A stand mixer is one of the most expensive and useful tools you will buy for your kitchen. But not all stand mixers are created equal. How do you choose one worthy of your hard earned money? To find out, I pitted three mixers against each other in 10 different cooking tests.
Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. Opinions expressed in this post are entirely mine. However, I was provided a machine to review by Bosch and WonderMix. I already owned a KitchenAid.
Which specific mixers did I test?
I tested the Bosch Universal Plus 800 mixer, the KitchenAid Pro Series 600, and the WonderMix Revolution Mixer (900 watts). 25 pounds of flour and 9 pounds of butter later I have a clear winner! Read on to find out which mixer has the chops to earn a square of counter in your average home kitchen!
How were the mixers rated?
For each test the mixers were rated from 1-5 stars on how well they performed. A zero star rating means the mixer could not even complete the task. A 3 star rating means the mixer did OK but was nothing special. A 5 star is best performance possible – meaning it aced the test and would make your life easier for this cooking task.
My sad history with the KitchenAid
I’ve been cooking and baking for more than 30 years so I came to this project with some preconceived ideas. I had never used a Bosch or a WonderMix but I am a former KitchenAid lover. I grew up using a hand mixer and then eventually switched to using my grandmother’s old KitchenAid. It was a solid workhorse but the motor would get pretty hot when I was doing triple batches of buttercream for wedding cakes. I would just toss an ice pack on it and keep going.
When I got married the most important thing on my wish list was a Brand Spanking New 6 Quart Professional Series Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer with a bowl lift. Unfortunately it was not my grandmother’s mixer. Gone was the motor I could ice occasionally and have it work like a champ. Now I learned to avoid big batches of frosting AND small batches of anything. The Pro Series was so big it did poorly with small things like one batch of cookies while the motor made horrific grinding sounds when faced with big batches of frosting. Over the years I also began to notice the Kitchen Aid just didn’t do a great job at almost anything I used it for. Meanwhile I burned the motor out twice on the mixer and began to hear about other people having issues with mixers made after 1986 when Whirlpool bought the KitchenAid company.
Recently I decided it was time to put some different stand mixers to the test! I wanted to find out if there was anything better than the KitchenAid available. A quick Google search suggested Bosch had an excellent reputation with people who love to bake. WonderMix was much less well known but was a cheaper option that seemed to have some of the same design features of the Bosch. The motor was also 100 watts stronger so it seemed worth taking for a spin. As I began my tests I knew I was a little partial to the WonderMix because of price and I was prejudiced against the KitchenAid after years of frustration.
The 1o Cooking Tests: These mixers had to earn their chops!
1 Batch of Cookies: My Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 Star – WonderMix
The Cookie Whips struggled in the creaming process even though I was creaming a full cup of butter. The beaters just were not getting contact with the entire bowl. Once I added the dry ingredients they did better but I scraped the bowl several times during the creaming process. They also struggled some to mix in the chocolate chips and chunks. In the end, the dough turned out very nicely, but it was a lot of effort / extra time in the scraping. The cookies were less impressive. They were grainy in places because the dough had been poorly mixed and powdered ingredients were not fully incorporated.
3 Stars -KitchenAid
Using the paddle some bowl scraping was necessary during the creaming and then when eggs were added. Additionally the paddle design creams the butter/sugar mixture higher in the bowl while not creaming the lower mixture. In time, the entire mixture does become creamed but I didn’t like the idea that part of the mixture was fully creamed before the other part had even started. The final results are uneven which makes a difference in baking. Bowl scraping helped but didn’t solve the problem. If you have a KitchenAid spend the $30 to pick up the Side Swipe. It will help a lot with this issue. (Not made by KitchenAid).
5 Stars – Bosch
The Bosch made excellent batter and it made it easily. It did build up on the center post a bit but one batch of scraping did the trick. The cookie paddles worked much faster than the kitchen aid to cream the butter and sugar. I was really impressed with the quality of the creaming job.
Whipped Cream: Perfect Homemade Whipped Cream
Zero Stars – Wonder Mix
The beaters were in contact with the cream and it was a two cup batch so there was plenty to work with. However the mixers could not actually whip the cream. Five minutes later the cream was still not whipping. Moved the mixture to the Bosch and it was fully whipped in 30 seconds.
4 Stars – KitchenAid
The whipped cream came together easily and well. It takes about a minute which is twice as long as the Bosch but overall no issues. It does splatter a lot even with the pour shield but you can use a large kitchen towel over the machine to help reduce the mess.
5 Stars – Bosch
The whipped cream came together in under a minute. No scraping needed and no splattering Mixer was a champ. I had no idea you could make whipped cream in 30 seconds!
Buttercream Frosting 1 Big batch (1cup of butter): Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
Zero Stars – WonderMix
The frosting got stuck on sides and in the beaters. I never successfully made a batch. The mixer bowl / French Whips are not the right set up for creaming frosting. The mixer motor sounded like it was straining and the mixer started to walk across the counter.
