Best stand mixers 2023: reviews of KitchenAid, Kenwood and more

Our pick of the best stand mixers for your countertop tried and tested from brands such as Russell Hobbs, Kenwood, KitchenAid, and Sage

Keen bakers and kitchen designers alike would agree that one of the best stand mixers is the ultimate statement kitchen appliance. Designed to take the stress (and the effort) out of baking, these mixers are one of the most sought-after countertop additions, with designs that span almost every colourway imaginable.

In this guide, you'll find our thoughts after reviewing ten of the most coveted mixers on the market, from how they performed in our tests to the type of baker they'll most suit. Of course, no round-up of stand mixers would be complete without brands such as KitchenAid, Kenwood, Russell Hobbs and Smeg, and you can find our top-rated choices from each of these well-loved brands below.

One of these stand mixers will sit pride of place on any kitchen counter, but these appliances also have functions that can help refine your cakes, bread, brownies and other bakes too, such as a wide variety of mixing speeds. If you're revamping all of your kitchen appliances, once you've chosen your mixer, you can also pair it with one of the best blenders to coordinate your appliances by brand and colour.

Why you can trust Ideal Home Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Our expert review:

Whether you’re a beginner, a casual baker or more experienced, the kMix stand mixer offers something for everyone. Not only is it incredibly easy to control with six speeds and a fold option, but its five-litre heatproof glass bowl also allows you to see exactly what's going on inside. This puts paid to pesky flour lumps. It also features a 1,000W motor designed to handle up to 1.35kg of difficult dough. On the downside, thanks to its metal body, it's another heavy mixer at 10.9kg.

During testing, the kMix stand mixer was fuss-free to use, staying reassuringly steady on the worktop even at high speeds. It produced everything from light, fluffy doughnuts to crisp meringue and thick whipped cream for pavlovas perfectly.

Another plus is the sheer range of compatible attachments, which include a pasta cutter, grinding mill, dicer and spaghetti maker. It comes in four colours and all the parts are dishwasher-safe.

Our expert review:

The Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker is an expensive choice, but with in-built scales and a timer, it's the ticket to perfectly precise bakes. We really enjoyed how accurate the scales were, as they allowed us to add all of our flour, butter, sugar, and eggs to the bowl without the need to put them in a separate measuring device beforehand. Less cleanup, and a lot less faff! The assisted tilt-head means you can prop up the attachments with minimal effort, because it springs up when you press the lever.

It comes in only one colour, which is a shame, but you can switch out the colour of the top panel. This also has a port to add up to 25 attachments: a blender, even a pasta maker. Best part, these will also pair with the scales on the base! The mixer comes with three attachments, and we particularly enjoyed the flat beater. We did find that the splash guard had a slight cap above the bowl, because it's attached to the assisted tilt-head, and this let a little flour and icing sugar escape from the bowl when cooking.

Our expert review:

We know you recognise this one. From the Great British Bake Off to Nigella's home kitchen, the KitchenAid Artisan is a classic. We put it to the test to see if it's still the cream of the crop. The verdict? This stand mixer is stunning and sturdy, but the motor is a little lacking compared to some of the others in our guide. You can make up to two batches of bread at a time in this mixer, so it's a good balance between size and capacity. The bowl also screws on easily and has a handle. Attachments are dishwasher-safe, which we love.

We found that the Artisan mixer is both quiet and efficient. There's also an optional pouring shield to prevent splashes, and it comes with a wire whisk, flat beater and dough hook as default. The classic tilt-head design will fit under your kitchen cabinets, and because there's so many colours to choose from (not to mention countless custom bowls and other matching appliances such as the best food processors) we know it will look the part too.

It's also one of the heaviest stand mixers available, at a knee-bending 11kg with accessories. It did make some delicious cake though, and you can buy plenty of additional attachments to make pasta, ice cream, and even stuff sausages if you so wish.

Our expert review:

This is a stand mixer for cooks who want to progress from making a springy Victoria sandwich to baking the sort of things the Great British Bake Off judges would be wowed by. The reason is that it's more than a stand mixer. Not only does it come with shredding discs, a mincer, a citrus press and a blender (and swivels into three positions for you to use them), in its stand mixer mode it beats, mixes, whisks and kneads like a pro.

Inside the mixer's 3.9-litre bowl, there's enough room to mix up to 2kg of dough with the kneading hook. This even has a ‘dough deflector’ to stop any mixture from escaping. During testing, dough wrapped around the hook but was easy to remove. The blender also performed well with no lack of power – a common problem with attachments.

When you’re finished baking up a storm, the MUM5 stand mixer's cord automatically retracts. All the accessories except the mincer can be popped in the dishwasher and there's a storage bag. The obvious downside of this mixer is the sheer amount of kit to store, but if you’re willing to make some room you’ll be rewarded.

Our expert review:

In testing, we loved how easily it was able to knead bread and make cakes and whipped cream with the Morphy Richards MixStar. The mixer is noisier than some, and it's also lacking that classic tilt-head design that many find so appealing about a stand mixer. If it's not the look you're after though, this is an immensely capable model. It comes with an in-built timer that allows you to plan your baking exploits perfectly, and its six-point speed dial is variable which gives you complete control of your mixing.

