Mixer Buying Guide

Mixers are capable of performing a huge number of kitchen tasks at both high volume and high speed. They aren’t just limited to mixing dough, cake batter, pie fillings, and whipping cream, though; they can also make meringue, emulsify salad dressing, whip potatoes, slice vegetables, shred cabbage, grate cheese, grind meat and make sausage. With just a few attachments, a mixer can be an incredibly versatile kitchen tool. We offer an array of countertop and free-standing planetary mixers, with bowl sizes from 5 to 60 quarts.

The planetary mixer is so named because they use an assortment of mixing attachments that turn on an offset shaft, while the shaft rotates around a bowl. The motion of the shaft is similar to the motion of the planets around the sun, hence the name. This mixing action provides a thorough and efficient combination of foods within the bowl. The planetary mixer can also be referred to as the vertical mixer. Planetary mixers are available in 5, 10, 12, 20, 30, and 60 qt. capacities, which you can shop for here.

While planetary mixers have a seemingly endless supply of accessories, they do come with a few standard attachments. Most smaller models, the 5, 10 and 20 quart mixers, come with a batter beater and a wire whip; larger models, the 30 and 60 quart mixers, have those attachments as well, but also come with a dough hook. These three attachments can handle a majority of the mixing tasks a kitchen places on them. All planetary mixers come with a Power Take-Off (PTO) hub, where various attachments can be placed and driven by the motor in the mixer. There are available attachments that will allow you to shred, grate, slice and chop. These accessories, which you can shop for here, attach to planetary mixers and allow them to perform quite a few kitchen tasks.

The mixing bowl is unique to planetary mixers as well. Mixing bowls are made of tinned or stainless steel, and have straight sides that slope into a rounded bottom. The bowl is steadied with hand-locking clamps that fasten to a yoke at the sides or near the vertical column. This yoke allows the bowl to move up and down, and that movement is controlled with a wheel or lever, or on large units, and electric drive. Some mixers only keep the bowl in the up and down position, and some allow you to stop the bowl at different levels. On smaller, countertop planetary mixers, however, the bowl does not move. Rather, the entire upper housing of the mixer, mixing device included, tilts back, and permits access to the bowl.

Another benefit of planetary mixers is their flexibility in mixing small batches on larger machines. Manufacturers make additional bowls and mixing devices, called agitators, that fit on larger machines. For example, you could get a 30 qt. bowl and a 30 qt. agitator that fit on a 60 qt. mixer.

Mixers have different types of motors, too. Planetary mixers can be belt or gear driven. In the belt driven models, the motor is in the column; in the gear driven model, it’s in the upper housing, just above the agitator. These motors come in three and four speed models, with the latter more common in larger mixers. Most mixers also include a programmable timer, since many recipes call for specific mixing times.