Equipment Expert's Favorite Hand Mixers 

Good tip. However, for the patient and lazy, just keep the sealed jar on the counter for a week and flip it top-to-bottom every day. The oil will naturally head upwards and the peanut butter proteins will head downward. Eventually, just flipping it from time to time will mix most of the oil back into the peanut butter. (If it has been sitting on a shelf for a while, you might want to flip it over and leave it lid down for the first two days after purchase.) When your patience runs out, you can use a butter knife to finish the stir in just a minute or two. Putting it into the fridge once the oil is mixed in will prevent the extreme separation from happening again before the peanut butter is consumed.

That's "outside the jar" thinking.

Nice find! I'm totes jelly!

keep in mind the beater attachments might not be very good for fluffing eggs or thickening cream if the wire is too thick or shaped like a ribbon

Why would any manufacturer make a product that would last that long, today? They want you to come back and buy from them again. They use cheaper parts but keep the selling price high, for profit. That's what keeps them in business. The sweet spot is to make something that will last longer than a year but need replaced before 5 years old. Oh, and when has the Test Kitchen NOT recommended the most expensive product they have tested??? Hint.....pay back.

@@hme2341 Since my post I bought several different hand mixers, determined to find the best one, including the Breville here. I returned them all except one. The mixers with advanced features were awful !!! How many different buttons and knobs do you have to press and why must there be a digital screen to look at? By far, the best hand mixer was also the cheapest, the KitchenAid 5 Speed Ultra Power Hand Mixer. I got it in Onyx Black. I paid $50 for mine. It's $60 now. Ugh... but bar none, it's so simple. Not having vertical posts in the middle of the beaters makes declumping sticky doughs and cleaning a breeze. Never had a problem with the power, either. America's Test Kitchen is flat out wrong on this wrong. I am now more convinced than ever that America's Test Kitchen makes financial deals with these equipment manufacturers.

There's a discussion about weight in the full review which is linked in the description. All weights are provided and their favourite, the Breville (2 lbs., 10.8 oz.) turned out to be the heaviest.

I struggle with the heavier clad pans, but they don't scorch sauces the way thin ones will. Stacking things in and out of cupboards or high pan racks is crazy hard for me. I got estatic over a pair of electric hand pruners 🤣!

@@sandrah7512 Thank you for the info.

Couldn’t agree with you more (shoulder injury here). However, the mechanics of hand mixer holding and the clad-pans is much different. The weight of the two is incomparable to begin with (in my experience) 🌿🙏❤️

Yup, was sold until I saw the tons of complains. They should just get rid of the silicone coating.

Cut a slit in the silicone with a box cutter or sharp knife and you should be able pull the silicone right off the stainless steel? parts

Thanks for that comment, I wish the wires were a little thicker instead of coated with silicone.

Exactly! My Hamilton Beach cheapie finally died last year after close to 20 years. I replaced it with a $30 Kitchen Aid (was on sale). Somehow I don't think it will last nearly as long as my old one.

I do say keep an eye on the beaters when you go Hamilton beach. I used one for a many years and one day I noticed the beaters were shedding chrome into what I was mixing! Hamilton is cheap for a reason.

I bought a HB several years ago and it was great if you like mixing ingredients at its "low speed" which I likened to an airplane propeller. I returned it and got one by KitchenAid.

I don't really believe that anything would be better than the hand mixer that's been in my family for like 30 years and I love that so many people are saying the same thing 😅

Same here!

Same here as well!

Thanks for sharing, exactly the kind of info I was looking for!

I learned the hard way with a handle on my wide-spatula, taking it out of the dishwasher.

During their testing, they didn't have the problems people were complaining about. They do stock the Test Kitchen with their winning equipment for the purposes of monitoring durability so if the beaters start to suffer it, will likely be noted and a new favourite may be chosen.

Batteries aren't powerful enough to run such a machine

@@oussamaallaoua8041 You have no idea what battery power can do today including impact drivers. Have a look at the selection of tools run by battery. Better yet, try a beater on a drill. You'll find it works just fine.

@@gordonstevenson535 i have a friend who ex took the hand mixer, but forgot the blades. He used his drill ,made me laugh so hard. When his fan broke, he took the fan blade off and would use his drill too, kept him cool til he could get a new fan lol.

