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The best stand mixers can mix, cream, and knead ingredients thoroughly without issue. Attachments should properly fit in the bowl, with minimal clearance on both the bottom and sides, ensuring the stand mixer can handle large and small amounts of ingredients easily.
Look for a stand mixer that is simple to operate. The mixer should have intuitive speed adjustment, and adding and removing its bowl and attachments should be straightforward. Heavier stand mixers are more stable and less prone to walking, and powerful motors ensure the mixer can knead doughs of all hydrations and stickiness without strain.
THE BEST STAND MIXER – KitchenAid 7 Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixer
What we liked: This bowl-lift, seven-quart stand mixer delivers with power and ease of use. It whipped heavy cream, mixed batter, and kneaded pizza dough deftly. We liked the numerous paddles it came with—including a silicone-lined one meant for scraping—and that all of the attachments were stainless steel, so there’s no chance of them chipping. Its pouring shield had silicone bumpers that kept it in place on the bowl’s rim, its bowl had a large handle, and its extra-long cord featured a silicone piece for wrapping it up tidily. We also appreciate the mixer’s redesigned hub: Instead of a cap that flips upward, the hub comes off entirely. We’ve had issues with flipped-up hubs detaching completely (and never fitting properly again), so we prefer this newer version. Additionally, this mixer has a brushed stainless steel bowl that resists smudges and fingerprints and is fairly quiet when operating.
What we didn’t like: It can take some finagling to properly seat the bowl on the stand mixer’s pronged arms. The mixer has a raised bump at the base that can lead to unmixed ingredients accumulating around it. Of course, it’s also heavy.
Key Specs
- Weight: 31 pounds
- Dimensions: 14.63 x 11.31 x 16.5 inches
- Stated bowl capacity: 7 quarts
- Wattage: 500 watts
- Cord length: 42 inches
- Attachments: 3 beaters, whisk, dough hook, pouring shield, bowl scraper
- Care instructions: Bowl is dishwasher-safe; paddles, dough hook, shield, and scraper are top-rack dishwasher-safe; whisk is handwash-only
- Materials: Stainless steel bowl, metal, plastic
THE BEST STAND MIXER FOR CASUAL BAKERS – KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
What we liked: For folks who don’t bake as often but still want a top-of-the-line KitchenAid mixer, the KitchenAid Artisan series is a great option. With a 325-watt motor, it’s less powerful than its seven-quart sibling, but still does a great job creaming butter, whipping heavy cream, and making cake batter. The smaller size means it doesn’t take up as much space on the countertop, but the five-quart bowl is still big enough for most baking projects.
Because the Artisan series has less power and a tilt-head, it struggles with stiffer bread and pizza dough. However, it got the job done, producing a smooth dough without heating up or becoming too loud. The Artisan series is solidly constructed and doesn’t move much when in use, as long as you knead dough at a lower speed. It also has a variety of attachmentsyou can purchase for it, making it an exceptionally versatile kitchen appliance.
What we didn’t like: The motor is a little less powerful than other stand mixers, so it struggles a bit with stiffer doughs.
Key Specs
- Weight: 19.4 pounds
- Dimensions: 13.5 x 13.75 x 8.75 inches
- Stated bowl capacity: 5 quarts
- Wattage: 325 watts
- Cord length: 38 inches
- Attachments: Paddle, dough hook, whisk, plus splash/pouring guard
- Care instructions: Paddle, dough hook, shield, and bowl are dishwasher-safe; whisk is handwash-only
- Materials: Stainless steel bowl, metal, plastic
THE BEST SMALL STAND MIXER – KitchenAid Artisan Mini 3.5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
What we liked: This stand mixer is small, but still plenty mighty for most baking tasks. It easily brought together cake batter and acceptably kneaded ciabatta dough (though we wouldn’t recommend extensive bread-making with it). Like all KitchenAid mixers, the Artisan Mini features easily adjustable controls. We appreciated the large handle on this mixer’s bowl and liked its flex-edge beater, which scraped the sides of the bowl efficiently. At under 20 pounds, it’s much easier to lift and move than other stand mixers.
What we didn’t like: When making bread, this mixer was louder than other models—a sign that it struggled more with the task.
Key Specs
- Weight: 18 pounds
- Dimensions: 7.8 x 12.3 x 12.3 inches
- Stated bowl capacity: 3.5 quarts
- Wattage: 250 watts
- Cord length: 48 inches
- Attachments: Whisk, dough hook, flex-edge beater
- Care instructions: Bowl is dishwasher-safe; paddle and dough hook are top-rack dishwasher-safe; whisk is handwash-only
- Materials: Stainless steel bowl, metal