Mixer for a novice baker

[frankiesayswho]

I'm just starting to bake and I've been using a cheap old stick blender which isn't great. I want to buy a mixer but don't know where to start.

Any recommendations for a budget mixer that would be a good starter. I don't want to pay loads in case my interest fizzles out!

Buy a hand blender with a double beater attachment.

Like this:

www.argos.co.uk/product/9268939?clickPR=plp:1:20

Its all I have ever needed for cakes and other baking.

I have an electric hand mixer too

Hand held electric beater is all you need unless you become a real obsessive. They do the job very well.

Any of the supermarket ones will do. Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco usually have them in the £10-£18 range and they are all pretty much identical.

An all-in-one stand mixer like Kitchen Aid or Kenwood is unnecessary unless you are desperate to own one or are churning out many cakes a week and be are burning through the engines of the hand held ones.

There are super snazzy hand helds - including one by Kitchen Aid which is beautifully balanced and stands up on its own, a Rolls Royce piece of kit. But honestly, anything under £25 will be just fine and will make baking easier.

Best tip - slice your butter into a microwaveable bowl and zap at medium heat for 25 seconds. Then it’s soft and super easy to cream together.

2nd best tip - beat for 1 minute longer than you think at the butter stage, it incorporates the most air, and swap to a gentle mix with a wooden spoon at the adding flour stage (for cake) because activating the gluten makes it tough, not light and airy.

Enjoy your baking, OP!

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-stainless-steel-hand-food-mixer/p5529485

This sort of thing plus a bowl does everything that a Kenwood or Kitchenaid can do, and in fact IME gives you more control and means you are less likely to overbeat.

Thanks all,

This is considerably cheaper than I expected! 😊

If your budget permits, buy a Kenwood Chef, even second hand, they go on forever, awesome machines. Ours is 10 years old now.