How should you choose between a hand mixer and a stand mixer? What are the pros and cons of each? Which type of mixer meets your needs and how big is your budget?
When making a decision between the two, you may first need to consider a few areas between deciding to make the purchase.
Kitchen Aid Mixers
Available workspace
Determine whether you have enough workspace you have in your kitchen to place a stand mixer. A stand mixer takes up space on your workspace. If you have limited workspace , a hand mixer might seem the appropriate choice.
Usage
Are you a heavy user? Do you bake or mix things frequently? If you are a heavy baker, you might want to consider investing in a good stand mixer. There are many brands available, Kenwood, Cuisinart, Kitchenaid and all these are at a reasonable price and won't hurt your budget.
Furthermore, you could stay away for a while to do your own things while waiting for the dough to form or the batter to be smooth. If you are using a hand held one, you will most probably be stuck at one place and turn the mixer around to ensure that all ingredients are mixed to a smooth consistency.
One great plus is that you will be saving strength and your hands won't ache since the rotary motion is carried out by the machine.
Audience
Are you baking for a large group or only for your immediate family? If the group is small, you most likely will be making a smaller portion and a portable hand held one might be suitable. If you are the type that have frequent parties to serve homemade pastries, you may want to want to consider investing in a heavy duty machine that enable you to churn out great tasting pastries at minimal efforts.