- It should have a paddle attachment to cream butter and
sugar effortlessly, as well as make short work of mashed
potatoes and sausage mixtures. - It should feature planetary motion, meaning the whisk
attachment spins around its axis in one direction and orbits
around the work bowl in the opposite direction, to
maximize contact and mixing power. - It should have a port for attachments such as a meat
grinder or pasta maker.
Once again, just as with food processors, the epic battle
for kitchen superiority (at least for the home consumer)
comes down to KitchenAid and Cuisinart. Despite the fact
that many manufacturers boast their motor wattages in their
advertising (for instance, Cuisinart does a side-by-side
comparison of their 800-watt SM-55 mixer versus the 325
watts of the KitchenAid Artisan), these numbers mean very
little. Within a given manufacturer’s product lineup, it is an
indicator of how powerful the motor will be, but the wattage
is actually the power consumed by the mixer, not the power
produced by the motor. It’s a marketing gimmick, pure and
simple. Given a choice between two motors that perform
equally well (say the 325-watt motor of the KitchenAid Pro
500 versus the 800-watt motor of the Cuisinart SM-55), it’s
actually better to pick the one with lower wattage and save
on electricity.
Both the KitchenAid and the Cuisinart have a meat
grinder attachment available, an absolute must in my
kitchen. It saves money and produces incalculably better
results for burgers, sausages, meatballs, and meat loaves.