Compare the Best MixersOctober 2019

Mixers are kitchen appliances that use a motor powered whisk or paddle to effortlessly mix and combine ingredients. They are used primarily for making cake batter, bread dough, pasty and desserts. Unlike blenders or food processors, they are not designed to cut or puree ingredients, but instead to whisk or knead far quickly and more efficiently than any human could. If you’ve ever felt your arms hurt from trying to whisk up homemade mayonnaise, then this is the appliance for you!

There are two main types of mixers on the market - handheld and stand mixers:

Handheld mixers: these devices consist of one or two whisks placed into a plastic or metal casing, with a button or trigger to activate them. The whisks can be immersed in the ingredients, and the whisks will mix far more efficiently than if done by hand. Handheld mixers are smaller and far cheaper than stand mixers, but are less powerful than their larger brethren. Also most handheld mixers only use whisk attachments - this is fine for most baking and kitchen prep tasks you’ll need, but won’t work for making bread dough or kneading.

Stand mixers: these mixers consist of motor-powered whisks, which are built into an arm and stand, allowing the whisks to be lowered into the attached bowl for mixing. They are far heavier machines, and much more expensive than handheld mixers, but are far more powerful and capable of a larger range of functions, such as kneading dough. Because they are heavy, stable machines they are far less likely to make a mess while mixing at high speeds, though of course this means they also take up a sizeable space on your kitchen work surface. However if you find yourself baking cakes or bread regularly, a proper stand mixer will save you countless hours of manual mixing and kneading!

Capacity

This attribute only applies to tabletop mixers, but is an important consideration - the bowl capacity will determine how much food/ingredients can be mixed at one time. The tabletop mixers on our site range from small 0.5L mixers (which would be most useful for sauces and small batters, such as cupcakes or muffins) to enormous 5L mixers (which will handle everything you could need, including the biggest cakes or bread dough enough for several loaves at once).

Power Levels/Speeds

All our mixers have a power rating, measured in Watts (W). The higher the power level, the more efficient the appliances will be at mixing and kneading. This in turn leads to smoother mixes, well-kneaded doughs, and better results!

Many of the models on our site also have multiple speed settings. This is important because different recipes require different speeds - making mayonnaise for instance requires a fairly slow speed, while cake batter can be mixed at a faster speed. The instruction manual with your machine will give better information on the specific speed to use for each type of cooking.

Included Accessories

Finally, many models of mixer come with additional accessories to increase the functions performed by the appliance. This can include dough hooks for more efficient kneading of bread dough, beaters specifically made for eggs, or a spatula for scraping out batter and dough from the bowl. They may also include chopper attachment for easily chopping small quantities of nuts, herbs or fruit.

While not necessities, these extras can make your cooking more efficient and easier, so are worth bearing in mind when choosing between models.

Mixer Prices

In total we found 65 mixers ranging from $10 to $750. A new mixer costs on average $178 and 80% of mixers are priced between $22 and $450. The Black & Decker MX1500W is the cheapest mixer at only $11, and KitchenAid KSMC895DP is the most expensive at $750.

Mixer Brands - Price Range

The average price of Smeg mixers is $423 which is the highest average price of all mixer brands. Smeg mixers range in price from $330 to $515.

The second highest average mixer price out of all brands is KitchenAid mixers with an average price of $310. KitchenAid mixers range in price from $26 to $750.

The average price of Kenwood mixers is $295 which is the third highest average price of all mixer brands. Kenwood mixers range in price from $21 to $738.

Mixer Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 16 expert reviews and 5,864 user reviews for mixers and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of mixer. The top three mixer brands are Bosch, Kenwood and KitchenAid. Bosch has an average rating of 93%, Kenwood has an average rating of 91% and KitchenAid has an average rating of 91%.

Biggest Mixer Retailers

We found 93 current offers for mixers from eBay making it the biggest mixer retailer. That is more than twice as big as the second biggest retailer, Overstock for whom we found 36 current offers for mixers.

When Are Most New Mixers Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any prominent trend in the release month for new mixers. In June 2018, 14 new mixers were released making it the biggest month that year for new mixer releases. In 2017 most new mixers were released in November, with 24 new mixers released that month. The biggest month in 2016 for new mixer releases was December, with 37 new mixers released that month.

How Fast Do Mixer Prices Drop After Release?

New mixers drop in price by an average of 5% in the first 6 months after they were first released.

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $8 on a typical $178 new mixer by waiting 6 months before buying.

Available Colours

We found 158 mixers that are mixers that have a white coloured, which makes white the most frequently found colour amongst new mixers. We found 69 mixers that are mixers that have a black coloured, making this the second most popular colour amongst new mixers.

Powers

'Power' represents the power level of the mixer, measured in watts.

Across the range of mixers, the powers range from 65W to 2,000W. The powers of the majority of mixers range from 200W to 400W. The Kenwood KVL8300S, which is priced at $697.63, has the biggest power and is a 1,700W mixer. The mixer with the smallest power is the KitchenAid KHM926WH, which is an 85W mixer and sells for $79.95.

Bowl Capacities

'Bowl Capacity' measures how much can fit in the mixer's bowl, measured in litres.

Across the range of mixers, the bowl capacities range from 0.3L to 9L. The bowl capacities of most mixers range from 3.5L to 4.5L. The mixer with the biggest bowl capacity is the KitchenAid KSMC895DP, which is a 9L capacity mixer and is available at $749.99. The mixer with the smallest bowl capacity is the Russell Hobbs Horizon, which is a 0.6L capacity mixer and is available at $128.95.

Types

The type of the mixer denotes whether it has it's own dedicated bowl (a 'stand mixer') or whether it is just the mixing unit (a 'hand mixer').

The most popular type amongst new mixers is stand mixer. We found 176 mixers that are stand mixer mixers. We found 159 mixers that are hand mixer mixers, making hand mixer the second most common type amongst new mixers.

Speed Levels

The number of speed levels the mixer is capable of mixing at.

Comparing all mixers, the speed levels range from 1 to 16. The speed levels of the majority of mixers range from 5 to 7. The mixer with the most speed level is the Nesco HM350, which is a 16 speed level mixer and is on sale for $32.59. The Smeg SMF03, which can be purchased for $514.64, has the least speed level and is a 1 speed level mixer.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Mixers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying mixers. For each retailer it shows the total number of mixers where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying mixers. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 87 of their mixer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Mixers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for mixers by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of mixer prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's mixer prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 93.5% of their mixer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.