2 Stars – KitchenAid
This mixer did fine but takes awhile and lots of scraping. The bottom cakes with butter and sugar, and once you finally manage to get it all incorporated it takes quite a long time to whip it. I actually usually whip buttercream for 5-10 minutes (depending on what I’m doing) in a KitchenAid to get it really fluffy! The Bosch worked SO much better that I actually took the frosting out of the Kitchen Aid and it was done in a minute. Even having to wash both mixers I saved time over the Kitchen Aid
5 Stars – Bosch
I had whipped the Buttercream in less than 2 minutes, beautifully fluffy, no scraping needed. Almost every time I used the Bosch it felt hard not to just proclaim it Queen of the kitchen!
Cake Mix: 1 Box
4 Stars – KitchenAid
The KitchenAid did a great job but I had to do a lot of bowl scraping. I used the regular batter paddle. This is another place where using a Side Swipe would have helped.
5 Stars – WonderMix
The WonderMix did a great job with the cake batter. It was fast but not quite as fast as Bosch. I used the French Whips that are included in the basic package and I didn’t need the lid.
5 Stars – Bosch
The mixer made the batter FAST (In general it made most things faster in tests than the other mixers.) I used the cake whips included in the baking package to beat the cake. This was one of the times I forgot to put the lid on and when I added the chocolate chips they were launched all over the kitchen. You have to at least put the outer plastic ring lid on or you will be chasing chocolate chips in a 10’ radius. To be fair Bosch tells you to use both the ring and the center lid when the mixer is on. Had I followed directions my toddler would have missed out on chocolate chip patrol.
Bread Small Batch: Better than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls (4 cups of flour)
Zero Stars – Bosch
I did this test in the Bosch three times. Each time I used the dough hook extender which is intended for small batches of dough. The first batch I realized afterwords I had not followed the instructions quite right. On the 2nd batch and third batch I made sure the follow the instructions exactly but the mixer could not get the flour to mix into a dough. The Bosch has a reputation for struggling with small batches of dough and needing the flour to be added very slowly. My best guess is that with practice I could learn how to get the machine to do small batches but this is the thing about the Bosch I was most disappointed in.
1 Star – WonderMix
I ended up doing this test twice in the WonderMix. The first batch never come together and I had to throw out the dough. The next couldn’t quite come together but I was able to remove the dough and kneed by hand for success. It seemed the hooks just could not quite manage to kneed such a small batch. I left the lid off and nothing puffed out but ingredients did build up on the middle post and required scraping.
5 Stars – KitchenAid
This was one of the few places where the KitchenAid really shone. It made great dough and I didn’t have to do any scraping or other manipulation to keep things moving correctly.
Bread Large Batch: 6 loaves (12-15 cups of flour)
Zero Stars – KitchenAid
Initially the kitchen aid did very well. Once I added the full amount of flour and started to knead the mixer began to bog down. I could smell the motor burning up and the dough climbed up the hook and into the top of the stand mixer. I ended up cutting the mixer off before the kneading was done to protect the motor. It was messy to remove the dough that had climbed up. Caution: Don’t try this at home! You may lose your motor.
2 Stars – WonderMix
I expected the WonderMix to shine at bread making because that is what it seems to have been designed for. However, the bowl is tall and narrow which makes it harder to add flower too. It also warps and bends while kneading and the dough builds up over the top of the dough hook. The dough did get needed well in the end. However, I had to dig the hook out from the dough and it was hard to get it out which had to be done to lift the bowl off. It was something of a wrestling match. Bottom line using the WonderMix made it harder than making bread by hand.
5 Stars – Bosch
I’ve been baking bread for more than 20 years. You learn fast that really great dough makes really great bread. The dough that came out of this mixer the first time I did it was perfect. It was some of the best bread dough I have ever made and the bread was incredible! I was really impressed with how well the machine kneaded the dough and for the first time saw the case for using a machine to kneed over hand kneading. Before I thought it was just a convenience but now I believe that the mixer can actually do a better job than a person with little to moderate bread baking experience. In other words, if you want to learn to bake amazing bread try buying an amazing mixer!
The One Egg White Test: Could the mixer whip just one egg white?
I’ve never in my life whipped just one egg white but I saw the Bosch mixer do it in videos and I got curious. Could I replicate the test at home? If so could all of the mixers do it? A stand mixer is my go to for beating egg whites in general and it would be nice to have the flexibility to do a small or large batch of whites depending on what I was making.
Zero Stars – WonderMix
The beaters could not make contact so that didn’t work.
Zero Stars – Kitchen Aid
It took more than 4 minutes to whip an egg white and it was not well whipped. I’m calling it a fail.