You already can use a drill! During a Christmas power outage we were in the middle of making cookies. My soon to be mechanical engineer son put one of the beaters on our cordless drill. It fit and worked like a charm!

What brand mixer to you use that helps you whip heavy cream please ?

Found a perfectly good KitchenAid stand mixer at the thrift store for $29.95

The two have different purposes.

That’s what I was saying about that Breville. The price of that Breville is about half of a stand mixer in my opinion!

Did you read manufacture’s instructions?

@@ArtU4All Do you always come into comments to insult people's intelligence? Of course I read the instructions, but nowhere did it say "this mixer can't handle a heavy batter." It was the first hand mixer I had ever purchased, and only when it fried out did I research further and learn there can be a significant difference in wattage between brands/models. ATK makes their living doing product reviews; if they really want to be of service to home cooks, they need to include ALL pertinent info. A 175 watt hand mixer is probably not going to last as long or handle the tough jobs as well as a 290 watt model.

@@SarahRenz59 No insult was meant. The question was straight forward. I discover almost every time something I would not have known otherwise, in the instructions. This includes medical equipment: people handling it are doing it wrong, because someone had told them to do it this way, and the user never bothered (usually time constraints) to read the inserts or package labels.

Do you always get so defensive@@SarahRenz59 ?

Right 😀 I am sure they (the makers) tested them a million times in the lab.

I agree. I use mine for a gentle meat loaf mix a lot and they work great. Not a big 'hands' person.

Thanks! I'm in the market for a mixer and was wondering if I should find a mixer that has them

@@cachecow Its very useful if you are going to make bread. Otherwise, I would get something cheaper.

@@ritad.6316 I've started baking and gave up on hand mixing. Right now I'm using a whisk that I fitted into my cordless drill. I'd love to do bread, but I don't feel the need to knead, I was thinking of getting a stand mixer but I'm not sure I'm that committed yet and good ones are pricey, thus the hand mixer w/ hooks

@@cachecow Stand mixers are worth buying only if you use them often. Otherwise, it's just a dust collector. Kneading is a must If you love real bread but not quick ones.

You are fortunate that it lasted this long! What brand/model is it?

lol how is that even possible? Mine broke in 5 years.

That has to be sarcasm

ATK did include one cordless mixer and ended up not recommending it (link to description provided). Based on that experience, the recommended sticking with the corded models for the time being. That said, ATK also mentioned potentially adding a second, more powerful cordless model to the review, but that was over a year ago and there has been no update.

I thought hand mixers usually have a variety of speeds

Fast, faster, and “that’s a little too fast bud “

I know someone with a Sunbeam mixer that does that. Quite useless as mixers go - it's really only good for very light jobs - but it's light in weight and comes apart for storage.

Hamilton Beach has a stand and hand mixer combo on Amazon.

My thought exactly- how long would that silly coating hold up? Is the clatter really that bothersome? Breville products are so pricey and I have yet to be happy with anything that I've purchased from them.

I have both the hand mixer and the husband. Both are keepers!😊

Bravo! 👏👏👏😂

😂😂😂

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Wow, your comment is hilarious, certainly made my year. Thanks.

They still recommend them, although as before they like the 5-speed bettter than the 9-speed. I have a KA 9-speed like the one they tested and the only thing I don’t like about it is the on/off button. ATK didn't like it either because they said they kept turning the mixer off accidentally - I don’t recall that complaint in the last testing. I don’t like the on/off because I’m left-handed and it's actually rather awkward (i.e. *not* easy) to turn off because it’s on top of the handle and you have to slide it left to right to turn it off. So it's likely the KA 5-speed isn’t any worse than before, but the Breville and Cuisinart models just out-performed it.

