Who makes best mixer?

KitchenAid 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer
​​Wolf Gourmet High Performance Stand Mixer
Instant Stand Mixer Pro 
Bosch Universal Plus Mixer 
Ankarsrum Original Mixer 
Smeg Stand Mixer 
Cuisinart Precision Master
Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Electric Stand Mixer
Dash Stand Mixer

KitchenAid 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer

KitchenAid stand mixers are ubiquitous, and given the nature of our work, we’ve had the pleasure of using several different models. In recent years, our official testing has included the now-hard-to-find KitchenAid Pro Line Series 6-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer and this 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer. Both are big, powerful mixers that are sturdy enough to knead dense doughs without rocking or jumping around because of the bowl-lift feature that provides extra stability. All KitchenAid mixers with a capacity of 5.5 quarts and up employ the bowl-lift function, and they’re all sturdier than the smaller Artisan series mixers (which includes the 5-quart mixer we recommend above, as well as the Artisan Mini 3.5-quart model). But the bigger KitchenAid mixers are pricey, and if you mostly bake single batches of cookies or prepare small amounts of cake batter, you might find this one too big to incorporate small amounts of ingredients in such a massive bowl—even with the included double flex-edge beater. On the other hand, if you’re an enthusiastic bread baker who’s set on the classic look of a KitchenAid stand mixer, this workhorse won’t disappoint.

​​Wolf Gourmet High Performance Stand Mixer

This behemoth mixer from Wolf Gourmet looks like it would be right at home in a commercial kitchen. It’s the largest (though not the heaviest) mixer we tested, and there’s a lot to love about it, including the way the bowl-lift function is a continuation of twisting the 7-quart mixing bowl into the base. We especially liked that when you select a speed the motor works its way up and doesn’t automatically kick into a high speed, as the latter can often send dry ingredients flying all over the place. But it’s just too big for small batches; it didn’t handle creaming one stick of butter and one cup of sugar as well as the comparably-priced GE Profile, and while we appreciate the no-frills design, it lacks the Profile’s handy features, too. Additionally, while it has plenty of power and stability to tackle even the densest doughs, it doesn’t feel quite as powerful as it looks, and we were surprised to learn that the motor has fewer watts than the Breville. That said, if you bake lots of bread and big batches of cookies or cakes, and you want a super-sturdy option, you’ll likely be very happy with this machine.

Instant Stand Mixer Pro

For the most part, we were impressed with this tilt-head stand mixer from the maker of the Instant Pot. It’s lightweight but feels very stable, thanks in part to suction cups on the base. And with a 7.4-quart capacity, the mixing bowl can hold more than any stand mixer in its price range. The ten speeds are controlled digitally, as is the easy-to-use count-up/count-down timer with a pause button. The Instant Stand Mixer Pro also has an accessory port which can take Instant’s compatible pasta roller, meat grinder, and slicer/shredder (all sold separately) and we really liked that the minimal pouring shield attached to the motor head instead of the bowl. But the large bowl felt too large for our smaller baking projects—especially because we really disliked the rather chintzy beater blade that came with it, and at this time, there isn’t an option to upgrade.

Bosch Universal Plus Mixer

The first time we saw the Bosch Universal Plus Mixer in a cooking demo video we were both intrigued and confused. After testing, we’re honestly still a little confused. It’s not a bad machine, it’s just very different from any mixer we’ve ever encountered because it’s not just a mixer; it’s technically a mechanical base for a variety of small kitchen appliances with the main component (and the only one that comes with it) being a large plastic mixing bowl with the motor shaft running right up through the center. There’s an additional “high speed drive” that can be used to power optional devices including a blender, juicer, meat grinder, and slicer/shredder. The mixing attachments that come with the plastic mixing bowl are dual sided (double whisks and a dough tool with two hooks) and spin on the shaft. Once we figured out what tool to use for what job, the Bosch performed well in all of our tests, but we found that with the splash guard in place (necessary for the machine to turn on) it was a little tricky to add dry ingredients to an active mix without some landing on the motor shaft. Because this has such a large bowl (6.5 quarts) and has a pretty powerful 500-watt motor, it seems strange that the machine would have only four speeds (plus pulse), but the limited speeds were still sufficient for everything we tried to do. If you don’t have the space to store multiple small kitchen appliances and would prefer something modular, this this might work well for you once you get past the learning curve. It does have a pretty large footprint but it still tucks into a cabinet—which is a good thing considering it’s not anywhere near as attractive as a traditional stand mixer.

Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer

Ankarsrum Original Mixer

The Swedish-made Ankarsrum Original Mixer is regularly championed by consumers, review sites, and professional bakers, but in our most recent testing, it didn’t live up to the hype. As the manufacturer’s cheery videos indicate, it works a little differently than a traditional stand mixer. Similar to the Bosch (above), a motorized base supports the bowl and can accept additional kitchen gadgets, but the Ankarsrum’s motor doesn’t turn the whisks and beaters, it turns the bowl. Theoretically, this could help with out-of-control splatters from batter, or prevent dough from getting caught in a whisk, but our experience was not quite so smooth. Set up wasn’t intuitive, and after many minutes mixing a small batch of cake batter, dry ingredients remained in the bottom of the bowl. Considering the fact that the Ankarsrum is marketed as a mixer for bread makers and comes with a number of bread-specific attachments, we were surprised when the dough hook couldn’t knead the bread on our first try. The dough roller (an attachment we haven't seen on other mixers) worked a little better, but we had to keep repositioning the dough (you can also adjust the mixing arm while the motor is on) to make sure it ran through the roller. We don’t doubt that this mixer is great for serious bakers who make big batches—but considering the $700-plus price tag and the learning curve required to use it successfully, we don’t think the Ankarsrum is a splurge-worthy investment for home bakers who also need something that can tackle smaller, simpler baking projects.

Smeg Stand Mixer

In regards to Smeg’s 50’s retro kitchen appliances, we often hear “Yeah, they’re cute, but are they any good?” And in the case of the Smeg 10-speed stand mixer we can confidently say “yes.” This is a well-constructed machine, and the 600-watt motor easily handled all of our mixing, kneading, and whipping tests. That said, it’s not any better than the Breville or the KitchenAid—though it is more expensive than both. It did jump around a bit more than the Breville and KitchenAid when we used it to knead dense bread dough, and the available attachments are more limited than what KitchenAid offers. But Smeg is a brand you buy for form as much as function, and if you’re set on this style and you don’t plan to make bread every day, it’s still a solid pick.

Cuisinart Precision Master

The Precision Master is a 5.5-quart stand mixer from a trusted brand (Cuisinart makes one of our favorite food processors) and with an attractive price point to boot. Out of the box, it was pleasingly hefty, but the 12-speed, 500-watt motor didn’t quite live up to its potential in testing and the dough hook struggled to incorporate flour at the edges of the bowl into challah dough.

Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Electric Stand Mixer

The Hamilton Beach stand mixer is another budget-friendly model, and for the price, it’s a decent machine. But the motor head left little room to add ingredients to the bowl without tilting it up—so it’s hard to, say, add an egg while gently mixing the batter—and the 4-quart bowl is just a bit too small for this to be a versatile stand mixer. .

Dash Stand Mixer

To call the teeny, tiny Dash machine a stationary hand mixer would be generous—we had to spin the bowl manually to get the flimsy beaters to combine ingredients, and when we turned it on, the whole machine would surge forward like a car at a green light. If you have a tight budget, you’re much better off spending a little more for the budget-friendly Beautiful By Drew Barrymore stand mixer we recommended above (or even considering one of our picks for the best hand mixers).

The takeaway

For most home bakers, we now recommend Breville’s The Bakery Chef—a versatile 5-quart stand mixer with helpful built-in features and a handful accessories to help tackle big and little baking jobs. It’s more powerful and more affordable than our previous top pick, the 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan Series stand mixer, which we also recommend if you want a more classic machine without any digital components. If you regularly make large batches of bread, you might consider investing in the impressive, but expensive, GE Profile 7-Quart Smart Mixer with Auto Sense. It’s a beast of a machine that can handle both big and little baking jobs, it has a built-in digital scale, a built-in timer, and you can do even more with it by using the companion app. Finally, if you bake infrequently or are looking for an inexpensive model for smaller baking projects, we recommend the 5.3-quart Beautiful by Drew Barrymore Tilt-Head Stand Mixer. It’s surprisingly powerful and we think it’s pretty cute too.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Stand Mixer

Straight to the Point

The best stand mixer is the KitchenAid 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer, which is ultra-powerful and can tackle almost any mixing, whipping, or kneading task. For a smaller option that will suit many home bakers, we recommend the KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer.

