Performance
Our kitchen experts Fiona and Chantelle conduct two main performance tests:

• Whisking egg whites – we use the beaters to whisk egg whites to form stiff peaks. Where supplied, we also use the wire whisk attachment.
• Beating a cake batter – the beaters are used to assess how well the hand mixers combine dry and wet ingredients, to form an even and smooth cake mix. We no longer test the dough hooks, when supplied. In previous tests we've found that hand mixers don't have the power needed to knead dough.

Ease of use
Fiona and Chantelle assess ease of use by checking how easy it is to:

• use the controls
• read the labelling
• insert and remove the mixing tools
• stand the mixer during operation
• store the unit with its accessories
• clean the hand mixer.

They also assess the general comfort, balance and control, hand grip and strain on the wrist during operation.

If you need more information, read our hand mixer buying guide to help you understand what to look for.

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By Kim Gilmour