Features

Match the machine to the way you prepare foods. But you may find you need more than one. Which food-prep appliance best suits your style and the foods you prepare? Hand mixers can handle light chores such as whipping cream or mixing cake batter. And powerful stand mixers are ideal for cooks who make bread and cookies from scratch.

Comfort

A hand mixer should be well balanced and comfortable to hold. A stand mixer shouldn't be too heavy for you to lift into a cupboard.

Attachments

Stand mixers generally come with one bowl and either single or paired beaters, whisks and dough hooks.

Type of beater

Look for a mixer that has wire beaters without the thick center post found on traditional-style beaters. The wire beaters are easier to clean.

Speed

Some stand mixers have as many as 16 speeds and some hand mixers have 9. We think that three well-differentiated speeds are sufficient. The slower the lowest speed, the better, as slow speeds prevent spattering. Some hand mixers have a "slow start" feature, but you can achieve the same result by manually stepping through three or so speeds.

Easy-to-read controls

With some of the inexpensive hand mixers we tested, the switch you use to select speeds didn't line up well with the speed markings.

Stability

An indentation on the underside of the motor housing allows a hand mixer to perch on the edge of a bowl.

Locking power heads

You should be able to lock a mixer's power head in the "up" position so it won't crash into the bowl when the beaters are weighed down with dough. You should also be able to lock it in the down position so beaters don't ride up in the bowl when tackling stiff dough.

See also:

Blenders

Toasters

Coffeemakers

Slow cookers