A vast majority of baking recipes call for a stand mixer. And we've long recommended bowl-lift models from KitchenAid: They're wicked powerful, often have a flat-bottomed bowl suitable for double-boiling or using on the stovetop, and can tackle nearly any recipe.

However, stand mixers are expensive—and take up a lot of countertop real estate. You want to be sure you’re getting the right one for money, needs, and space. So, we decided to (finally!) test 12 popular stand mixers to find the unequivocally best ones. 

Editor’s Note

We recently tested a newer model from KitchenAid that, the brand told us, replaced our previous favorite (the Professional 600). It proved to be exceptional and we’ve added it as our top pick.

The Winners, at a Glance

This bowl-lift model shares many of the same qualities as our previous, now-discontinued top pick: Namely, it’s super stable and ultra-powerful. Its attachments nearly reach the sides of the bowl, allowing it to tackle large and small amounts of ingredients alike. It also has a 7-quart capacity and a bevy of durable stainless steel attachments (three paddles, one whisk, one dough hook, a pouring shield, and a bowl scraper).

The KitchenAid Artisan series mixer is a 325-watt tilt-head stand mixer that's smaller, lighter, and less powerful than our top pick. However, it's compact enough to store in a pantry or on the countertop without dominating the entire area. And it still had plenty of strength to cream butter, whip egg whites and heavy cream, and make pizza dough without struggling.

If you bake professionally or in large batches frequently, the Wolf Gourmet is a great option. This stand mixer is one of the heaviest and largest machines we tested, and its bowl securely locks into its base. The 500-watt motor easily creamed butter, whipped heavy cream, and kneaded dough. And the generous 7-quart bowl was large enough to handle double the amounts we tested.

With an extra-large capacity, this super-stable stand mixer kneaded dough exceptionally well (it also was surprisingly fast at aerating whipped cream). While it's expensive and has a learning curve, for serious bread bakers, it may be well worth it.

The Tests

• Whipped Cream Test: We whipped one cup of heavy cream (sans gums or stabilizers) to see how easily the stand mixers could handle small amounts of ingredients.  
• Pound Cake Test: We picked pound cake because the majority of its leavening is mechanical, created by whipping and creaming air into butter, with no or minimal assistance from chemical leaveners like baking powder or baking soda. We started out with a combination of room-temperature butter and cream cheese, beating with the paddle attachment, to see how that fared. We then sprinkled in sugar, looking at how fluffy the mixture got. Then, we slowly drizzled in a beaten egg to see if we could maintain the emulsified mixture. Finally, we baked the pound cake and noted any differences in the rise and crumb. 
• Pizza Dough Test: We made Neapolitan pizza dough to see how well the mixer kneaded stiff and sticky dough with its dough hook. We checked to see how much the dough “climbed” up the hook, how often we had to stop to adjust the dough in the bowl, and how the dough felt and looked after the 10-minute kneading time. 
• Usability and Cleanup Tests: Throughout testing, we evaluated how easy each stand mixer was to operate and how simple it was to add and remove its attachments and bowl. After every test, we cleaned the attachment and bowl by hand.

What We Learned

How Do Stand Mixers Work?

Stand mixers have a bowl attached to the base. Typically, they have one attachment that rotates in what’s called planetary action—meaning it moves in a circular motion while the bowl stays put. It’s sort of like how the Earth rotates around the sun. This rotating, circulating attachment ensures ingredients are evenly distributed and mixed (ideally).

Larger Attachments Were Generally Better

To be an effective stand mixer, the attachments should fit the bowl's shape, keeping close to the bottom and sides of the bowl so that ingredients can smear, fluff, or stretch properly. The poorest-performing mixers had attachments set too far away. Whipped cream in the Instant 7.4-quart Stand Mixer had liquid at the sides and bottom, requiring us to stop the mixer to scrape and incorporate the cream. Pizza dough crept up the dough hook of the Smeg 50’s Retro Stand Mixer enough we had to stop the kneading multiple times to pull it off the top of the hook. And Breville’s The Bakery Chef Stand Mixer’s paddle attachment didn’t come close enough to the sides to adequately cream the butter or incorporate the sugar. 

