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Asda 6 Speed Hand Mixer
by NotMyToothbrush
This hand mixer retails at around £10 but is frequently on sale. This made it perfect for us a couple of years ago when we really didn't have much spare cash after moving houses and we didn't really NEED a hand mixer, it was really just for occasional use therefore not constituting a higher investment.
The mixer is made ... of a wipe-clean white plastic which, although not of the highest quality, still feels pretty durable, I was not worried about it ever breaking whenever I used it or put it in the cupboard for storage. Being a nice smooth plastic makes it very easy to clean too, considering all sorts of food will be flying up and splashing on the mixer this is essential. A quick wipe with a damp cloth will clean it up pretty much perfectly every time!
The mixer comes with different attachments for different types of food. The only one I actually use is the standard whisk attachments which I use to make whipped cream to put on top of strudels and I believe the one also featured in the review picture is for kneading bread (I have never used this so an not sure). The attachments seems very strong and durable. These too are pretty easy to clean and I have found them no more difficult or no easier than any other attachments to hand mixers I have ever used in the past.
What really impressed me with this mixer was the 6 speed feature. The majority of hand mixers I have ever used come with just 2 or maybe 3 speeds and therefore to get such a cheap product with actually more features than the more expensive ones I have used is amazing!
The speeds allow you to control the mixing far better than you can with fewer settings, making the mixer suitable for a wider variety of scenarios. I am sure there is a proper way to use the speeds and you are supposed to use different speeds for different things but generally I start off with the slow speeds and just (depending on what I am making as to whether it is suitable) increase the speed until I get to speed 6 - this way I do not lose half of my ingredients over the edge of the bowl by putting speed 6 into what is essentially a bowl of water-like ingredients, I wait for it to thicken before increasing the speed.
My biggest issue with this hand mixer is that the cable is too short for my liking. I hate wires on any product but a short wire makes it almost unacceptable for me. It restricts movement and unless you are mixing right next to a plug socket, you may really struggle. However, guess they had to save money somewhere, right?
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Cookworks Hand Mixer with Bowl
by madeindevon
For some years I had a wonderful, all singing and dancing food processor.. it gave up the ghost after about ten years and I was looking for a replacement.
I didn't have the funds to replace like for like, so I had to assess what I actually used the processor for -as I certainly missed having one. At the time I worked part ... time and liked to do a lot of home cooking and baking for my family and a food processor is certainly a time saving gadget.
I realised that I missed it most when it came to baking, so I started to look around for a decent mixer.
Argos has always been a brilliant store for buying pretty much everything, and this was pre-internet days in my home, so I got out the trusty old Argos catalogue and looked to see what I could buy in my budget.
What I bought was the Argos basic hand mixer, with bowl At the time I paid around £25 for the model. Today (February 2013) this model costs £29.99, but is on special offer at £19.99 and frankly it is a brilliant price for something so useful.
If you are looking for something ultra modern, chrome or stainless steel then this is not the model for you, it is - like most basic models - plain white. The colour however is absolutely fine by me, I like white gadgets, they are easy to keep clean, you can see the dirt, grime and grease on it and with a hot, well wrung out soapy cloth it is very easy to wipe clean.
The mixer attached to the bowl easily, and the bowl rotates, which is great. So you add the ingredients to the bowl and turn on the mixer to the correct speed and the motor turns the attachments at a very good speed, whilst the bowl rotates, making sure that all the mixture is thoroughly blended.
The bowl is easily removable and goes straight into the washing up bowl or dishwasher for easy cleaning.
The motor is an impressive 200 watts, which is really very powerful.
The mixer can detach from the bowl, if required and used as a hand mixer. You slot the pair of attachments into the mixer very easily, they click into place firmly so that you know they are safely in place.
The mixer comes with two different sorts of attachments, one is a whisk type and the other is a beater attachment.
Obviously this mixer does not do the same job as a processor does, but what is does is mix cake mixes, (packet mixes and recipes from scratch) pastries and liquids together perfectly.
The bowl is 2.9 litre capacity, which is a very generous bowl size.
The power of the mixer is in 5 speeds, my suggestion is to always start off your mixing at the lowest speed and then to gradually increase the speed to suit - otherwise what can happen, as has happened to many before you, is a major dust cloud all over the kitchen of flour when the whisk attachments suddenly moves the flour at a fast speed! We have all done it, at least once and you can be sure it will happen again.
The mixer has a safety lock and non slip feet, making it a safe gadget to have in the kitchen.
The chef special in our house is sponge puddings and shortbread, both made in under five minutes with the aid of my Cookworks Hand Mixer
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