5 Stars – Bosch
The one egg white whipped perfectly in under a minute. Go figure!
Egg Whites Big Batch: Angel Food Cake
Zero Stars – WonderMix
After five minutes the mixer had not managed to whip the egg whites. In this case I felt like the French whip assembly was just not able to contact the egg whites correctly for whipping.
5 Stars – Bosch
The Bosch had excellent beating action and made really wonderful egg whites. The result was the best angel food cake I’ve made to date! Generally plastic is not recommended for whipping egg whites. In this case, the plastic bowl is a durable plastic and less likely to retain fat than some other plastics but I still don’t like using a plastic bowl for this process. You can pick up a metal bowl for your mixer for $115. The only issue I had with the process is that you can’t fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites in the mixer’s bowl. They have to be removed to another bowl before the flour can be folded in which adds to the dish pile.
5 Stars – KitchenAid
The KitchenAid works great for angel food cake. The advantage here over the Bosch is that you can use the bowl you whipped the egg whites in to fold the flour into the whites. Also, the bowl is metal so there is no concern about transferred fat.
Shredding Chicken: 2 Poached Chicken Breasts in Each Mixer
Zero Stars – WonderMix
I used the cookie whips as they were the strongest but they were not up to the task. The chicken breasts were cut a few times but not shredded.
3 Stars – KitchenAid
The paddle attachment took some time to shred the chicken. By the time the big pieces were all done the smallest pieces were almost powdery. I would have liked a more consistent texture.
5 Stars – Bosch
The Bosch was quick and easy and the chicken was nicely shredded after a few pulses. The whips were so strong the literally cut the chicken. It was very effective.
5 lbs Batch of Mashed Potatoes: Holiday Mashed Potatoes
Zero Stars – WonderMix
I beat the potatoes as long as I could but the texture was still more chunky than creamy. Beating them any longer would have made them gluey. To save the batch I transferred to the Bosch and was able to get perfect whipped potatoes before they turned into glue.
4 Stars – Kitchen Aid
The kitchen Aid whip does a good job on the potatoes but it takes some time. You have to be careful to whip them long enough to get the chunks out without whipping them so long they get gluey.
5 Stars – Bosch
The Bosch was my hands down favorite. The potatoes were whipped in under a minute, no scraping, perfect texture.
Stand Mixer Functionality
How easy is the mixer to use and wash day to day?
1 Star – WonderMix: Hard to use and hard to wash.
- The bowl and attachments are hand wash only.
- The mixer is lightweight and easy to move around. However, it will sometimes walk around the counter if you put a big batch of dough in it.
- If you don’t pick up the bowl correctly the drive shaft will fall on the floor.
- The drive shaft is easy to set up but it is plastic which concerned me as to durability.
- Mixer is so loud you can’t hear the kitchen timer ringing in the same room. This was the only mixer that actually woke up my sleeping infant in the next room over.
- The bowl warps as it is going around on speed #2 which made me feel like it was going to go flying off at some point.
- Mixer has three speeds and a pulse function. All of the speeds are quite fast.
2 Stars – KitchenAid: Easy to use and easy to wash but messy in general.
- The bowl and attachments are dish washer safe.
- The machine is crazy heavy (20-30 pounds depending on the model) and is a bad choice for people who need to limit lifting. It is also famous for walking off the counter when it is running. Personally I don’t want to leave the kitchen for a minute to deal with my kids only to come back to a $300 kitchen appliance crash!
- When adding ingredients to this mixer be prepared for dry ingredients to puff out into a big cloud – even when you use the pour shield. The best way I’ve found to keep the mess down is to cover the machine with a oversized kitchen towel. Either way expect to have to wipe down the entire mixer every time you use it.
- Ingredients tend to end up stuck above the bowl in the mixing arm. It is not easy to clean that area but it should be done frequently to avoid build up that can drop into future batches of food.
- The attachments are easy to put in and take out. However, the paddle design is not great (see sections on individual uses for more information).
- Mixer has 10 speeds including some that are quite slow which is helpful.
4 Stars – Bosch: Easy to use and mess free but washing depends on your dishwasher.
- The bowl and most attachments are top rack dishwasher safe. However, the bowl barely fits in the top rack of my Bosch dish washer (which is really good sized) and we have our hot water turned up very high. I had my bowl edges warp a tiny bit the one time I put the bowl through the dishwasher – probably because of my water temperature. Now I only hand wash it. The drive shaft should only be hand washed. You can buy a metal bowl for this mixer which I plan to do and then use it on the bottom rack of my washer.
- The machine is just 12.3 pounds (almost 60% less than the KitchenAid!) and is easy to lift and move around even for somebody with less physical strength. One you set it in place the suction cup feet hold it there and it won’t walk off the counter no matter what you put into it.