The MixStar is powered through a central column that stems from its base. To this you can attach the whisk, dough hook, or flat beater attachments which work on a cog to rotate around the bowl. Unlike many stand mixers which have only one overhead attachment, this mixer has two, which means it can power through tasks as quickly as you'll need. All the attachments store easily in an insert that sits in the bowl itself, which means this stand mixer is incredibly easy to store, and significantly less space-intensive as other options.

Our expert review:

The Sage The Bakery Boss Stand Mixer wowed us with its smart LCD timer and the illuminated controls. If you struggle to know which speed to knead, cream, and mix with, the side of the mixer has zones which illuminate when you're at the right speed.

Because it has two interchangeable bowls you won't need to worry about rinsing out your cake bowl to beat your frosting, and while the glass one is very heavy, it is great for watching your mixture as it works. The steel bowl has a handle that makes pouring easy, too.

To get a better view as your cake mixes, there's an LED light that shines down from the tilt-head into the mixing bowl. The machine itself has a handle that makes it easy to move around your kitchen, and other great touches include the flat beater, which as a scraper attachment that makes sure there's no butter or sugar left at the side of the bowl. This meant we didn't have to go around the outside of the bowl with a spatula to make sure that all of our ingredients were well incorporated. Our only gripe? The whisk can't go in the dishwasher.

Our expert review:

The Kenwood Prospero KHC29 Stand Mixer has 1000 watts of power, which is impressive for a mixer of this price. It's affordable when you buy it purely for mixing, but spend a little more and you'll find attachments for blending, food processing, and even meat grinding.

While the design is a little unusual, we found that it did a great job of incorporating all of our ingredients thanks to the planetary mixing motion that reaches all edges of the bowl. The dough hook is also great for making springy loaves with well-kneaded dough. The 1000-watt motor comes in handy here, too, but with only five speed settings, it lacks some more specific speeds.

None of the attachments can go in the dishwasher, which is a bit of a pain, but we did find that they are easy enough to clean by hand. The mixer is great for smaller kitchen counters, because it's lightweight and can slot under kitchen cabinets with ease.

Our expert review:

25% lighter and 20% smaller than the Kitchenaid Artisan mixer, the KitchenAid Artisan Mini is great for those who want the charm of a KitchenAid mixer but with a smaller profile. It has a flat beater, wire whisk, and dough hook for all your baking needs, and you can also wash all of these (apart from the whisk) in the dishwasher.

Despite its limited motor size, the KitchenAid Artisan Mini was powerful enough during our tests to make smooth and fluffy cake mixes and well-worked cookie dough. When making bread it was able to knead a regular sized loaf, but we did find that the dough worked its way up the hook, unfortunately.

If you enjoy baking but don't need the best stand mixer for batch bakes, the KitchenAid Artisan Mini is a great choice for you. It has a great range of colour options too, and it looks a real treat when placed on the kitchen counter, as you'll see in the images from our test centre below.

Our expert review:

A more traditional boxy exterior might have you swiping left on the Go Create Stand Mixer. But beneath the no-nonsense plastic lies a good yet affordable helper. There are noticeable differences between this and a more premium model – the stainless-steel bowl has a plastic base as does the whisk, for example – but beyond that everything you need for baking is here.

Three tools, a slide-on splashguard with a pouring spout, a powerful 1000W motor and 10 speeds. There's even a pulse on the dial, which provides a burst of top speed for finishing off mixes.

The benefit of fewer metal elements (even the beater is made from fibreglass) is that all the parts are dishwasher-safe. This makes it invaluable in a busy family household, plus it's lighter than die-cast models. So you can move it around without straining under the weight. Another plus is the mixer's generously sized five-litre bowl, which easily accommodated bread dough, cake batter or egg whites without throwing anything out.

There are a couple of quirks. The mixer was very noisy on the top speeds, and the spring from new was strong, so you’ll need to hold the head as you raise it or it jerks. However, the performance was surprisingly efficient for a machine at this price point.

It whisked our egg whites to firm peaks in about four minutes. It mixed and kneaded bread dough around the bowl without it wrapping around the hook (which resulted in a well-risen loaf), and blended butter and sugar to a pale creamy consistency.

We noticed a few streaks of butter in the sponge batter after mixing and scraping down, but the baked cake rounds were light with golden, springy tops.

Our expert review:

Great for batch bakers and big families, the 500W Precision Stand Mixer is surprisingly roomy. While its footprint is standard, its 5.2-litre, stainless-steel bowl provides more capacity than you’d expect in a model of this size. This means that you can knead up to 1.2kg of dough, whip 1.4 litres of cream or whisk 12 egg whites in a single load.

There are 12 speeds, from a gentle stir (which we found invaluable for starting to mix dough) to a rapid whisk that took the effort out of making meringues. The mixer shook a little on the highest settings but stayed steady on the worktop.

