3 Reasons to Choose a Hand Mixer Over a Stand Mixer

Hand mixers are perfect for light-duty jobs such as whipping cream or egg whites, mixing cake batter, and such savory tasks as mashing potatoes and winter squash.

If you’re short on counter or storage space, a hand mixer is your best bet. You can stick it in a drawer or cabinet when you don’t need it. And if you are an occasional baker, that might not be often. Many models come with a translucent storage case that attaches to the main body of the mixer and holds all the attachments. That way you aren’t searching your junk drawer for the beater you need.

Hand mixers cost much less than stand mixers. Prices of the hand mixers in our ratings range from $22 to $180 right now (prices vary over time), but in our tests, we find that the lower-priced models typically don’t perform as well. That said, one of our recommended hand mixers, the Hamilton Beach Professional 7 62663, is priced at $40. So check our ratings before you shop, especially if you are on a tight budget.

By comparison, stand mixers in our ratings currently range in price from $44 to $950. But again, the lower-priced models tend to get the lowest scores in our tests. Of the top five stand mixers in our ratings, the least expensive is the Hamilton Beach Professional All-Metal 63240. At $250, it costs much more than our highest-rated hand mixer, the Breville Handy Mix Scraper BHM800SILUSC, which lists at $150.

Once you decide a hand mixer can be your go-to for baking to-do’s, take note of its features. Some are more important than others. 

Attachments: Hand mixers typically come with wire beaters, and some also include whisk or dough hook attachments. Whisks have even thinner wires than the standard wire beaters and are designed to incorporate air into whipped cream and frothy egg whites. Look for beaters without a center post, like those on traditional-style hand mixers. The old type is harder to clean than the newer post-free versions. (We note which attachments come with which mixers in the Features & Specs section of our ratings chart.) 

Speeds: Although many manufacturers tout the number of speeds of their hand mixers, in our tests we found that three is enough—low, medium, and high. You don’t need all those in-between iterations. Use low when you start combining your wet and dry ingredients so the dry ingredients don’t go flying. A few of the mixers in our ratings come with a slow-start option, which is even lower than low and even less likely to cause spatters. And when you are whipping cream, which is what the high setting is for, start on the lowest speed and work your way up as the cream thickens. 

Nice-to-haves: A few of the hand mixers we tested have beaters that are interchangeable, which means you can insert the beaters into either socket. Another nicety is an indentation on the underside of the body of the beater that allows it to perch on the side of a bowl so it doesn’t suddenly tip over, making a mess of things, while you’re busy measuring the spices. A few may also have a notch to hang the beater in a closet, but we don’t note that in our specs.

Expect the goopy batters and other concoctions you make to cling to the beaters and maybe even splatter onto the mixer itself. Don’t be tempted to take cleaning shortcuts before you store the mixer and beaters; you’ll want them to be gunk-free and ready for the next time you go on a baking spree.

KitchenAid, which makes some of our top hand mixers, recommends the following:
• Always unplug the hand mixer before cleaning.
• Eject the beaters. Swishing them in water can help get the initial coating off, then you can put most in the dishwasher. (Check your owner’s manual first.) 
• If you prefer to hand-wash the beaters, soaking them in a little warm, soapy water is all that’s required. 
• Never immerse the body in water. Instead, wipe it and the power cord with a damp cloth and dry them with a soft cloth.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the top five hand mixers from our tests.

We test mixers on a variety of tasks. To test mixing performance we make chocolate chip cookies because they have a thick dough that can really challenge a mixer. We top off our performance tests by timing how long it takes to whip a half-pint of heavy cream into airy peaks.

We also judge noise when the mixer is running at the highest speed, but this might not be a concern because you tend to run one in such short bursts. To score mixers on convenience, we assess how easy it is to insert and remove the beaters and to adjust the mixer speeds.