- If you use the pour shield there is almost never any mess. I found that the pour shield is only necessary once in awhile and I didn’t even have to use the center cover generally. The machine kept the ingredients in the bowl without puffing out most of the time!
- The attachments are easy to put in and take out. They all worked really well. The one thing I didn’t like was using the cake paddles for frosting as instructed. It worked much better to use the whips to make buttercream.
- Mixer has 4 speeds and a pulse function. There was a speed for everything I was trying to do.
How hard is it to learn how each stand mixer works?
1 Star – WonderMix: This was definitely the most confusing of the three mixers.
- The mixer included a user manual and a single sheet of orange paper with additional information. To set it up I had to reference the user manual and the orange sheet only to then realize the recipes in the user manual conflicted with instructions given in their online videos.
- The bowl is released from the mixer using a small lever that is not intuitive and the bowl is hard to attach to the mixer when you are setting it up.
- There are “French Whips” and “Cookie Whips” that look similar so I found myself referencing the manual over and over during the week to make sure I had the right whips.
2 Stars – Bosch: Initially the Bosch seemed complicated but it got easy fast.
- The Bosch has a lot of attachments which I thought was going to be frustrating. Instead it turned out to be simple. The information included with the packaging is clear and easy to follow.
- The drive shaft and bowl are easy to put together with the mixer. You can tell by looking at the system how it works.
- There is a small adjustment period but in the long run the mixer is easy to use.
3 Stars – KitchenAid: This was the easiest of the mixers partly because of design and partly because they are so commonly used.
- The attachments slide in and out easily.
- The bowl clicks in and out easily.
- Most people have used or seen a Kitchen Aid mixer in action so there is almost no learning curve.
How does the price and warranty of each mixer compare?
- $455 on Amazon
- 800 watt motor
- 6.5 quart plastic bowl (Six quart stainless steel bowl available for additional $145)
- Comes with everything you need for baking.
- 8 additional attachments such as an ice cream maker are available.
- 3 year warranty on motor and transmission, 1 year warranty on attachments and other parts.
KitchenAid Professional 600 Bowl Lift
- $329 on Amazon
- 525 watt motor
- 6 quart stainless steel bowl
- Comes with everything you need for baking.
- Over 15 additional attachments are available.
- 2 year full warranty from date of purchase: Your choice of replacement or parts and labor.
- $219.95 on Amazon
- 900 watt motor
- 5.5 quart plastic bowl
- Comes with everything you need for baking and a decent blender.
- Four additional attachments are available.
- Limited lifetime warranty.
What kind of stand mixer is right for YOUR kitchen???
This is the kind of investment you should only make once in your life. Before you buy this kind of mixer you should make sure it will do what you want it to do and hold up for many, many years in your kitchen!
The Holiday Baker: If you are somebody who makes a few birthday cakes, some cookies around the holidays and a batch of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving just buy a $50 hand held mixer like this. You don’t need to spend the money or counter space on a stand mixer.
The Average Home Baker & The Serious Home Baker: If you bake cookies, bread, or cakes, and make mashed potatoes, whipped cream, frostings etc on a regular basis the Bosch is an excellent investment. It is a workhorse that will stand up over the years in your kitchen and flex with you through all your projects.
The Exclusive Cake Baker: I don’t do a ton of from scratch cake baking but those that do feel KitchenAid mixers come out a bit ahead of the Bosch in cake batter preparation. If you bake a LOT of cake you may want to look further into the difference of mixers. I didn’t have any issues making cake batter in the Bosch and it made amazing buttercream. The downfall of buying the KitchenAid would be that bigger batches of buttercream are going to stress the motor and potentially shorten the life of the mixer by quite a bit.
The Interior Design Enthusiast: If the aesthetic appearance of the mixer is the most important than you can’t beat the iconic look of a tilt head KitchenAid mixer in every color of the rainbow. It makes the counter look beautiful and polished. While it might not be a great kitchen appliance it does make a beautiful decoration!
So what mixer won my counter space?
I’m sticking with the Bosch. I actually enjoy it SO much I’ve been baking more, especially bread! The quality of dough that it makes has impressed me to the point that I’ve been thinking of getting rid of my bread machine! I know, a bit of a surprise but I have been incredibly impressed with what this machine can do. All of the attachments are on my shopping list to try out. The KitchenAid is going on my shelf for storage for now. The only reason I’m keeping it around for the moment is to have it for work testing. If I were just cooking for my family it would already be gone. The WonderMix is sitting in a lonely corner of my office. I like the blender on it but that is about it and it is such a turkey to use I don’t know if I even want to give it to a friend!
Do you have a story about your stand mixer? I would love to hear it. Please leave me your stories and questions below in the comments!
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The post The Great Stand Mixer Face Off: Bosch vs. KitchenAid vs. WonderMix – Which Mixer Do You Need? appeared first on Mirlandra's Kitchen.