The Best Stand Mixers

Best Mixer for Serious Cooks and Bakers

KitchenAid 6-Qt. Professional Bowl-Lift

Bowl Size: 6 quarts| Mixing Action: Planetary

The KitchenAid Professional lives up to its name. This bowl-lift mixer boasts precision craftsmanship, one-handed operation, and enough mixing power to simulate a minor earthquake. This power translates to dough kneading, cookie mixing, frosting whipping ascendency. When the mixer's work is complete, the bowl-lift makes clean-up a cinch. This design eliminates the hinge where the head and neck meet — as with tilt-head models — reducing the nooks and crannies where frosting, et cetera build-up.

While the bowl-lift is quite convenient, it only has two settings, all the way up and all the way down. Moreover, the up setting leaves a space between the bowl and the attachment. This issue points to a broader problem resulting from the Professional's prodigious proportions. When mixing small batches, the user must aid the machine with a spatula to incorporate ingredients that get stranded on the bottom and sides of the bowl. Additionally, the fixed head design will often require the bowl to be lowered when adding large quantities of dry ingredients. The reality is that all mixers pose problems of this sort and many to a greater degree. That said, the problems solved by the Professional far outweigh the issues left unresolved.

Read Full Review: KitchenAid 6-Qt. Professional Bowl-Lift

Best Mixer for Home Kitchens

KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer

Bowl Size: 5 quarts | Mixing Action: Planetary

The KitchenAid Artisan is a quality mid-sized mixer with a tilt-head. Despite its middling dimensions, the Artisan mixed it up with the best in class in three out of four test categories. This machine has the power to knead dough quickly and thoroughly, and it can mix frosting to the highest standards. The attachment/ bowl gap is slight, so the user won't have to employ a spatula too often. Critically, this model also has the weight and stability to stay put when at the highest mixing speeds. Finally, this model is easy to use, allowing for one-handed execution of all its critical functions.

While the Artisan has a burly motor and componentry, our model had some minor speed regulation issues that presented at the higher settings used for whipping cream and eggs. This anomaly could explain some of the sagging we observed in our cake sponge (inconsistent aeration of eggs) and some of the splatterings that the whisk issued. The Artisan, like all models with the motor above the bowl, can get showered with ingredients when they are added during active mixing. When it's all said and done, these minor issues fall by the wayside in comparison to the quality experience this machine provides to its users.

Read Full Review: KitchenAid Artisan

Best Bang for the Buck

KitchenAid Classic Plus KSM75WH

Bowl Size: 4.5 quarts| Mixing Action: Planetary

The KitchenAid Classic Plus is the kid brother to the Artisan. This mid-sized, tilt-head machine is endowed with a sturdy motor. Thanks to the narrow bowl/ attachment gap, it performs well with thick cookie dough, and it handles the mixing and kneading of pizza dough without much trouble. When the work of mixing is complete, the head, neck, and base are relatively easy to wipe down.

That said, the cake sponges mixed by this machine fell enough to suggest that its whipping action is subpar. Additionally, when mixing the cookie dough, the paddle came loose while struggling to scrape a large piece of dough off the side of the bowl — something we haven't seen with any other mixer. Lastly, the Classic had a bit of trouble incorporating frosting ingredients from the bottom of the bowl. This required the user to scrape the bowl a few times to ensure a thorough mix. Despite these limitations, this machine proved to be more than worth the money with an all-around quality performance outstripped much of the competition.

Read Full Review: KitchenAid Classic Plus

Best for Open-Top Mixers

Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine

Bowl Size: 6.5 quarts| Mixing Action: Kneading and Triplicate Whip

The distinctive design of the Bosch Universal Plus offers innovative features and some "interesting" ones as well. The large, open-top bowl with a high-torque central driveshaft is a compelling design. Complementing the primary motor is a high-speed motor siloed to the back of the base for aftermarket attachments. The unencumbered bowl opening makes introducing ingredients and monitoring the progress of the mixing a breeze. The unavoidable manual scraping of the side of the bowl is easy as well. The Universal Plus also offers a unique triplicate whisking action that is quite effective at working egg whites and the like.

While the triplicate whipping system is powerful and efficient, the limited speed settings (4 in total) can pose some problems with more delicate ingredients. Additionally, the dough hook is unconventional and performs marginally well when kneading bread dough — though it's effective at other applications. All and all, the Bosch offers a diverse suite of functions that are singular in the class and worth checking out.

Read Full Review: Bosch Universal Plus

Why You Should Trust Us?

Senior Research Analyst Michelle Powell applies more than a decade of professional culinary experience to her analysis of kitchen devices and appliances. Michelle's management of an artisanal bakery makes her the ideal person to test mixers. She knows quality work when she sees it and the techniques that rendered such results. Senior Review Editor Nick Miley has a passion for feeding friends and family. He has worked to perfect recipes and hone his baking techniques for over 15 years. Having a particular interest in sourdough recipes, Nick knows that producing quality results depends on having quality kitchen tools. This experience — coupled with a scientific research background — guides his side-by-side analyzes of gourmet food products.

