10 Ways You Can Get More Mixer While Spending Less
A stand mixer can easily be one of the most exciting purchases you ever
Make for your kitchen, especially if you bake a lot. Since this is such an
Investment piece, most people really want to be certain they have the
Space, money, and need for such a system before taking the plunge.
Choosing the Best Stand Mixer For Your Home | Foodal.comSave
Although finally deciding to make the purchase can feel like a big decision
In and of itself, the real choice comes when picking the one that will be
Right for your home and cooking needs.
If you choose wisely and buy the best rack mixer that you can afford, this
Small appliance can last you decades, ensuring that you really do get your
Money's worth, not to mention that it will add so much to what you could do
at home.
Some top rated models have attachments that you can purchase, ranging
from sausage stuffers to pasta makers.
Best options on the market today to assist you make the perfect decision for
your kitchen.
OUR STAND MIXER TOP PICKS
To help you best fit the particular model to your needs, we've broken our
list down into three performance categories: light duty for the occasional
Baker, medium duty for the folks that bake on consistent basis but not
Each and every day, and heavy duty for those who bake more frequently.
There's also a bonus category for the "no-holds-barred" shopper, for those
Who need or want the very best and aren't afraid to pay for it -- however,
There's only 1 product (the Hobart N50) that we've listed in this section
That could reasonably fit into a home kitchen.
components.
The appliance industry's habit of using wattage for a measurement of
Power is also a factor that's hard to translate into a review. 400 watts is
With stand mixers, you generally get what you pay for.
Lighter dough items or whipping up a nice cream, you can't go wrong with
the Breville BEM800XL Scraper Mixer Pro 5-Quart Die-Cast Stand Mixer.
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Although we would not recommend it for more than occasional bread
Kneading, this machine will perform very well for the typical home chef,
So long as he or she doesn't have a bread baking obsession. Its scraping
function is unique among its peers.
range.
This category represented a difficult choice, and it came down to the
Cuisinart SM-55 5 1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer and the KitchenAid 5-
Quart Artisan Series Mixer. In the Long Run, we awarded the medium category
Capabilities in the real world.
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one-year, reviewers indicated that the Cuisinart's customer service was
Sometime difficult to manage, and that they had to pay shipping both
Methods to get their machine serviced or replaced.
KitchenAid's warranty service seems to have none of these difficulties.
We also appreciated the Gigantic variety of different colors in which the
KitchenAid KSM150 5-Quart Artisan Series is offered, and the numerous
Various attachments which are available. Although we gave our nod
Towards the KitchenAid, we're sure you'd be pleased with either
model.
This was by far the hardest category to decide our top pick. Much
Debate and teeth gnashing occurred, and you won't go wrong with
Choosing any of the various offerings. But in the end, we had to choose just
one.
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Baking a copious quantity of bread. Have a Massive family with a bunch of
Mouths to feed and make the majority of your food from scratch? If so, this is THE
With nearly 12 pounds of dough capacity, which can be tapped into on a
Daily basis without fear of burning the motor up, this is the best mixer for
bread baking by far, without breaking the bank. The next step up, which
would be the Hobart N50-60 5-Quart 3-Speed All Purpose Bench Mixer,
Costs significantly more, and most folks aren't ready to pay this much
For a home machine.
Our other favourite option was the KitchenAid Proline 7-Quart. This one is
Especially helpful if you would like to use KitchenAid's full line of accessory
Attachments such as the grain mils, meat grinders, food processors, and so
on.
HOW WE RATED
KitchenAid Stand Mixer Diagram of Parts and Functions
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POWER
You'll probably want to buy the highest powered unit that you can afford --
Especially if you're working with lots of heavy or dry dough. There is,
nothing about the power available, either at the motor itself or at the mixer
head. Watts (in this case) can be defined by the amount of power or current
That's drawn from the electrical grid.
This does not take into account -- at all -- the build quality, design, or
efficiencies of the motors themselves. Without getting too techie, a high
Quality fixed speed induction motor driving a top quality set of gears can
Use this 400 watts much more effectively and for a longer period than a
cheap high speed motor.
A more fair measurement of power would be a horsepower rating at
Continuous use, but this measurement is significantly harder to obtain, therefore it is
Highly unlikely that it will ever be adopted by home consumer brands
(even though it's used by commercial equipment makers like Hobart).
Lacking industrial testing equipment, our factor for rating each model's
available power was evaluated somewhat by the seat of our pants.
