Hand Mixers: Effortless Meal Prep at Your Fingertips
Once upon a time, whipping up ingredients for things like pancakes or scrambled eggs involved working up a serious sweat. You had to vigorously mix everything by hand until you thought your arm was on fire. Luckily, those days are behind us. Now all you need is an electric hand mixer to effortlessly whip and mix ingredients into a perfect frothy lather.
Hand Mixers vs. Stand Mixers
If you’ve been shopping for an electric mixer, you’ve probably found yourself asking this question: Should I buy a hand mixer or a stand mixer? Or maybe you already have a stand mixer and you’re wondering whether you should pick up a hand mixer as well.
The main difference between hand mixers and stand mixers is ease of use. Stand mixers are big, bulky, and heavy. They can be pain to pull out of the cupboard when you need to use them. They’re best suited for heavy duty tasks like mixing thick cookie dough.
Hand mixers, by contrast, are small and lightweight. They’re easy to pull out of a drawer when you quickly need to do some light mixing, such as whipping eggs or cream. Plus, you can use them with pretty much any bowl in your kitchen, unlike stand mixers, which use their own dedicated bowl.
What Can You Use a Hand Mixer For?
Hand mixers are ideal for small mixing or whipping tasks that include lighter ingredients. They’re great for making things like mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, pancake batter, and so on. Because hand mixers are handheld, you have greater control over the mixing and can move the mixer around the bowl freely, ensuring all ingredients are properly and thoroughly mixed to your exact preferences.
Features to Look for in a Hand Mixer
Hand mixers are simple and easy to use but there are a handful of features that can make them more functional, more versatile, and more comfortable to use. Here’s a quick look at some of the top features.
Extra Attachments
Hand mixers that include extra attachments, such as a whisk, let you make short work of more tasks in the kitchen. Mixers that included wire beaters are also a big plus, as they’re easier to clean than traditional centre-post beaters.
Gradual Start
Some hand mixers feature a gradual startup, which greatly minimizes splatters and mess. Low speed settings can also help keep unwanted mixing messes to a minimum, since the beaters or whisk won’t be hitting your ingredients at max speed.
Speed Control
The ability to quickly and easily adjust the speed of the hand mixer is another highly useful feature. This gives you total control over the mixing process and adjust as needed simply by rolling the dial up or down.
Bowl Rest Indentation
A few ktchen mixers help straddle the line between a hand mixer and a stand mixer. These have special indentations on the underside of the mixer, which allows you to rest the mixer on the edge of your bowl while you’re mixing, giving your arm a much-needed rest.