Our hands-on testing was preceded by extensive research on the mixer market. We made dozens of in-depth investigations of promising models. Having gained a firm grasp on this class of products, we purchased the most compelling mixers across a variety of styles, sizes, and price points. We then devised kneading, mixing and whipping tests that ultimately rendered 11 pizzas, 200+ cookies, and 11 cakes that were taste-tested for a complete understanding of the benefits imparted to each by the different machines under review. We hope that this review will be informative and ultimately help you to expand your culinary aspirations.

Related: How We Tested Stand Mixers

Analysis and Test Results

To make direct, apples-to-apples comparisons among a diverse class of stand mixers, we developed a set of rating metrics that are weighted according to their impact on the overall user experience. These metrics and their contribution to each product's overall rating are as follows: mixing (30%), ease of use (30%), whipping (25%), and kneading (15%). While our in-house testing does not cover every conceivable mixer use, it does go a long way in demonstrating the capabilities and limitations of each mixer when compared to its peers.

Related: Buying Advice for Stand Mixers

Value

Value is a subjective concept to be sure. However, in our attempt to make value more objective, we offer the following definition. Value is a ratio of a product's quality and price in comparison to other similar quality or similarly priced products in the class. By this definition a product that performs similarly to its peers but costs less is of greater value. A good example of this kind of value is the Best Buy Award-winning KitchenAid Classic Plus. Likewise, a product that costs the same as its peers, but is of higher quality also offers greater value. The Editors' Choice KitchenAid Artisan, for example, retails at slightly above the class average, and yet delivers a level of performance that far outstrips its price tag.

Mixing

The heavily weighted mixing metric is a test of the motor, componentry, and the resulting action of the machine. While these machines can execute many different tasks, their primary function is combining ingredients. As such, we use the mixing portions of cowboy cookie dough, pizza dough, and frosting as they isolate each mixer's ability to combine and incorporate ingredients in different scenarios.

The cookie dough tests a mixer's ability to evenly integrate large ingredients such as chocolate chips, nuts, oats, and coconut flakes into a relatively soft dough without pulverizing them. The pizza recipe tests the mixer's ability to incorporate liquids into dry, powdery ingredients. This requires the machine to mix ingredients that could be thrown out of the bowl by the force of the paddle and can become lumpy if incompletely or incorrectly mixed. Finally, the frosting recipe tests the mixer's ability to incorporate butter with both liquid and dry ingredients rendering a smooth, creamy frosting without getting unincorporated ingredients stuck on the sides of the bowl and paddle.

This analysis goes beyond an assessment of the final mixed products. We also look at the response these recipes provoke in the machines. Specifically, we look for signs of struggle or even failure. These signs can be inconsistent movement of the mixing attachment, changes in volume or pitch of the motor or acrid smells emitting from the motor.

Four of our award-winners — the KitchenAid's Professional, Artisan, and Classic, as well the Bosch Universal Plus — produced satisfactory results in this series of tests. Interestingly, the Bosch Universal Plus user's manual called for the dough hook to be used for mixing the cookie dough. This attachment worked quite well for this task. Conversely, we were surprised by the difficulty that the steeply priced Ankarsrum had with the whipping tasks. This outcome may be the result of the uniformity of our tests and the fact that this model has a non-standard design. Compounding these issues is the lack of guidance provided by the manufacturer on the proper use of their product.

Ease of Use

The ease of use metric is an assessment of how the user interacts with the machine. Mixers are supposed to make the time spent in the kitchen more productive and hopefully more enjoyable. To be clear, all mixers have a learning curve that requires a nontrivial amount of time and effort to unlock their benefits. However, this process shouldn't be convoluted or made overly difficult due to poor product design. Given the large role that ease of use plays in user satisfaction, we weight this metric to account for 30% of the overall product score.

In this evaluation we pay close attention to the user interface; how the machine is turned on, the dials for selecting mixing speed as well as the range of speeds available. We establish which tasks can be conducted single-handedly and which require a bit more engagement. We assess the sturdiness of the machine and whether it wobbles or moves around. We note if there is a gap between the mixing attachment and the bowl that, if large enough, will require the user to manually contribute to the incorporation of the ingredients.

We also look at how messy the machine is when in operation. Does the mixer have a slow start-up function that helps to prevent ingredients from being thrown out of the bowl? Is it difficult to pour ingredients into the bowl when the machine is in operation? We also take note of the effectiveness of the splash guard if one is included. Finally, we rate the difficulty in cleaning the stand, bowl, and attachments.

The Artisan, the Classic Plus, and Professional all rate highly in the ease of use metric. These models have slow starts, which helps to keep the ingredients in the bowl regardless of the mixing setting. This is a great feature considering that these models have 10 optional speed settings covering a wide range of revolutions per minute (RPM). While the Bosch only has 4 speed settings, it does not suffer in the range of speeds it can deliver. Given the possible RPM that these machines can crank out, it's good that they all have sturdy bases (Bosch has suction cup feet!) that prevent them from going for a walk across the countertop.