Its tools are the usual three of whisk (the only part not dishwasher-safe), beater and dough hook. This last one was especially good in that our bread dough didn't wrap itself around the hook, but moved and kneaded it around the bowl efficiently.

Our loaf rose well without any manual kneading. The two-part splashguard and spout, while a handy option, was something that was awkward to have in use most of the time. It slid on easily enough but every time the mixer head was raised, both sections had to be removed, making scraping down the bowl more of a chore.

Its performance couldn't be faulted – our sugar and butter creamed together quickly, and the batter looked well aerated. The finished sponge wasn't as fluffy as we’d hoped though. Where it delivers less is on aesthetics – the Precision Stand Mixer is only available in black or white, the pedal to raise the mixer head protrudes oddly and the dial feels like a clunky way to move up or down through the speeds.

However, if you’re looking for a robust workhorse of a mixer and don't mind not having a colourful appliance, it's a smart choice.

As you might have guessed by now, we're serious about how we test products at Ideal Home and go to lengths to get hands-on experience with products, so that we can recommend you (or steer you away from) products in good faith. When it comes to stand mixers, we tested each product out with various baking tests, including making cake batter and whipped cream. You can see detailed results in the individual reviews we've linked to under every product, and see how they looked in our homes too.

We also have experience testing a number of these products at our testing facility in Reading, where we used them simultaneously to really get a good idea of which one performed the best. Where we can, we've also kept hold of products in order to asses how they perform after months and years of use. Below, you can read more about who has tested each of these mixers, and why they're equipped to tell you whether to invest in these products.

Millie is Head of Reviews at Ideal Home, and works to ensure that we have tested out the products we include in our buying guides. Previously she was the Small Appliances and Cookware Editor and remains our go-to expert on all things appliance related. She tested these stand mixers either at home or in the Future test facility in Reading.

Molly is the Ecommerce Writer for Ideal Home, and covers small appliances across the site. Her favourite small appliance is without a doubt stand mixers, thanks to her love of baking. She joined Millie at Future's test facility in Reading in order to test the stand mixers on this list, including the KitchenAid Artisan Mini, the KitchenAid 4.8L Artisan, the Smeg Retro 50s style stand mixer and the Cuisinart Precision mixer. She ran three separate tests on each of the mixers in order to rate their performance.

Stand mixers look the part, but they are also essential for taking the muscle work out of even the toughest recipes. Anyone who's spent ten minutes kneading bread dough or hand-beating cake mix will know that it's a lot of arm work. Not only will the best stand mixer do it a lot faster, but it will often do a better job thanks to the range of speeds available, as well as the assortment of attachments that are custom made for baking.

You can opt for the iconic mixers from KitchenAid and Kenwood, but our guide also features some options from Cuisinart and Bosch. There's even a mixer from Morphy Richards, which isn't technically a stand mixer, but really wowed us in testing thanks to its smart and compact design.

This depends on whether you’re buying a stand mixer with a view to keeping it long-term. Basic mixers can be picked up as cheaply as £50. But for one that will last, budget for a minimum of £100. Beyond £150, most of what you’ll be paying for is a greater choice of colours and styling, extra features or accessories. More expensive mixers tend to have a sturdier build quality to ensure they’ll be whisking and beating for decades to come.

Stand mixers often feature more than one outlet – the main outlet being using to rotate the tool in the bowl. Additional ones are usually located at the front of the machine or on the top of the lever arm. These allow you to power attachments, turning your simple stand mixer into a multifunctional kitchen helper. Standard mixer attachments include a blender jug for making smoothies and soups, or crushing ice, and sometimes a food processor for slicing, grating and chopping.

Most manufacturers offer a range of stand mixer attachments to buy. These include rollers for making pasta and specialised ravioli makers. There are also mincers or grinders for processing meat, slicers, pre-freeze ice cream bowls, millers, spiralisers and juicers. Accessories and attachments can take up a fair amount of room in your kitchen. Look for models that can store accessories inside the bowl or come with a storage box. That way, you won't lose kit at the back of a cupboard.

While a dishwasher-safe bowl is usually standard, check that accessories are too before you pop them in alongside. Whisk attachments often have to be washed by hand. Hot temperatures can cause plastic to be damaged.

Spares can be handy if you’re having a full-on baking day. So look for manufacturers that offer additional bowls and attachments.

Think about where your stand mixer will live. If it's out on the worktop, find a design that comes in a shade to suit your kitchen and will fit below wall units. If it's destined for a cupboard, opt for a machine that's light enough to lift in and out. Some cast-metal stand mixers can be heavy and bulky.

Trying to avoid too many trailing wires across your worktop? Look out for machines with handy cable storage.

Millie Fender is Head of Reviews at Ideal Home. She joined Ideal Home as an Ecommerce Editor in 2021, covering all of the site's small appliance and cookware shopping content. Millie formerly worked at Top Ten Reviews, another Future site, where she produced review and buying guides across a range of home products, from fridges to blenders. As Head of Reviews, her job is to test all the wackiest product launches, whether they're air fryers, bread makers, or juicers, and give you her honest experience.

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