Hey all,
I’m in the market for a stand mixer, but I don’t want to spend insane amounts. I don’t bake all that much, but I think if I have a mixer, I’ll bake more.
I would mostly be making biscuits/cookies, banana breads, cakes, muffins and brownies. The delicious things. But no breads or super heavy doughs, so I don’t want to fork out a lot of money for one that can cope with this if I don’t need it.
Are the $100~ mixers any good, or would I be better going for the $200-300 range?
Thanks!
Well at the moment I bake about once a month but I want to start baking about once a week. I generally only have time on weekends so it wouldn’t be more than that.
I’m in no rush so definitely love the idea of figuring out a couple I like and then waiting for a sale.
I usually just use 'melt and mix' recipes for brownies, banana bread, muffins, and some cakes/cookies and find that I'm more inclined to bake these things because they don't require getting the stand mixer out (and cleaning it afterwards). But if you have recipes you want to use that do require a stand mixer, then I think it's worth paying more if you can afford it.
I actually have an insane amount of bench space so can justify leaving it out full time. But thanks for making me think about cleaning. Definitely want something dishwasher safe.
My current recipes don’t necessarily require a stand mixer, I’m just a bit too lazy to stand there mixing for 5 mins.
We have a 500w mixmaster that is a beast, but the bowls aren't dishwasher safe and I never use it.
My partner does though.
We do have disagreements over baking. I will happily buy a 70c Coles cake mix, or the triple choc brownie box on special for $2, but the wife insists this is cheating. shrug I can get something to take on a visit or little lunch treats in the oven in 5mins and always have the needed ingredients.
Fun fact, they originally included powdered eggs / powdered milk in these types of mixes so you only had to add water, but people didn't feel like they had contributed to the baking process and they were not popular. So they make you add eggs/milk now just to make it feel like you're 'not cheating'.
What is a bit of a waste of money is the Kitchen Aid devices, they're horrifically overpriced and the 'attachments' for them cost more than buying a machine just do whatever the attachment does. It's a bit of a cult. The Kitchen Aid toaster got a shonky award from Choice, only able to make 'warm bread' despite being pretty expensive.
https://www.choice.com.au/shonky-awards/hall-of-shame/shonky…
I knew that fun fact, and I love it!
Yeah I don’t really want to subscribe to the kitchenaid trend.
Wait for another KMX754 deal under $200
Look for a Kenwood Chef or Kitchen Aid on sale.
I wouldn't bother with a really cheap one.
Boxing Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up. There will be a sale at some point.
+1 on that. A lot of people on this site swear by the Kenwood ones.
Very true there will be some goods sales soon, thanks!
we bought this one from aldi and it does the job really well. looks like a kitchenaid knock off.
You are better off with an electric hand mixer if you are making those kinds of baked goods and not wanting to spend more than $100. Im a pretty intense baker and ive gotten away with my cheapo $50 electric hand mixer for years. I'd only upgrade to stand mixer if I was prepared to spend for the kenwood or kitchenaid AND if I made a lot of things like breads, really large batters like bundt cakes or things that need a lot of air incorporation to whip like angel food cake or sponges.
I find the hand mixer very tiring to hold. However, I do agree with you that you either go with a good machine or you go home :)
How strong is this thought? The $100 ones you get may very well burn out quickly under any kind of regular use, or be so difficult to use that instead of making you want to bake more, have the opposite effect. I'd say wait for a sale, and get a $300 stand mixer for something closer to $250 or thereabouts, and go from there. That's cheap enough it won't break the bank, but should be good enough that it might actually make you want to bake more - and if it does - will be useful for more regular/varied/strenuous baking.