GH Institute

All Table top mixers

• 
  Review of Kenwood kMix KMX51 Kitchen Machine

  Features

  4.6 litre bowl with handle. 500W. K beater, whisk and dough hook. Fold Function and planetary mixing action

  Comments

  Solidly built machine which coped well with both minimum and maximum quantities of cake mix, pastry and egg whites, whisking on egg white just as easily as a dozen. It remains stable when mixing heavy fruit cake mixture and the maximum quantities of dough and pastry. The hinged lid with splashguard makes it easy to add ingredients as you mix and the bowl handle is useful when pouring.

  Rating: 83/100

  Price: £359

  Stockist: 02392 392333 - http://www.kenwood.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - April 2008

• 
  Review of Breville SHM2 mixer

  Features

  3 bowl speeds plus 10 beater speeds; 530W motor. Standard attachments: beaters, whisks, dough hooks. Dishwasher safe bowl

  Comments

  More of a glorified hand whisk which can be clipped onto the stand and used as a counter top mixer. The double beaters run too fast for most mixtures flicking pastry and flour out of the bowl. It struggled with bread dough even though it comes with a dough hook and it moved around the worktop on this test. It works well to whisk egg whites and although the beaters didn't reach a single white, it can be used as a hand whisk for small amounts. Quite a few crevices in the design which are dirt traps.

  Rating: 59/100

  Price: £39.99

  Stockist: 0800 525 089 - http://www.breville.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - September 2007

• 
  Review of Morphy Richards Food Fusion MIX 48955

  Features

  10 speeds; 4.6 litre bowl: 700W motor. Standard attachments: K beater, whisk, dough hook, splashguard, blender

  Comments

  Some dough left unmixed at bottom of bowl on bread test but it coped well with the heavy dough mixture. Easily mixed maximum amount of pastry but it didn't reach the minimum amount enough to mix fat into flour. Struggled to reach a single egg white. Machine wobbled slightly when mixing Christmas pudding. Slow to work up to faster speeds. Very noisy.

  Rating: 71/100

  Price: £199.99

  Stockist: 0870 0602614 - http://www.morphyrichards.com

  GHI Test Report - September 2007

• 
  Review of Kenwood KMC550 mixer

  Features

  8 speeds; 4.6 litre bowl; 800W motor. Standard attachments: K beater, whisk, dough hook, splashguard with hinged pouring spout. Extra attachments include: pasta maker, grain mill, citrus juicer, multi mill, ice cream maker. Dishwasher safe bowl and tools

  Comments

  Instructions are brief but it comes with a bumper recipe booklet as extra which is very useful. Coped well with minimum amount of pastry and cake batter but failed to reach a single egg white although the height of the mixer head can be lowered. Good bread dough and smooth, short pastry. Wide range of extra attachments available.

  Rating: 82/100

  Price: £299.99

  Stockist: 02392 392333 - http://www.kenwood.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - September 2007

• 
  Review of KitchenAid Artisan mixer

  Features

  10 speeds; 4.83 litre bowl; 300W motor. Standard attachments: K beater, whisk, dough hook, splashguard. Extra attachments: pasta maker, ice cream maker and sausage stuffer. Dishwasher safe bowl and beaters not whisk. Wide range of colours available

  Comments

  Sturdy machine which doesn't move even with heavy mixtures. Left bowl clean after making dough. Coped well with minimum and maximum amounts of mixture. Speed control and the lifting control are on either side of the machine which means it is hard to use unless the bowl is angled towards you. Attachments are a little awkward and messy to remove. Handle on bowl makes pouring out mixture mess free and easy. Good egg white volume. Clear instructions.

  Rating: 86/100

  Price Range: £349 - 519

  Stockist: 00800 381 04 026 - http://www.kitchenaid.com

  GHI Test Report - September 2007