![]() ![]() Kitchenaid 5-Speed: This machine struggled throughout most of the tests and even started making weird sounds when I tried to make Swiss meringue.The lowest speed wasn't all that low, making it a splatter hazard with the cream. Hamilton Beach Soft Scrape: This mixer came in last place in the whipped cream test.Noise level: Motors can be noisy or whiny (or even shriek-y).Comfort: You'll want a machine that's comfortable to grip and hold for long periods of time.However, higher wattage does not necessarily mean the mixer is more powerful or of better quality, as the machine's motor might not use that power efficiently. Wattage: Wattage is a measurement of power.Storage: Some of the mixers had cases or pouches for easier storage, which we liked.While some of them are useful, we do not recommend using the dough whisk attachment with any mixer. Attachments: Some mixers included whisks, frothers, dough hooks, and other attachments for added versatility.Some machines also have Turbo mode, which can give you a boost of speed at the touch of a button to whip chunkier or thicker ingredients. More speeds make the transition from lowest to highest smoother. Number of speeds: It’s often wise to start at a slow speed, then ramp up to a high speed to reduce the chance of splatters.But the slowest settings on some mixers were much too fas. Wide Range of Speed Settings: Every mixer supposedly offered a range of slow and fast speed settings (from five to nine).We liked both styles, as long as the controls were simple: a single wheel to scroll or two buttons for adjusting speed up and down. Simple, Intuitive Controls: The mixers came with analog or digital controls (a couple mixers had both).They also trapped less cookie dough, since chunkier ingredients such as chocolate chips and rolled oats were able to pass through the broader gaps between the tines more easily. Wide Beater Heads: Beater heads with wider diameters (at least 2 inches across) mixed most efficiently, since they were able to move a larger volume of ingredients at once.Finally, we outfitted our top two models with their dough hooks and mixed Bagel Bread (more on this below). After first testing all the models with their beaters, we tested the models equipped with whisk attachments by preparing an additional batch of meringue. Still, we think they can be an important and convenient addition to your kitchen arsenal.Īll hand mixers include two standard beater attachments some also include one or two whisk attachments and a pair of spiral-shaped dough hooks. While hand mixers make many baking projects much easier, we’ve found that they are not powerful enough to mix most bread or pizza doughs, despite some manufacturers’ claims. We think a hand mixer is an especially good option for people looking to get into baking without making a huge investment, people who don’t have much storage space, and people with arthritis or certain disabilities that prevent them from lifting a larger mixer. We use them in the test kitchen for whipping cream beating egg whites into meringue and combining ingredients for single batches of cookies, cakes, or pies. Hand mixers strike a happy medium between combining ingredients by hand and hauling out a heavy stand mixer every time you want to mix. We also love our Best Buy, the Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus 9 Speed Hand Mixer with Storage Case, which offers similar mixing prowess without the bells and whistles of our winner. We were looking for a mixer that was powerful and easy to use and had a range of speed settings, and we found all that and more in our new winner, the Breville Handy Mix Scraper. They also take up less storage space than a stand mixer and are much easier to maneuver. We often use them to whip cream, cream together butter and sugar for baked goods, and beat egg whites for meringue. Hand mixers are a useful addition to any baker's kitchen.
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