How do I choose a stand mixer?

These beasts take a lot of the hard work and elbow grease out of home cooking. The primary goal for any stand mixer is to help make baking easier and they can perform the following functions:

Knead

Beat

Whisk

Whip

When choosing a stand mixer, firstly, consider your budget - buying a refurbished stand mixer will help you save the pennies without compromising on quality. Secondly, take a look at the options in your price range. Lastly, consider what you want to bake and check the main functions, the bowl capacity and attachments that come with an appliance before making a purchase. If you know you want to bake bread, for example, choose a stand mixer that comes with dough hooks included for kneading bread.

Prices

If you are looking for a high performing, powerful device, stand mixer from brands like KitchenAid, Kenwood and Bosch are some of the best on the market. They do not come cheap, however, and a brand new KitchenAid will set you back £500 for a mini stand mixer, and £300 for a standard-sized stand mixer. That's a fairly hefty investment! A refurbished stand mixer will cost significantly less than that. A refurbished Kenwood Kmx850rd Kmix, for example, costs less than £200. Plus, opting for this particular refurbished pastry robot also saves over 9000g of electronic waste - so it's win-win.

The Kenwood KM096 is another super high-end model that generally retails for about a grand or more. (It would want to make pretty incredible cupcakes AND do the washing up at that price.) You can save a lot of money with this Kenwood stand mixer by buying a refurbished version. This amounts to over 150 quid in savings, more than enough to buy a refurbished coffee machine too! You'll also save close to 20,000g in electronic waste.

Award-Winning stand mixer

If you are not sure where to start, stand mixers from the Kenwood kMix series are great all-rounders. They come highly rated and are generally easy to use. Ideal Housekeeping found Kenwood's kMix KMX754 to be the best stand mixer for easy use. Any model from the kMix range would be a great option, especially if you are new to the world of the stand mixer. Kenwood is generally quite a high-end brand so choosing to buy a refurbished stand mixer from Kenwood's range is a great way to save the pennies without compromising on quality.

Stand mixer features

Features to look out for when shopping for a refurbished stand mixer online include a range of functions, bowl capacity, speeds and accessories. All stand mixers should perform the 4 basic tasks mentioned previously - beat, knead, whisk and whip - but more specific functions may include electronic speed control, a pulse button and variable speed control. Accessories that may also come with a refurbished stand mixer are as follows :

Dough hooks for kneading dough

Flat beater for mashing potatoes and mixing cake batter

Spatula

Balloon whisk for whisking eggs and light cake mixes

Bowl Capacity

The vast majority of stand mixer come with a 3 L mixing bowl included as standard, while larger models may include a 4.8 L - 5 L bowl. Be sure to check these specifications before making a purchase to ensure the bowl is the right size for whatever you wish to bake, as it varies from model to model. Most mixing bowls that come included with a stand mixer are made from stainless steel which is durable and easy to maintain, though some models may have a glass bowl.

Refurbished stand mixer

Each refurbished stand mixer on Back Market comes with a warranty and the condition is listed on the purchase page. A stand mixer requires a huge amount of materials and electronic parts in its production. Choosing to buy a refurbished stand mixer lets you do your bit for the environment by giving a perfect device a new lease of life. It can be tricky to find refurbished kitchen products; there seems to be an emphasis on tech and smartphones when it comes to refurbished and pre-loved products. Back Market has a superb range of refurbished stand mixers and other kitchen devices available. These include food processors, refurbished coffee machines and other refurbished small appliances.

Backmarket Brownies

If you want to try a recipe with your new refurbished stand mixer, we recommend making our favourite Back market brownies. They can be done by hand but if you want incredibly smooth and gooey brownies, let your new pastry robot beat the eggs and do the mixing! These chocolate brownies are best served alongside a fresh coffee.

Small home appliances

How do I choose a Food Processor?

If there's one kitchen appliance that helps make meal times and food prep easier, it's a food processor. From grinding nuts, pureeing vegetables and steaming cauliflower rice, to chopping herbs and blending up chickpeas to make delicious hummus, a food processor is a very nifty tool to have to hand. It can truly help you take your culinary skills to the next level and expand on the range of recipes you can make. A food processor can work with both wet and dry ingredients, which goes beyond the functionality of appliances such as blenders (where liquid is required) and hand mixers. A strong food processor will also be able to handle hard substances such as nuts and ice. Food processors are ideal for anyone who is aiming to follow a healthy lifestyle as they let you prepare healthy snacks such as fresh fruit (chopping or in smoothies) and vegetables quickly and easily. Similarly, anyone who follows a vegetarian or vegan diet would do well to have a food processor in their arsenal. Even better if it's a refurbished food processor!

How do I choose a stand mixer?