Stand mixers are the home baker’s secret weapon. Whether they’re whipping up airy cake mixes or whisking glossy meringues, kneading dough or beating silky smooth icing, they deliver consistent results in a fraction of the time, and with far less elbow grease involved- leaving you free to get on with something else.

But before you invest in this must-have bit of kit, there are a few key things to consider. Stand mixers come in all shapes and sizes, and with an almost overwhelming array of different features, capabilities and add-ons. Here’s our guide to help you decide what sort of mixer will best suit your needs, and a brief lowdown on some of our most popular models.

First things first, you need to be practical. A key factor to consider when choosing a stand mixer, which is sometimes overlooked,  is simply- where will you keep it? Larger machines with enhanced features can take up a fair bit of worktop or cupboard space, and can also be pretty heavy. So check a mixer’s dimensions and think about the height of your cabinet shelving, or the clearance height above where you plan to keep it on the worktop. 

Keeping your stand mixer on the worktop means it’s always accessible- definitely a good thing when you realise just how often it can be put to work. If your mixer is destined to take pride of place on your worktop, the good news is that all our mixers are designed to look every bit as good as they perform. You can even make sure your mixer complements the rest of your kitchen. The KMix range is available in a selection of stylish colours, including the new kMix Editions colour range, inspired by the colours of the natural world. And then there’s the Titanium Chef Baker White .65, which you can customise with a choice of eight different coloured PopTop covers (available to purchase separately). 

If you are tight on storage space you might want to consider buying a more compact model. The Titanium Chef Baker or Chef series models are also available in standard as well as  XL sizes, while the Prospero+ may be our smallest stand mixer, but its generous 4.3L bowl (big enough to make a batch of 36 cupcakes) and powerful 1000W motor means it is still more than up to rising to any baking challenge you throw at it. 
 

All stand mixers come with different sized bowls, so think about how often you will be using your stand mixer and what you’ll be making. If you regularly make large batches of cakes or big quantities of dough, look for a model with at least a 4.6L bowl. But if you’re more likely to be using it to make the odd cake or tray of cupcakes, you’ll be fine with a smaller capacity bowl, which will of course also save you some storage space. 

Some of our models like the Titanium Chef Patissier XL and the Titanium Chef Baker XL Silver come with a second, smaller mixing bowl, which comes in very handy when you’re mixing smaller quantities, or if you need to swap in a new clean bowl halfway through a recipe. And because the smaller bowl nests inside the main one when it’s not in use, it takes up no extra space. 
 

A powerful motor is one of the things that sets stand mixers apart from hand mixers, enabling them to make light work of processing large quantities of heavy dough or cake mix. 

All Kenwood stand mixers have motors ranging from 1000 - 1500W, but combine that robust power with precision control. So whether you’re  performing the lightest fold or tackling the heaviest load, your mixer’s variable electronic speed range ensures you use the optimum power for the task at hand, and get perfect results, every time. 

All our stand mixers come with a selection of high performance bowl accessories as standard; the iconic K-beater for mixing cake batter, making icing or fillings, a whisk to beat eggs, whip cream and make meringue, and a dough hook for kneading bread and pizza dough. Whether you’re looking to create cakes, pastries, breads, meringue, icing (and the list goes on), these tools are all designed to tackle your everyday baking tasks. 

Models like the Titanium Chef Patissier XL, Cooking Chef XL and Titanium Chef Baker XL Silver also have available a creaming beater, with pliable, spatula- like wings that scrape around the sides of the bowl as they mix to ensure your cake mixture has an even consistency. Some packs also come with attachments such as glass blender jugs and food processor attachments, while for all Chef models there is an extensive range of additional attachments available for you to purchase separately, so you can continue to tailor your mixer as you expand your creativity in the kitchen and explore new skills (more on that later). Similarly, if you’re looking to purchase the Prospero+ or a kMix stand mixer, there are also a number of attachments available for these models.

So when choosing a stand mixer it’s important to do a bit of research and think about how you’re going to use it most, so you can pick a model that can do what you need it to do now, as well as support you through any future culinary adventures. If you know you’re going to want to really put your stand mixer through its paces and see what it can do, it may be worth investing in a more premium model with additional tools and features up front.
 

Many premium stand mixers have clever features that are designed to not only help deliver the best results, but to make your life that much easier- speeding certain processes up or taking out some of the guesswork so that you can focus on other tasks. 

Intuitive features to look out for include a soft-start speed control and splash guard to prevent splatters and spills, delicate fold function to ensure a light and even mix and integrated in-bowl illumination so you can see exactly what’s happening in the bowl. Models like the Titanium Chef Patissier XL, Cooking Chef XL and the Titanium Chef Baker have built-in weighing scales so you can measure ingredients directly into the mixing bowl as you go for minimal mess and washing up. Then there’s models that can gently warm ingredients (Titanium Chef Patissier XL) so you can also use them to temper chocolate or prove dough,  or even cook a meal from scratch, like the Cooking Chef XL. Some of our models offer touchscreen functionality, with a range of easy to use preset functions making tasks such as meringue making or dough kneading available at just the tap of your finger, and you can even send step by step recipe instructions direct to the Cooking Chef XL via the Kenwood World app.

Then there are all the additional attachments you can buy to turn your stand mixer into a true kitchen multi-tasker; expanding its capabilities far beyond the world of baking and doing away with the need to have a cupboard stuffed full of different gadgets and appliances.  From pasta makers and juicers, blenders and graters, slicers and choppers, mincers and spiralizers; there is basically an attachment for every kind of dish.  You can find out more about our range of attachments and how you can customise your stand mixer here.
 

So now you know what to look for when choosing a stand mixer, here’s a quick guide to three models from Kenwood’s stand mixer range and their main features:

Titanium Chef Patissier XL
Definitely not your average stand mixer, the Titanium Chef Patissier XL not only delivers all that you’d expect from a premium model, it also has integrated weighing scales, a warming function so you can melt ingredients, two nesting mixing bowls and intuitive touchscreen controls,with pre-set functions including dough proving, all in one cake and Swiss meringue.  
 

Cooking Chef XL
Our most technologically advanced mixer, the Cooking Chef XL also cooks, with induction technology enabling you to control temperatures from 20˚C to 180˚in 1˚C increments. Built-in EasyWeigh scales allow you to weigh directly into the bowl, and there are 13 easy to use preset functions that you navigate via the touchscreen. And if you need inspiration for what to make next, why not browse the hundreds of recipes on the Kenwood World app. Pick what you fancy and you can send the recipe instructions straight to your machine.        
 

Titanium Chef Baker
With a powerful 1200w engine, soft start speed control, delicate fold function and direct to bowl weighing across all the models in the Chef Baker range, you can be sure of precise results, every time. The silver model includes a second smaller mixing bowl and stainless steel, easy to clean tools, while you can choose from eight different colour PopTops to customise the white models (available in standard or XL sizes) to suit your style.

Explore our full range of stand mixers here