RU-vid is not the be-all, end-all. Do you know when this equipment review was actually conducted? It was first published online in November 2021, then in print in an issue of Cook's Country magazine the following summer. This video was recorded about a year ago for TV broadcast and the episode that included it began airing on PBS in December. By the time these TV episode clips make it to RU-vid, they're kind of old news and likely any influence an ATK review (or any review) has had on any price has already happened. The cost of the Breville mixer has been about $150US on Amazon since last October, before this segment even aired on PBS. That's also its price on Breville's own website, aka the current regular price. Was that ATK's doing? What about any other favourable reviews out there? Or pesky things like supply chain issues and the cost to manufacture? Yeah, probably totally ATK on RU-vid and their (currently) not quite 33,000 views. 🤷🏼‍♀

@Alvin John - maybe that's where they put the ones that don't make it into the 'Best' and 'Best Buy" tier - you know 'the ones that get the job done.' Hahahahaha Sorry, I hear ya and yes they should have. On their website they do give that break-down from top to bottom but you have to pay for that info, have to have a Membership.

ATK's entire brand revolves around "best = most expensive". They go out of their way to use meaningless metrics for the sole purpose of ensuring everything they recommend costs 10x more than it needs to. Rampant consumerism at its worst.

I'm pretty happy with my $15 Dash hand mixer I bought ~4 years ago.

There's a total of eight hand mixers in the lineup, three of which were less than $25US at the time of testing in 2021 (link in description, anyone?). Any would likely ‘get the job done’, you just have to put up with a device whose lowest speed is ‘airplane propelller’. 🤷🏼‍♀

@@sandrah7512 - you are right. Yes it is in the description and Yes you can see the full results list. After 7 yrs of being a subscriber I cancelled my Membership which was around 7 yrs ago and could no longer see the full results list. Nice to see the results are accessible for non-members and posted in the description.

Too late…Breville is now ⬆️ $149.95

Or Adam realized that he couldn't set if down the same once he removed the beaters?

What kind of cookies do you make that require kneading?

@@Olive_O_Sudden Not so much kneading, more about gentle mixing of chunky ingredients without bending beater wires or straining the motor or ingredients being being thrown out the bowl. Great for mixing seasoning into ground meats too!

Okay I've got to ask- why would you need a cordless mixer? Please don't tell me it's so you can take it camping.

@26Bluegb if you are cooking something like ATK's French Silk Pie thar has to be beaten for 7 minutes while cooking on the stove over boiling water you don't want to worry about a cord hitting a burner. It matters.

@@26Bluegb Simply, it's more portable. The work required does not tie you into only areas with outlet. Also, having no cord to trip on by others is much safer in general.

There was a cordless model by Cuisinart (not the Best Buy) in the line up (link to full review in description). ATK did not recommend it.

@@sandrah7512 Seems ATK needs to do a cordless review. This one does;t even mention them at all ex to picture one.

They still recommend them…

@@sandrah7512 not the same if they are not #1

@@Anne6621 Just because ATK declares one model a “winner” or “best buy” doesn't make everything else they tested “losers”. They typically end up recommending most of the equipment they test. And while some are “recommended with reservations”, those reservations may not matter to you. So why would you reject an appliance for something ATK finds “confusing “ (and you don't) or, say struggling on a task you'd never use it for? So ATK does recommend the KitchenAid 5-speed mixer and recommends their 9-speed mixer with reservations. The 9-speed gets some knocks for having confusing controls that make it too easy to turn off. I have an older version of the 9-speed and the controls are hardly confusing but the left-to-right sliding on/off switch is awkward and actually kind of hard to switch off for left-handed me. Other than that, I think it's great. What a "loser".

@@sandrah7512 excuse me , you calling me a loser

@@Anne6621 Lol, no - the "recommended with reservations" 9-speed Kitchen Aid...😄 (adding " " to previous comment for clarity)

You must be kneading your bread dough by hand...

A cake every weekend? That's amazing. It reminds me of a time when I went to a high school friend's house, and he offered me a slice of cake his mother had made. It was delicious. It was a simple thing, totally unexpected, but the gracious ease of his hospitality has stuck in my mind for many years for some reason. He said that his mother baked a cake every week too. My mother didn't. I hope that you offer your friends slices of delicious homemade cake whene they come your house. Little acts of kindness often become fond memories.

I have two stand mixers. Their attachments live in their bowls, except the meat grinder that lives in the freezer. They are tools, use what works best for you.

The advantage of not having to hold it to use it and allows for easier multitasking. I wish someone a made juicer attachment with a joggling strainer like old MixMasters had! Sunbeam is no longer making their iconic MixMaster.

