What kind of Stand Mixer should I get?

Consumer reports says Hamilton Beach Electric is the best buy. But do read what th pros and cons are, it's going to depend upon what you want to use it for.

I don't usually cut and paste, but I recently bought a 1 month subion to Consumer reports. Here is what they have to say on stand mixers:

Big, pricey stand mixers stand up to dough better and work faster than hand mixers or even less-expensive stand mixers. But our tests still showed differences in how well they perform.

They work in different ways, too. Some use two beaters, which spin against each other; others use one beater, which spins in one direction and moves around the bowl the opposite way. All but the three lowest rated have one beater.

With most, you tilt the mixer head up to remove beaters or bowl; with the KitchenAid Professional models, you turn a lever that lifts or lowers the bowl.

To test the mixers’ mettle, we whipped, mixed, kneaded, and mashed. If whisks or dough hooks were included, we used them. We judged loudness at the highest speed. We checked convenience by replacing beaters and adjusting speed, and found that all the mixers were about equally convenient.

Whipping. The best mixers made fluffy whipped cream and meringue in afew minutes. The Jenn-Air left unbeaten egg white in the bowl bottom.All but the two lowest rated come with a whisk.

Mixing. The best needed little help when they were creaming, blending flour, or folding chips into big batches of cookie dough.

Kneading. The best needed little help with a loaf of white-bread dough.Most easily handled two loaves’ worth. The three lowest rated vibrated a lot.

Mashing. We used the regular beaters to mash 2 pounds of potatoes. Mostmixers performed similarly, leaving small bits but no large chunks.

Noise. Quietest was the Hamilton Beach Eclectrics. The Viking was uncomfortably loud and shrill.


THE BOTTOM LINE

If you use a mixer often or do lots of kneading, these should fill the bill. The KitchenAid Classic and Hamilton Beach Eclectrics offer the best combination of value and performance. The prices we’ve listed are approximate retail.

For the best combination of value and performance:

• KitchenAid Classic K45SS , $199
• Hamilton Beach Eclectrics 6322 , $190, CR Best Buy


The KitchenAid Classic K45SS excelled at everything from meringue to double batches of bread dough.

The Hamilton Beach Electrics 6322, a CR Best Buy, performed very well overall, was convenient to use, and was the quietest machine wetested.

I am not sure if you have a specific use in mind.

• The Hamilton Beach Eclectrics 63221 Works well for most tasks, is quiet, and a good value at about $175 compared to KitchenAid and Cuisinart models.
• The Cuisinart SM-55 : Handles bread dough easily, Convenience features like timer and fold function, Splash guard and feed tube at about $350.00
• Kitchenaid K45SSWH Classic Series Stand Mixer all-metal design and 250-watt, 10-speed motor make heavy duty mixing a cinch. The unique mixing action-with the beater moving clockwise and the shaft moving counter-clockwise-mixes all ingredients evenly and thoroughly with no need to rotate the bowl. Tilt-up head eases cleaning, and rubber feet ensure stability. Includes 4-1/2-qt. stainless steel bowl, flat beater, dough hook and wire whip