How to Choose the Right Hand Mixer For Your Baking Needs

No matter your baking level or experience level, finding the ideal hand mixer for your needs is key. We consulted experts who specialize in hand mixers such as culinary college graduates who review food products to former chefs who write for Food & Wine magazines to get advice.

Hand mixers offer an economical, space-saving way of mixing small batches of ingredients ranging from muffin batter to egg whites for meringue desserts. More affordable than stand mixers and easier to store, hand mixers make quick work of mixing all sorts of goodies quickly and conveniently on a countertop.

Power

Bakers and chefs alike know the hand mixer is an indispensable kitchen tool. Perfect for mixing thin batters and thick cookie dough, as well as whipping cream or meringue. Additionally, hand mixers can knead bread, make sauces and salad dressings, blend soups or blend other liquids.

Food & Wine recipe developer Laura Denby advises using a hand mixer with at least 200 watts of power, although 220 watts is ideal for heavy bread doughs and chocolate chip cookies.

Hand mixers often offer multiple speeds to meet various baking needs. High-speed options can help whisk egg whites, while slower ones work well for gently folding muffin batter or creaming butter and sugar together.

Katie Stymiest, founder of Caked by Katie, noted the soft-start function as being another useful feature that gradually increases speed to avoid any splatters during use.

If you’re more adventurous with your cooking, an electric hand mixer equipped with additional attachments like a whisk may be just what’s needed to whip cream or eggs quicker and help create delicious toppings like meringue meringues or meringue balls.

At our test kitchen, we used various mixers with various attachments to see how they performed when working with various recipes and ingredients. From basic beaters and whisks to ones equipped with features such as dough hooks or even storage cases for attachments – they all performed equally well when performing different tasks.

Black+Decker Helix Performance Hand Mixer features a 250-watt motor and five speed settings, making it the ideal tool for creating baked goods of all sorts. Its user-friendly controls include durable beaters that won’t break easily; plus its storage case keeps everything tidy when not being used!

This mixer earned 4.8-star reviews from more than 2,100 Amazon buyers, boasting electronic sensors that automatically adjust speed based on which attachment you’re using, according to brand’s claims. You can easily remove beaters with quick trigger release and store them away in an attached storage box.

Speeds

When purchasing a hand mixer, be sure to consider all the speeds it can accommodate in order to properly blend all your ingredients at an appropriate pace and achieve desired results.

Drivas suggests selecting a mixer with at least five or six speeds, which will cover everything from slowly folding egg whites and sugar to whipping cream or frosting – saving both time and arm strength when compared with using a whisk.

The best hand mixers are also easy to operate. Their large buttons make it simple for you to switch the power up or down without manually switching between settings. Some models even include soft start features for gradual mixing that ensure batter doesn’t spill onto your counter surface during mixing sessions.

Soft start features offer another advantage to help prevent batter from sticking to countertops, which is particularly useful with thicker batters or doughs that can be difficult to spread evenly.

Some models also come equipped with a snap-on storage container, making it simple to organize beaters and accessories when not in use. This makes the unit simpler to keep clean while making sure you always have everything at your fingertips when needed.

Hand mixers can also be handy tools for creating delicious savory dishes and dressings, like creamy sauces or emulsified salad dressing. By mixing different ingredients – herbs, spices and oils – together in this fashion they create creamy textures or blend them to form creamy dressings that add dimension.

Notably, a good hand mixer should be lightweight enough to be comfortably held by both hands without straining your wrist and shoulder when mixing. A heavy machine could result in sore wrist and shoulder pain from mixing.

An effective mixer should have excellent standing stability to allow safe and easy movement around your kitchen when necessary. This is particularly important if your floor has uneven areas; certain mixers have crazy curves or rounded edges at their base that make standing it upright difficult.

Attachments

Hand mixer attachments come in many varieties; basic models may only provide beaters while more advanced ones offer additional attachments like whisks or dough hooks. Which ones you use will depend on your baking needs and preferences.

Hand mixers typically use three attachments: flat beaters, paddle attachments and whisks. Each attachment serves a unique purpose and functionality – make sure that you select the ideal attachment for both your recipe and personal preferences.

A flat beater, also referred to as a paddle, is one of the most frequently used mixer attachments. It provides an effective tool for mixing ingredients such as butter and sugar, creamed egg whites or cookie dough together, while also being capable of beating together cake batter, brownie batter or heavy frostings.

Hand mixers may feature strip beaters and wire whips in addition to their flat beater for efficient blending of thick fluids like eggs or yogurt, helping prevent them from clumping or curdling.

These mixers can also be used for light and fluffy ingredients like whipped cream and meringue, while some models feature special attachments designed to aerate the mixture, which makes cake or cookie production much simpler.

There are various other types of mixer attachments, each serving its own specific function. For instance, flexi-beaters feature silicone edges which help scrape away unmixed ingredients from sticking to the sides and creating an unattractive mess once you’re finished mixing.

Wire whip attachments are great for making light and airy mixtures such as whipped cream or meringue, while they can also be used to aerate thick mixtures like mashed potatoes or avocados.

Dough hooks are another attachment found on hand mixers that is ideal for kneading yeast dough and saving you both time and effort when making bread or pizza dough.

Design

Make the difference when baking or whipping cream: choose a hand mixer designed with ease of use in mind. An effective model should be lightweight, easy to hold, comfortable to use and should allow quick switching of speeds when required – this way, your task is completed more quickly and efficiently!

Mixers come equipped with various attachments, from dough hooks to whisks. For optimal storage purposes, the best mixers feature a storage bin that keeps these attachments together so they won’t get misplaced in drawers.

Attachments should be effortless to attach and detach from beaters, and release with just one lever or button – saving time when using and cleaning your hand mixer as well as providing opportunities to use more often the beaters.

Some mixers feature timers or counters to help conveniently monitor mixing time, providing an exact measure of when ingredients have been combined. These features can be especially helpful when baking cookies as you stay on track throughout their creation.

Most mixers feature low, medium, and high speed settings on their mixers for different tasks. The lowest speed setting can be used to cream together butter and sugar to form the foundation for your batter or dough, while higher speeds may be necessary when whipping eggs or other liquids.

Speed ranges aren’t necessary for every recipe you prepare, but they may come in handy when mixing requires intense mixing strength. For instance, using a hand mixer to combine flour and chocolate chips requires sufficient power in the mixer for breaking apart pieces of chocolate as it binds them all together.

If you’re creating mayonnaise or other thick sauces requiring whisking, an electric hand mixer’s beaters can quickly and efficiently combine oil and egg yolks compared to using a blender or food processor.