Compared to some of the other kitchen appliances we've reviewed, mixers are pretty easy to clean. However, we found that models with the motor above the bowl pose some problems as they tend to collect split ingredients. Fixed heads, such as the KitchenAid Professional, are the easiest to wipe-down as they lack the hinge that creates a more complex surface. The open-top Bosch and Akarsrum are also quite easy to keep clean as their unobstructed bowl makes it easy to introduce ingredients and results in fewer spills. Moreover, the bowls and the shape of their bodies make wipe-down a piece of cake.

Whipping

Whipping is the aeration of a medium like egg whites or cream that produces an increase in volume. While this explanation is easy to understand, it does not capture the dexterity that is required to produce the various whipping outcomes. Mechanizing the whipping process can help tremendously as the whipping motion is more consistent, and often faster. Unfortunately, for the same reasons that mixers are so useful for whipping, they can easily overdo the process. Given the prevalence of whipping in so many common recipes and the subtlety of properly performing the task, we weight this metric to account for 25% of a mixer's final score.

To evaluate the mixers for their whipping capacity we use each to make whipped cream and lemon chiffon layer cake sponges. The first recipe allows us to directly measure the amount of air introduced into the cream. This is accomplished by measuring the cream before and after the whipping. The second recipe is an indirect measure of the aerated egg whites in the layer cake. The rise of the sponge is directly related to the structure and volume of the air-filled egg white bubbles in the batter. As such, we measure the height of the sponges at the edge and the center looking for height disparities.

Given the performance of the four award-winning mixers in the previous metrics it was a bit of a surprise that only the Editors' Choice KitchenAid Professional mixer made a good showing in the whipping metric. Joining the Professional is the Ankarsrum and the Kenmore Elite. All three of these machines had cake sponges that rose over an inch and a quarter and displayed little sagging in the center.

The whipping results were a little less clean-cut. The Professional produced the largest increase in volume, going from 1/2 cup of cream to 1 1/4 of whipped cream with stiff peaks in just over 3 minutes. The Kenmore produced similar volume results but required more than two additional minutes to get there. Moreover, the noises issuing from its motor produced little confidence that the machine could keep up the work for very long. The Ankarsrum's powerful triplicate whip system rendered stiff peaks in a mere minute and a half. However, the volume increase was less than double — among the poorest in the class.

As was stated before, what makes a mixer good for whipping can also be a detriment. This is the case with the Ankarsrum, but more so with the Bosch Universal. The latter machine's limited speed settings and triplicate whip action over-whipped the cream in just over a minute.

Kneading

When you don't have enough time to let fermentation do its work, then kneading the dough will speed up the process by working the gluten strands to produce an elastic dough. Why is this important? It's elasticity that promotes the retention of the CO2 — a byproduct of yeast consuming sugar — that makes dough rise. The problem is that kneading is hard for some and time consuming for all. For these reasons alone, kneading is a great task to hand off to a mixer. While kneading is an important and demanding task, as a metric it is narrower in scope than all the others. As such, we weight it to just 15% of each mixer' s final score.

Those readers who have kneaded dough by hand can probably imagine that this task might strain the motor of a mixer. As working dough is one of the primary reasons that mixers are purchased, we want to test the models here reviewed for their ability to execute this basic task. To test kneading capability we knead a basic pizza dough in each mixer, tossed it, dressed it and baked it off. Properly kneaded dough that has been proofed will be light and airy when baked. So, what we are testing for here is a pizza crust that has a fluffy, open crumb interior and a crispy, but easy to penetrate exterior.

KitchenAid mixers are known for the power of their motors and the corresponding quality of their dough hook designs — i.e. the attachment that stretches and folds as it works the dough. Given this reputation, it's not terribly surprising that the larger KitchenAid models such as the Artisan ranked at the top of the class in this metric. We were impressed, however, that the 3.5 quart Artisan Mini was able to tackle this challenge with authority.

Conversely, we were caught off guard by the Akarsrum's performance in this portion of our analysis. This product is known for being able to knead massive amounts of dough without breaking a sweat. At the same time, it is known for having a shallow learning curve; meaning that it takes more time to develop the skills and know-how that bring out the machine's full potential. Nevertheless, the fact that competent bakers initially struggled with the Ankarsrum does little to mitigate the frustrations the machine provoked. It would be nice if the company offered its customers a greater degree of guidance in the use of their product. That said, subsequent informal uses of the machine rendered much better results than those in the test phase and made some of our testers ardent defenders of this machine.

Conclusion

The above is a broad overview of TechGearLab's evaluation of the stand mixer market. We have provided bite-sized descriptions of the models that earned awards for their stellar performances, quality, and price. Moreover, we supplied background information on our testing methods and scoring process so that you will know why our testers esteem some products more than others. We hope that the depth of information provided not only helps you to make a purchase decision, but also gives you a better understanding of the different functions that the various mixers on the market perform. So, here's to hot kitchens, challenging recipes, and dinner table banter. Bon Appetit.