Our winners had attachments that perfectly fit their bowls, letting the machine do its job with minimal help from the user. 

A Stand Mixer Shouldn't Be Tough to Use

KitchenAid stand mixers are exceedingly simple to turn on and off.

Our winning stand mixers all had intuitive buttons, knobs, switches, and levers we could immediately figure out. The KitchenAid 7-Quart and the Artisan stand mixers featured control switches on the side you used to increase or decrease the speed of the mixer. Easy. The Wolf Gourmet had a large control knob dial that smoothly turned it on. It was equipped with 10 clearly printed settings and a “pulse” mode—a nice addition when you don’t want a continuously spinning paddle, like when adding dry ingredients or mix-ins like chocolate chips.

We'll admit that our final winner, the Ankarsrum, had more of a learning curve, You don't add ingredients in the typical way, which you can read about here, but once we got the hang of it, it was fine. What wasn't fine was mixers that featured touchscreens. With this interface, increasing or decreasing the speed became annoying, as you had to press the plus or minus buttons repeatedly.

We Preferred Bowls with Handles

Though it seems like a small detail, having a handle on the bowl made a difference. Pouring batter or scraping out the dough was significantly easier when you could hold the bowl with one hand and tilt it. Mixers that had bowls with large, comfortable handles were also easier to lift off and place back on the stand mixer.

The KitchenAid Classic, in particular, jammed in the base when we kneaded pizza dough, and it was exceedingly difficult to remove the handleless bowl afterward.

Your Stand Mixer Shouldn’t Go for a Walk

See these stand mixers? They were all stable.

Walking is great unless you’re a stand mixer. In this case, you want it to stand still when it’s working. Some mixers are prone to “walking” across the countertop as they knead dough or rapidly cream butter. Most stand mixers are heavy for a reason, as their weight helps keep the mixer stationary. For example, our favorite stand mixers from KitchenAid and Wolf weighed 31 and 25.8 pounds. 

Some lighter mixers have suction cup feet to keep them steady. However, we found these annoying to use and move. 

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Stand Mixer

The best stand mixers can mix, cream, and knead ingredients thoroughly without issue. Attachments should properly fit in the bowl, with minimal clearance on both the bottom and sides, ensuring the stand mixer can handle large and small amounts of ingredients easily. 

Look for a stand mixer that is also simple to operate. The mixer should have intuitive speed adjustment and adding and removing its bowl and attachments should be straightforward. Heavier stand mixers are more stable and less prone to walking and powerful motors ensure the mixer can knead doughs of all hydrations and stickiness without strain.

Our Favorite Stand Mixers

What we liked: This bowl-lift, 7-quart stand mixer delivered with power and ease of use. It whipped heavy cream, mixed batter, and kneaded pizza dough deftly. We liked the numerous paddles it came with—including a silicone-lined one meant for scraping—and that all of the attachments were stainless steel, so there’s no chance of them chipping. Its pouring shield had silicone bumpers that kept it in place on the bowl’s rim, its bowl had a large handle, and its extra-long cord featured a silicone piece for wrapping it up tidily. We also appreciate the mixer’s redesigned hub: Instead of a cap that flips upward, the hub comes off entirely. We’ve had issues with flipped-up hubs detaching completely (and never fitting properly again), so we prefer this newer version. Additionally, this mixer has a brushed stainless steel bowl that resists smudges and fingerprints and is fairly quiet when operating.

What we didn’t like: It can take some finagling to properly seat the bowl on the stand mixer’s pronged arms. The mixer has a raised bump at the base that can lead to unmixed ingredients accumulating around it. Of course, it's also heavy.

