Factors You Should Consider When Buying A Stand Mixer
Shopping for a stand mixer can be very confusing given the various capacity, power, functions and accessories available in the market from all the different models. If you are looking to buy a stand mixer, you need to be aware of your needs first because that will help you to narrow down your choices. Once you know what you are looking for in a mixer, then you can start shopping around for one that fits your needs and budget.
Therefore, as a start consider how you will be using the stand mixer. For example, do you bake bread often? How many people are there in your family that you need to bake for? By assessing your needs, you can then decide on the capacity of the mixer and its power. If you are always making dense and stiff dough in large quantities, you will need a mixer that comes with a bigger bowl and is powerful enough to be able to handle your ingredients with ease. On the other hand, if you have a small family and regularly bake things in small quantities, such a large capacity mixer is not only a waste, it might be difficult to use to process the small amounts of ingredients you need.
Once you are able to determine your needs, you will also have a better idea of the type of the accessories you will need. Some mixers can also be used to grind meat, make cheese and perform a wide range of other tasks. You will need the right attachments for the different jobs but the options are available if you want them. While most mixer standard packages comprise only the beater, whisk and dough hook, you can opt for the other accessories to make your work easier. You can buy them separately if you so choose once you know what your needs are.
As with all electrical appliances, it is also nice to have a safety feature included. This means the mixer will shut off automatically when it overheats. Since we tend to use the mixer a lot during the festive seasons, it is advisable to have an overload function available so that we can cut down on the risk of it overheating and malfunctioning just when we need to use it the most.
When it comes to mixing action, you should try to get a mixer that can cover as wide an area as possible. Some mixers are not able to mix the ingredients properly because they do not get close enough to the side of the bowl. Usually, a mixer with the beater moving in one direction and the shaft moving in the opposite direction will result in the ingredients being more evenly mixed.
As for the weight of the mixer, try to get one that weighs at least 25 pounds. A light mixer tends to crawl and bounce around the counter top whenever you are mixing dense dough in large quantities. If you don’t want to contend with such a problem, get a heavier mixer instead.
The last thing you might like to look into is how durable the mixer is. A mixer made of metal, including the gears, would be dearer but it will be longer-lasting. You would need to evaluate the quality, capacity and power of the mixer against your budget and needs before you make the decision to buy.
Read up about the Kitchenaid Artisan Series Stand Mixer, why you should have it and the various Kitchen Aid Dough Hook models. Learn a little more before you buy if you don’t want to end up regretting your purchase!