Best stand mixers

Start with the KitchenAid Artisan 5-quart tilt-head. It's the mixer most kitchens end up with for good reason: ten speeds, a planetary head that handles cookie dough, cake batter and meringue without fuss, and a huge attachment ecosystem (pasta roller, grinder, shredder) that turns it into several appliances. Rated 4.9 from thousands of ratings, and it's the one to buy if you bake often and want it to last.

Who the others suit:

• Cuisinart Precision Master 5.5 qt — a slightly bigger bowl and a dough hook that copes with bread, for noticeably less than the KitchenAid.
• GE Profile Smart Mixer (7 qt) — big-batch bakers and anyone who wants a scale-guided, app-connected bowl-lift machine.
• KitchenAid Artisan Plus — same tilt-head layout with a bit more power and a premium finish, if you want the top of the line.
• Smeg Retro-Style — the one to pick when the look of the counter matters as much as the mixing.
• Hamilton Beach 7-speed — a light, cheap second mixer for occasional cakes and whipped cream.
• Vollrath 7 qt commercial — only if you're mixing daily in volume; it's a bowl-lift workhorse with no attachment support.

Skip the tiny 3-quart Dash and the 6-speed Hamilton Beach: fine for a first apartment, but they'll struggle with stiff dough.