Key Specs

• Weight: 31 pounds
• Dimensions: 14.63 x 11.31 x 16.5 inches
• Stated bowl capacity: 7 quarts
• Wattage: 500 watts
• Cord length: 42 inches 
• Attachments: 3 beaters, whisk, dough hook, pouring shield, bowl scraper
• Care instructions: Bowl is dishwasher-safe; paddles, dough hook, shield, and scraper are top-rack dishwasher-safe; whisk is handwash-only 
• Materials: Stainless steel bowl, metal, plastic

What we liked: For folks who don’t bake as often but still want a top-of-the-line stand mixer, the KitchenAid Artisan series is a great option. With a 325-watt motor, it’s less powerful than its 7-quart sibling, but still does a great job creaming butter, whipping heavy cream, and making cake batter. The smaller size means it doesn’t take as much space on the countertop, but the 5-quart bowl is still big enough for most baking projects.

Because the Artisan series has less power and a tilt-head, it does struggle with stiffer bread and pizza dough. However, it got the job done, producing a smooth dough without heating up or becoming too loud. The Artisan series is solidly constructed and doesn’t move much when in use, as long as you knead dough at a lower speed. It also has a variety of attachments you can purchase for it, making it an exceptionally versatile kitchen appliance.

What we didn’t like: The motor is a little less powerful than other stand mixers, so it does struggle a bit with stiffer doughs.

Key Specs

• Weight: 19.4 pounds
• Dimensions: 13.5 x 13.75 x 8.75 inches  
• Stated bowl capacity: 5 quarts
• Wattage: 325 watts
• Cord length: 38 inches 
• Attachments: Paddle, dough hook, whisk, plus splash/pouring guard
• Care instructions: Paddle, dough hook, shield, and bowl are dishwasher-safe; whisk is handwash-only 
• Materials: Stainless steel bowl, metal, plastic 

What we liked: If you’re a professional or frequently bake in large batches, the Wolf Gourmet High-Performance Stand Mixer might be the machine for you. It has a 7-quart bowl that twists and moves up and down as you lock it into place, which helps keep the machine ultra-stable—even during sticky, tough tasks. 

The large bowl also mixes up smaller batches just fine. It made airy whipped cream, creamed butter, and easily kneaded the pizza dough without struggling. It had some nice features as well, like a pulse option and adjustable speed settings.

What we didn’t like: There’s no way to get around it: this is a huge machine.  It takes up a lot of real estate on your countertop, and might not fit under some cabinets (measure first). It weighs a lot, so moving or storing it is difficult. It’s also expensive—nearly twice as much as our top pick from KitchenAid.

Key Specs

• Weight: 25.8 pounds
• Dimensions: 17.5 x 16.75 x 10.5 inches
• Stated bowl capacity: 7 quarts
• Wattage: 500 watts
• Cord length: 38 inches 
• Attachments: Paddle, dough hook, whisk, plus splash/pouring guard shield
• Care instructions: Bowl is handwash-only; attachments and shield are dishwasher-safe (top rack only)
• Materials: Brushed stainless steel, die-cast construction

What we liked: Unlike many stand mixers, which use planetary rotation (e.g. the mixing arm spins while the bowl remains stationary), the Ankarsrum spins the bowl—we know, mind blown. As we noted in our review, this setup allows it to have a large bowl capacity and means it can mix at higher speeds. It also features a unique kneading paddle, quite unlike the dough hook you might be used to. In our testing, we found it quickly and efficiently kneaded dough. The whisk attachment also excelled at aerating whipped cream, doing so in a mere 35 seconds. 

What we didn't like: There's no getting around it: the Ankarsrum isn't exactly intuitive if you're used to a planetary stand mixer. It requires adding ingredients in a certain order (liquids and soft things, like butter, go before dry ingredients) and finagling the head, which can be adjusted to swing closer to the center of the bowl or the edge.

Key Specs

• Weight: 28 pounds
• Dimensions: 13.1 x 18.5 x 18 inches
• Stated bowl capacity: 7 quarts
• Wattage: 600 watts
• Cord length: 78 inches 
• Attachments: Dough roller, scraper, kneading hook, two single-wire beaters, two multi-wire beaters, plastic bowl, lid, metal bowl
• Care instructions: Attachments and bowls are dishwasher-safe; to clean the exterior of the machine, wipe down with a damp rag before drying
• Materials: Plastic, stainless steel
  