PLANETARY ACTION
This means that the beaters rotate on their axis similarly to the way the
Earth rotates. Like a planetary system, the Entire mixer head then rotates
The opposite way, similar to the way the Earth rotates around the sun. This
ensures that the sides of the bowl are scraped by the beater rather than
Having to do it by hand, and that the ingredients become fully mixed.
Stand Mixer Plantetary Action Explained - Foodal.comSave
ALL METAL GEARING
Though a bit noisier than other models with quieter nylon gears
(sometimes referred to as "plastic" gears in various reviews), models with
metal gears tend to last much longer.
That being said, there are obvious differences in quality between various
brands in their manufacturing process, with some lower priced models
Opting for pot metal gears, while better models provide brass or steel gears
with tighter tolerances.
The all metal gear equipped examples are normally kitted out with
Electronic sensors, which shut off the machine prior to the motor damaging
Itself in the event of an overload.
It should be pointed out that KitchenAid uses ONE Kevlar-reinforced
nylon gear in their lower-price tilt head designs that is engineered as a fail
Safe in case of motor overload, and breaks up into pieces in the function
of a jam. Their upper-end models use the electronic overload sensors, and
all metal gears.
SLOW START FEATURE
Any decent stand mixer will have this choice. This basically slowly spins
The motor up for the first several seconds, so that the ingredients do not fly
Into the air and make a flour cloud, or splatter your walls.
SPEED OPTIONS
Generally, the more speed options available the better, as this allows you
To perform any task that you set out to do, including whipping cream at a
Higher rate and kneading dough at lower rates.
This speed controller also allows you to maximize the torque being produced
By the motor with the stiffness of these ingredients. We like to see at least 6-
7 speed choices. It should be pointed out that the uber-expensive Hobart
N50 only has three speeds, since the motor is so powerful it can plow through
almost anything in any gear.
COLOR OPTIONS
At Foodal, we are more into Function over Form. But we realize some folks
value the ability to match their decor, so we've included this as a small
metric.
However, you may value this more, and thus it may affect your selection
criteria more so than it does ours -- it just happened by coincidence that
Two of our top picks are offered in a plethora of colors.
WEIGHT
A heavy stand mixer has much less of tendency to "walk" around your
countertops when mixing heavy bread dough. You'll generally want a
mixer that weighs at least 20 pounds, though heavier is generally better.
In the good old days of USA manufacturing, many of these appliances got
This weight from their heavy duty motors (usually tagged with Emerson or
Baldor) that contained lots of costly copper wiring and lasted nearly
forever.
Unfortunately, in these years of making products cheaper and cheaper,
many manufacturers have outsourced their motor supply to China (even if
they are "made" elsewhere) and include smaller, less efficient, and much
cheaper units. These manufacturers have beefed up the weight through
other means.
It should be noted that the Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine (which
Has a killer motor that could tackle nearly anything you need to do),
Originally designed for the European market where space is at a premium,
has eschewed the weight in favor of suction cups on the feet to "glue"
itself to your countertops.
This in no way takes away from the versatility of this incredible machine,
And it might be considered the best light weight stand mixer in the marketplace
today (light weight referring to mass, not power or capability).
Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine | Foodal.comSave
The Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer is one of the few mixers on the
market that doesn't depend on mass to keep in in place.
TILT HEAD VS. BOWL LIFT
Before looking at individual models, you should consider which of two
Basic kinds of stand mixers are right for you: tilt head or bowl lift. With
the tilt head model, you insert and remove the bowl by lifting the head of
the mixer.
When the head is lifted, you can securely twist the bowl into place in the
base of the mixer. Then just pull the tilt head down and use a small lever
On the side of the machine to lock it into place, so it doesn't wobble while
you use it.
These models tend to be a little less bulky, so consider the space you have
For storing when making your choice.
KitchenAid KSM150PS 5 Qt Artisan Series Stand Mixer| Foodal.comSave
This KitchenAid KSM150 5-Qt. Artisan Series in Persimmon is a superb
Example of a tilt head version
To insert and remove the bowl on the bowl lift models, the bowl hooks
onto arms that extend from the machine, and the arms raise and lift to
make removal easier.
More advanced home cooks like this model because bowls of warm or cold
Water can be placed beneath it for extra temperature control. Some users
Complain that it's more difficult to add ingredients to the bowl lift model,
And don't like that attachments need to be removed from the machine in
Order to eliminate the bowl.
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