane Lear, former
Senior articles editor at Gourmet; and Anna Gordon, owner of The fantastic Batch bakery. We
Turned to Good Housekeeping, Consumer Reports, and Cook's Illustrated to see what they had to
say and how they tested. Using these reviews along with Amazon user reviews, we
experiences.
For the right person, a good mixer can be a total game changer in the kitchen.
A good stand mixer will make your baking (and cooking) life much easier. If you bake regularly
and have been struggling with a low-grade stand mixer, an aging hand-me-down from a relative,
Or a hand mixer, you may want to think about upgrading. For the right person, a good mixer can
Be a entire game changer in the kitchen. A well-made stand mixer can turn out loaves of rustic
bread, moist cake layers, and dozens upon dozens of cookies. It can make quick work of
whipping egg whites into meringue and heavy cream into an airy dessert topping. Terrific mixers
have power hubs for extra accessories that can roll out pasta dough, grind meat, and even churn
ice cream.
If you're going to invest in one of these babies, you should be looking to use it two or three times
A week, but that shouldn't be difficult given how versatile a fantastic mixer can be. A stand mixer
Also frees up time in the kitchen as you can turn it on and step away to prep for the next
step in your recipe.
You can find three kinds of electric mixers.
Stand mixer with tilt head: This style--which includes the KitchenAid Artisan--is the most
common domestic stand mixer. The top of the machine tilts up so that the user can attach or remove
the mixing attachment and bowl.
Stand mixer with bowl-lift: Professional mixers like the Hobart line and domestic mixers like the
KitchenAid Professional 600 Series have this design. You snap the bowl into place on a curved arm
And lift it toward the mixing attachment by means of a lever.
Hand mixer: This frequent machine is handheld and doesn't include a bowl. It can come with only
Two standard beaters or have a number of different attachments designed for specific purposes like whipping
cream and kneading bread dough. This type of mixer is good for the occasional baker who wants to
whip cream and make the odd batch of cookies.
How we picked and tested
They mainly fall into one of two types: planetary and the type you don't
want.
You can find a glut of stand mixers on the market Today, but they mainly fall into one of two
Kinds: planetary and the kind you don't want. Planetary mixers have one beater that spins
its axis while it rotates around the bowl. This action ensures more points of contact and thus
more consistent mixing. The other type of mixers utilize two stationary beaters that spin while
The bowl rotates, and this kind doesn't get very favorable ratings because of the lack of coverage
in the bowl. Since the beaters are stationary, according to Cook's Illustrated, "the attachments
Never touch the entire contents of the mixing bowl-they carve through a single trough." I
Immediately eliminated mixers which didn't have planetary action because of this.
Next, I considered what basic tasks a stand mixer required to excel at. A Fantastic mixer should whip
cream and egg whites quickly, cream butter and sugar to a pale and fluffy consistency, and knead
rustic bread dough without straining, smoking, or "walking" around the counter. It should be
Heavy enough to stay in place but not so heavy that it's hard to move around. A handle on the
bowl is extremely convenient when you're pouring cake batter, cooking Swiss meringue over
a bain-marie, or scooping cookie dough.
When it comes to attachments, you have a couple things to consider. Are they dishwasher safe? Are
they burnished metal, or do they have a nylon coating? Sarah Carey, host of Everyday Food with
Sarah Carey, told us that she preferred the uncoated paddle attachment for the KitchenAid mixer
Because the nylon coating can processor. Our top pick includes coated attachments, and even though
I've experienced chipping in professional and test kitchen situations, the paddle and dough hook
On my home mixer remain unscathed.
In Terms of bowl size, we agree with the Cook's Illustrated recommendation of 5 to 6 quarts--big
Enough to make about four dozen standard-size cookies. That is plenty for the home cook. You
Don't need to go much larger, since mixing smaller amounts in a huge bowl is difficult because
the beater makes less contact with the contents. As far as bowl shape goes, Cook's Illustrated
recommends a squat bowl with a flared lip so there's more surface area in the bottom, keeping
Contents from going up the sides and therefore reducing the need to scrape.
Reviewers have varying opinions on the weight of stand mixers. Some reviews complain about
Mixers being too heavy, which is understandable if you have to pull one out of a cabinet or down
From a shelf every time you will need to use it. But these things are really designed to be left on the
counter. If you want something more portable, get a hand mixer, because the heft of a stand
Mixer is crucial to its stability during more intensive tasks. Baker Anne Gordon says that the
Weight of an excellent mixer should be able to deal with its own force, and we agree.
For a tool that takes up a decent amount of counter space ... it might be wise
to have something that's a multitasker.
It might be tempting for someone shopping for their first stand mixer to go for a cheap option,
But in this situation, you truly get what you pay for. Sarah Carey recommends getting the best
Machine that you can afford. You can spend around $170 on the Hamilton Beach Eclectrics AllMetal
Stand Mixer, which does only that: mix. But for roughly $60 more, the KitchenAid Classic
Has a power hub designed to accept all the accessories that turn a mixer into a pasta-rolling
machine, meat grinder, roto slicer, and more. For a tool that takes up a decent amount of counter
Space (1 square foot in most cases), it might be sensible to have something that's a multitasker.
Sarah Carey and Jane Lear both said to us how much they enjoy the pasta-rolling and meatgrinding
Attachments, and Lear added that the ice cream maker is great too. Our editor-in-chief,
Jacqui Cheng, stated that she uses a KitchenAid mixer for grinding meat (with the meat-grinder
attachment) more than she uses it for actual mixing.
To get the full scope of what each mixer could do, we decided on four recipes that test various
aspects of a mixer's performance. We made whole wheat bread to test kneading, meringue
frosting to test whipping egg whites, sponge cake to test whipping whole eggs, and Kitchen Sink
Cookies to understand how well a mixer would cope with lots of resistance and chunks. Finally, to see if
The mixers could handle small tasks, I used them to whip only one egg white and 1/2 cup of cream.
After examining the crumb on the loaves of bread, the volume yield of the frosting, the height of
the cakes (down to 1/16 of an inch) and how thoroughly each batch of cookie dough was mixed,
We found one clear winner that crushed every test.
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