It‘s because you guys have tiny little kitchens over there. I got enough space for ten standmixers in my kitchen. Oh, and it makes baking so much easier.

I know! LOL I saw that shot in the video and thought, "WHAT?!" Nobody mixes like that.

Why would they highlight your comment? They aren’t telling anyone to buy what they can’t afford. They’re doing reviews.

I can afford the Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus 9 Speed Hand Mixer. But I have the Power Advantage 5 Speed Model and I love it! Although the only thing I don’t like about it is, the slow start because even on slow speed, to me it puffs out the flour. But it still does what I need a Hand Mixer to do!

@@CShannon1991 I drape a clean dish towel over my hand and my 52 y.o. 3-spd Hamilton Beach mixer when first mixing on lowest speed to catch the flour dust kick-off; the worksurface still has to be cleaned but is much less dusty on counters, canisters, ingredients containers, etc.

@@safepethaven 52 years! Nice! My HB died after 19 years. Cheap and no frills but did its job well.

I have a Cuisinart 5 Speed that I bought back in 2019, a year before I eventually bought my very first KitchenAid Stand Mixer in 2020, then I even bought a second KitchenAid Stand Mixer in 2021 but in a Professional Lift Model for heavier tasks. I use all three of my Mixers equally but I like to reach for the Hand Mixer more especially for whipped creams and even mashed potatoes.

Plus I agree, some people don’t always know how else to spend their money on & that Breville is nice but, my Cuisinart is much better and cheaper. It got me through the holidays before I even found a KitchenAid at an affordable price for me in 2020 believe it or not.

That's cool if you don't have any disability that effects your coordination or any kind of rsi..

@@strayiggytv That's why G*d gave you children with their small hands getting into everything and mixing it all up.

The review was first published in November 2021 and this segment was shot about a year ago, airing on PBS as part of one of their TV shows in December. Prices do change over time and $149.95US is Breville's price on their own website.

@@sandrah7512 Ah thank you. I am still not sure how we are supposed to know that.

@@Woodlawn22 ATK usually links their full equipment reviews in the video description (they did so here). The reviews have a publication date and it can be quite a length of time past from the reviews that are segments from their TV show's air dates (let alone RU-vid appearances). The clips in ATK's Equipment Reviews RU-vid playlist are probably the ones shot closest to their publication dates (although one recent one did linger for almost a year for some reason before landing here). Some Gear Heads videos can also be relatively recent, but if the GH video is a montage of equipment (Best Small Gadgets, Let's Compare Non-Stick, Cast Iron or Stainless Pans, All the Things We Recommend to Make ***, etc.) it's less likely so. The only caveat to the written review publication date is if the review has been updated to include new models, to retest existing models that may have undergone a design change or identify models that have been discontinued. Then the publication date changes to reflect the update and the original date becomes a little harder to pin down. There's usually enough information to determine a ballpark date, but not everyone has the desire to figure it out. That said, even reviews that seem "old" are likely the most recent as it's impractical to keep re-running the same equipment reviews/taste tests year after year, if nothing's changed with respect to models/brands in the current line ups.

And it can make you money! That $10 mixer will put a lot of quarters in the swear jar!

And you will have to buy many of those $10 mixers to last as long as one that is better made, and they will overheat and not have enough power for your cookie dough. Better to have no mixer than one that doesn’t work well.

@@capers72424 Nonsense. I've had the same hand mixer for 20 years and it's done everything I've needed to do. Even if it overheats and dies I'll just go buy another one. I'm still up $130. I could buy a brand new $10 mixer every year for 15 years for the cost of their "best" mixer. I could buy a stand mixer for that price.

I would worry about the mixer burning up. I’ve that done before with cheaper ones

I used to bake a lot and burned up about 3 to 5 cheap hand mixers a year. In 1994, I paid $59 for a Kitchen Aid hand mixer, she's still going strong.

Right. Adam's role here is Cook's Country TV cast member. I don't even think he's been on the equipment reviews team for years. Also, with every equipment review: “All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.” So, sure - Adam's likely being paid. By ATK. 🤦🏼‍♀