This was the heaviest mixer we tested (at a whopping 44 lb.), but while that weight made it difficult to maneuver when we unboxed it, it also made it extra stable. It’s ultrapowerful, so we found we needed to exercise caution when selecting speeds.
Overall, we thought this mixer was innovative and performed incredibly well—it’s just a lot of mixer for the average home cook. But if you’re a frequent bread or large batch baker and like the idea of a voice-controlled, Wi-Fi-enabled mixer with all the techy features a person could dream of, you might think it’s worth the splurge.
KitchenAid 7-qt. Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer
KitchenAid 7 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer
This KitchenAid mixer uses a bowl-lift function instead of the Artisan’s tilt-head mechanism to better handle its larger capacity. It’s a large, powerful, high-performing mixer that did just as well in our testing as the model we recommend above. Ultimately, it lost out on the top spot because we don’t think most home cooks need a mixer this large—it’s pricier, bulkier, and heavier than our top pick, and we found it difficult to mix small amounts of ingredients in such a large bowl.
Bosch Universal Plus Mixer
Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer, 6.5 Quarts
This appliance from Bosch isn’t your typical stand mixer. It’s “universal” because it’s essentially a motorized base to which you can attach a variety of kitchen appliances that are available to purchase separately (think blender, juicer, meat grinder, and the like). The only one of those modules that comes with it is a 6.5-qt. plastic mixing bowl with a motor shaft that runs up the center, onto which you’ll attach whisk or dough-mixer arms.
It’s a confusing concept and a confusing machine to use, but once we got the hang of it, the Bosch performed well in our tests. It only has four speeds (and a pulse function) and is quite large, but it could work for someone looking to condense their appliance collection.
Smeg Stand Mixer
We’re usually skeptical of Smeg products because, despite their aesthetically pleasing design, they don’t tend to work all that well. Not the case with their stand mixer! It’s well-constructed, has a powerful 600-watt motor that can handle any task you throw at it, and is quite the looker. That said, the Smeg is expensive and jumped around the counter more than the Breville and KitchenAid did when faced with dense bread dough, and it doesn’t have as wide a range of attachment options as KitchenAid offers.
Ankarsrum Original Mixer
The Swedish-made Ankarsrum Assistant Original Mixer also operates quite differently from a typical stand mixer. Like the Bosch, it has a motorized base—but unlike the Bosch (and most other mixers), the bowl itself spins while a vertical dough roller mixes, and a separate dough knife works to scrape ingredients from the side of the bowl.
In our testing, we didn’t find this model the most user-friendly, but if you’re big into breadmaking like Bon Appétit contributor Jesse Raub and are okay with a learning curve, you may love this machine. It’s helped Jesse kiss hand-kneading goodbye altogether when he makes sourdough (which he does often—every four days kind of often) and churned out beautiful sheets of fresh pasta for him too. If you’re a frequent bread baker who has upward of $700 to spend on an appliance, check out Jesse’s full review here.
Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer
Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer
Ooni is known for its stellar pizza ovens, so we were intrigued by the brand’s first foray into other kitchen appliances. The idea behind this mixer is that it’s optimized for dough-making but is still usable for other home baking tasks. It’s similar to the Ankarsrum in that it features a rotating bowl, but different in that the attachments look somewhat like what you’d find in a traditional mixer: You’ve got your dough hook (and quite a hefty one at that), your whisk attachment, and your beater.