The Competition

• KitchenAid Pro 600 Series Stand Mixer: This was our favorite stand mixer (and the one we used in the Serious Eats test kitchen for many years), but it’s been discontinued.
• Breville’s Bakery Chef Stand Mixer: This stand mixer has a lot of great features, including a built-in timer and a light that shines into the bowl when the mixer's on. It also came with extras like a glass mixing bowl and a scraper blade. But when we tested the metal bowl for whipped cream, we found the whisk attachment didn’t mix quite as close to the bowl edge or bottom as our top picks, leaving a liquidy section. The smaller metal bowl also had a lower capacity and its thin, metal handle wasn’t comfortable to hold.
• Smeg 50’s Retro Stand Mixer: This retro-, futuristic-looking stand mixer looks like it came off of the set of Bewitched or The Jetsons. And the slick-coated attachments were super easy to clean. But, unfortunately, the paddle attachment mixed too far away from the sides and bottom of the bowl, leaving a film of greasy butter that needed to be manually scraped and incorporated frequently while making pound cake. The mixer does come with a scraper blade, which might solve this issue, but kneading the pizza dough was also problematic. The dough kept creeping up the hook.
• Instant 7.4-Quart Stand Mixer Pro: This budget-friendly stand mixer, from the folks that brought you the Instant Pot, seemed like a great idea. It weighed less than other mixers but had suction cup feet to help compensate and prevent the mixer from moving. However, we don’t love these feet: they make it harder to lift and move the mixer. It also had performance and usability issues (we didn’t like the touchscreen interface). 
• KitchenAid Classic Series Tilt Head Stand Mixer: This entry-level KitchenAid mixer had a low-powered 275-watt motor, but still did a respectable job creaming, whipping, and kneading. However, there was some noticeable strain on the motor when making pizza dough and the smaller bowl and lack of a handle on it made it less user-friendly.
• Cuisinart 5.5 Quart Stand Mixer: This reasonably-priced stand mixer was easy to use and clean. It did a great job with whipped cream and cake batter, but it struggled to knead pizza dough. The motor became extremely warm and made an alarming sound.
• Frigidaire 4.5 L Retro Stand Mixer: This stand mixer looks cool and was reasonably priced. But it performed poorly in all of our tests, with the motor running too hot and struggling with dough. The lightweight mixer also moved around the countertop when on.
• GE Profile Smart Stand Mixer: While this stand mixer boasted app and voice control and built-in scales, we found most of its "smart" features weren't actually that helpful (if they worked at all). While it functioned alright as a stand mixer—mixing up hardy pizza dough and whipping cream easily—we don't think the price justifies the disappointing showing from the smart features. You can read more about what we thought about it here.

FAQs

What is a stand mixer? 

A stand mixer has a bowl attached to a stand or base, and a motor that powers attachments that mix, whip, or knead ingredients inside the bowl. Stand mixers come in a variety of colors, styles, and shapes. They are used to make the dough and batter for baking projects like cookies, cakes, brownies, and bread, automating the otherwise tedious repetitive task of stirring, whisking, or kneading.

What’s the best KitchenAid stand mixer? 

The 7-Quart bowl-lift model is the best KitchenAid stand mixer. It has a robust 500-watt motor that easily kneads stiff bread and pizza dough but also does a great job at smaller tasks.

Are any stand mixers as good as KitchenAid? 

We love KitchenAid stand mixers, but also think the Wolf Gourmet stand mixer is a great option, especially if you’re a professional baker who wants a large-capacity stand mixer. It features a 7-quart bowl and has a more variable speed dial.

What’s the best tilt-head stand mixer? 

In our testing, we found the KitchenAid Artisan series was the best tilt-head stand mixer. It creamed butter efficiently and kneaded pizza dough with minimal strain. It was also easy and intuitive to use.

Why We’re the Experts

• Irvin Lin is a freelance writer who’s been contributing to the site for a couple of years. He’s written numerous reviews for the site, including charcuterie boards and instant-read thermometers. 
• He runs a blog called Eat the Love, where he’s developed, photographed, and written recipes since 2010.
• Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm is the senior commerce editor at Serious Eats. She’s been at the site since 2021 and previously worked for America’s Test Kitchen and Food52. 
• For this review, we tested 12 stand mixers, evaluating their performance, usability, and more. 
• We recently tested a 7-quart KitchenAid model that, the brand told us, took the place of our longtime favorite, now-discontinued stand mixer. It impressed us so much that we added it as our overall top pick.