The Beautiful mixer managed to do everything the KitchenAid did, it just took a little more time and a higherspeed setting to do it. For example, we mixed ourcake batter at 4 of 10 on the KitchenAid and had to use the 8th of 12speed settings to get the same effect on the Beautiful mixer, and it took another minute or two to achieve the same texture. They both did a good jobkneading the challah dough, too, though the Beautiful mixer bounced all over a butcher-block counter in the process—despite the small suction cups meant to hold it in place. (We’re willing to consider that the light dusting of flour that coated our kitchen during our intensive stand mixer testing may have made the suction cups less effective than they otherwise would have been.) The Beautiful mixer did heat up a little during the seven-minute knead, but theKitchenAid Artisan did too. However, when set to its highest speed, it madewhipped cream just a little bit more quickly than the KitchenAid.
The 12 speeds are controlled by a simple knob on the side of the machine toward the back, which is close to the button used to tilt and close the top. At first, we found the button annoying, but we got used to it and even started to prefer it because the head pops up when you engage the button.
Though the body is made of a hard matte plastic, true to its name, this lightweight mixer is kind of beautiful, like a chunky, postmodern KitchenAid. All of the detachable parts aredishwasher safe, and we love that the splash shield attaches to the mixer’s motor head instead of the bowl.
If you’re an occasional baker, on a budget, or want something you can easily stash in a cabinet when not in use, this is a good option for you.
What we don’t love about the Beautiful by Drew BarrymoreTilt-Head Stand Mixer
A good stand mixer is not cheap, and for something this affordable ($130, and often on sale for $99) you have to keep your expectations low. It’s a plastic mixer that’s far from heirloom quality and it’s prone to jumping around when dealing with dense doughs, but it still gets the job done.
Style:Tilt-head stand mixer
Bowl capacity: 5.3-quart stainless steelmixing bowl
Speed settings: 12
Motorwattage:300 watts
Accessory port: No
Included attachments/accessories:mixing bowl, coatedflat beater blade,dough hook, whisk, splash shield
Warranty: 2-year limited
How we tested stand mixers
Cake batter
In each stand mixer, we made half of thiscake recipe to see how well each mixer performed with a small amount of ingredients. We also wanted to gauge how each performed the tasks we do most often in stand mixers: cream butter and sugar, incorporate eggs, and gently stir together a batter.
Bread dough
Next, we made half ofthis challah recipe (enough dough to make two largeloaves of bread) to see how capable the mixer was of handling not just large, but alsodense, doughs. The mixer also needed to be able to knead the dough, which takes about seven minutes on a medium or medium-low speed, depending on the machine. The challah recipe produced a large volume of dough—and also dough that wassticky, which is a good test for each machine’skneading abilities. The dough becomes less sticky the more you knead it, and it’s challenging for a mixer to handle that quantity of dough, bringing it to the proper level of elasticity.
Whipped cream
Just to make sure our top picks could do it all, we used each one to makewhipped cream from one cup of heavywhipping cream, with a little powdered sugar and vanilla extract. We chilled the bowls and whisk attachments for each, and whipped the ingredients on the mixers’ highest speed. They all produced perfectwhipped cream within about two minutes.
Factors we evaluated
Performance and power
First and foremost, we looked at how each stand mixer performed in our various tests. Did the mixer push the ingredients against the bottom and sides of themixing bowl when creaming butter and sugar? Was it able to pull unincorporateddry ingredients from the bottom andsides of the bowl as we continued to build the batter? Was it able to knead dense doughs without severe shaking and rattling? Could it turn heavywhipping cream intowhipped cream in a reasonable amount of time? With the larger mixers, we also wanted to make sure they weren’t too big or too powerful for smaller jobs, like a singlebatch of cookies.
Ease of use
How easy is it to adjust the speeds and other features? Fortilt-head stand mixers, we looked at how easy it was to engage the tilt action, as well as how easy or hard it was to attach themixing bowl to the base. Forbowl-lift stand mixers, we considered how easy it was to pop the bowl into place and secure it.
Construction
How sturdy and well-made is each mixer? Are the materials and attachments high-quality? For folks who make lots of densebread doughs, we looked for a bowl-lift style mixer with a sturdy base.
Size and weight
While we love the idea of aheavy-duty mixer (especially for dense doughs) most home cooks need something that won’t take up too much room on the kitchen counter. And preferably something they can move easily as needed. So we looked for mixers that were as big as they needed to be but not too big.
Capacity
How big is the includedmixing bowl? We found a5-quart bowl size to be the sweet spot for most home-baking projects, but we also looked atlarge capacity mixers for more serious bakers.
Included accessories
Most of the stand mixers we tested came with amixing bowl,beater blade,wire whisk,dough hook, andsplash guard/pouring shield, but our top pick came with even more accessories, including ascraper blade, spatula, and a secondmixing bowl.
Versatility
Beyond included attachments, is there the option to purchaseadditional attachments like ascraper blade,pasta maker,spiralizer,juicer, etc.?
Cleaning
How easy is it to clean the mixer? Are the detachable partsdishwasher-safe?
Aesthetics
We’d be lying if we said we didn’t factor aesthetics into our picks, at least a little. More often than not, stand mixers take up semi-permanent residence on the counter, so of course we want something that functions welland looks nice.
Price
For most home cooks, a stand mixer is an investment (and maybe even a future family heirloom). We considered theprice tag and value of each machine, and recommended stand mixers at different price points for different types of bakers, including those with less to spend.
Other stand mixers we tested
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