If you're an avid baker, a mixer is a great tool to have in your arsenal.
Although some come with a hefty price tag, they can take the grunt work out of baking by kneading dough and heavy batters with ease. Many come in stylish designs too, demanding a permanent spot on your kitchen bench, while others accommodate extra attachments to give you more versatility.
We test the latest mixers in our labs to help you find your perfect model. Read on to see how we get the results.
On this page:
Our expert testers
There's no doubt our home economist Fiona Mair knows her way around a kitchen.
With 30 years of experience, Fiona has endless knowledge about kitchen appliances and has seen lots of shiny technology come and go. She's a whiz in the kitchen and knows how to put any appliance through its paces.
Our test coordinator Chantelle Dart joins Fiona in testing popular kitchen products to see if they're worth a spot in your home.
How we choose what we test
With a range of products on the market, what makes us test one hand mixer over another? As with most of our product testing, our aim is to test the most popular models on the market and what you're most likely to see in stores.
We survey manufacturers to find out about their range of models, check market sales information and also look out for any member requests to test specific models.
From this information, we put together a final list that goes to our buyers. They then head out to the retailers and purchase each product, just as a normal consumer would. We do this so we can be sure the products are the same as any consumer would find them and not 'tweaked' in any way.
How we test
Performance
Accounts for 60% of the CHOICE Expert Rating.
Fiona and Chantelle put mixers through the wringer by conducting three main tests:
- Whisking egg whites – using the whisk attachment to whisk egg whites, they look for sharp, stiff peaks with glossy and uniform colour.
- Pizza dough – using the dough hook (where provided) to mix and knead pizza dough, they look for a uniform and smooth texture with no unmixed ingredients.
- Cake mix – using the beater attachment to mix a cake mix, they look for a uniform and smooth texture with no unmixed ingredients.
Ease of use
Accounts for 40% of the CHOICE Expert Rating.
Fiona and Chantelle assess ease of use by checking how easy it is to:
- use the controls
- lift and lower the head
- use the locking mechanism
- remove and replace the mixing bowl
- insert and remove mixing tools and ingredients while the mixer is operating
- clean the parts and main unit.
Our test lab
We maintain a kitchen lab that is up to date with the latest reference machines and calibrated measurement tools for our testers to bring you the right results.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
