Is there such a thing as the best hand mixer for bread dough? Absolutely. This small kitchen appliance can handle everything that its larger counterpart can do.
If you can’t afford a more expensive stand mixer or you don’t have the space for it on your countertop, you’ve landed in the right place. I will show you that there much cheaper alternatives that can get the work done for amateur bakers.
I’ve already covered the best stand mixer for bread dough but it’s high time I reviewed some hand mixers for kneading dough, too.
If you want to discover even more mixers, check out my reviews for the best hand mixers for whipping cream.
However, I also want to mention that stand mixers are definitely highly better at mixing heavy bread doughs.
Hand mixers are definitely not as powerful but the dough hooks can make a hand mixer very good for mixing lighter bread doughs and even some lighter sourdough doughs.
For heavier bread dough, you can mix the ingredients for a few minutes with the dough hooks but then you’ll have to finish kneading by hand. A stand mixer will knead from start to finish because it’s an incredibly powerful appliance.
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Best Hand Mixer for Bread Dough: My Top 4 Picks
1. Best Hand Mixer for Bread Dough: KitchenAid 9-Speed
It’s certainly not a cheap model and even not the most powerful but it’s my favorite pick for the best hand mixer for bread dough.
2. Very Good: Cuisinart HM-90
This is not a cheap hand mixer with dough hooks. And it has received its share of complaints from users. Overall, I still thinks it’s one of the best and my first recommendation. It’s satisfyingly powerful and has a wide range of actions thanks to those 9 speeds.
3. Expensive: Breville BHM800
It’s powerful, has 9 speeds, recognizes which attachment has been inserted and automatically regulates the speed to fit the attachment, and it even has a light to illuminate what you’re mixing. Plus, it comes with some amazing recipes and great instructions. On the other hand, it’s too expensive and the price isn’t totally justified.
4. Cheap: Black+Decker MX600B
This would be my last recommendation, although I always want to find cheap products that work wonderfully. That’s not the case here. I will say that there are some people who are absolutely delighted with how it works, including its dough making capabilities. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be on the list for the best hand mixer for bread.
Best Hand Mixer for Dough Reviews
Let’s dive into these hand mixer reviews to see what exactly they offer, especially concerning their capabilities to knead dough. In order to achieve that, we’ll solely focus on hand mixers that come with dough hooks as attachments.
The other 2 classic attachments are beaters and whisk. There will be models which include only these 2, no dough hooks in sight.
The dough hooks are a fundamental attachment that you must look for if you want to choose a different best hand mixer for bread than the ones that I will review in a moment.
1. KitchenAid 9-Speed: Overall the Best Hand Mixer for Bread Dough
I am not a big fan of KitchenAid. Please, don’t hold that against me.
Yes, part of the reason is because they have some of the highest prices, whether we’re talking about their world-famous stand mixers or whether we’re talking about the best hand mixer for bread.
However, the main reason for which I don’t review their models as my absolute top recommendation is because, in the last few years, people have complained that the quality has declined.
Obviously, there are thousands upon thousands of satisfied customers. But there are still some who complain that they aren’t what they used to be.
However, even with all those reasons, I still consider that the KitchenAid 9-Speed Digital Hand Mixer with Turbo Beater is overall the best hand mixer for bread dough.
It’s not perfect, it does have its fair share of negative reviews but it’s still a top-quality tool for kneading dough quickly and with minimum effort.
Still, it’s a pretty expensive appliance. If you want something a bit cheaper, check out the Cuisinart I review below.
Attachments
Before talking about all the nice attachments that are included, I will admit that this model look really nice. It’s quite pretty.
There are 6 attachments: 2 stainless steel beaters, 1 pro whisk, 2 dough hooks and a blending rod.
So, the attachments also include something that the above models don’t have: a blending rod. It’s actually loved by some buyers because it makes awesome milkshakes in no time. You can also use it for making cream soups and for puréeing. It’s a basic replacement of an immersion blender, which is nice.
Features
There are 9 speeds, which makes us draw the conclusion that it’s versatile and powerful. Well, it packs a 225 W motor so it’s definitely not the most powerful here but close enough.
What does surprise me is that the dough is mixed and kneaded on speed 6.
Usually, speed 2 or 3 is used on other models but with this model we can go as high as speed 6. And that’s why you have to read the user manual with attention.
But there’s a soft start feature for keeping the ingredients from splattering. All kneading is done slowly in the beginning. The speed is increased gradually.
There’s only 1-year warranty.
In a user manual for a KitchenAid stand mixer there’s a recipe for a beer batter cheese bread.
The stainless steel beaters are used to make this recipe so we don’t need to use the dough hooks.
The recipe is made with 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, active dry yeast, sugar, salt, shredded Cheddar cheese, beer, margarine or butter, egg, and hot pepper sauce.
Why is the KitchenAid 9-Speed the best hand mixer for bread dough?
For me, the KitchenAid 9-Speed is definitely the best hand mixer for bread dough. If I’m not using my hands, my bread machine or my stand mixer to make dough, then I would be using the KitchenAid 9-Speed hand mixer.
I’m not the only one whole loves this model.
There is a huge amount of positive reviews that love this KitchenAid as the best hand mixer for bread dough.
One buyer mentions in their review that they have had this mixer for over a year. They use it at least once a day for breads, cookies, crackers, goat cheese, and it’s still working as well as day one. Plus, the dough hooks are amazing for mixing peanut butter.
The dough hooks are great if we are looking for a less expensive way to help out with our dough making as we don’t mind just a little hand kneading at the end.
Another person mentions that the KitchenAid 9-Speed mixed bread dough, cookies, cakes, and whipped cream. It’s a jewel for the kitchen.
One buyer says that the unit has ample speed selection and it is powerful enough to handle bread dough.
Another person mentions that they have used it with their sourdough bread dough, which is not very heavy. They had to switch to hand mixing about halt way though the process of making a heavier dough for French bread.
2. Cuisinart HM-90
I have a confession to make: I wanted to discover more affordable models that would be among my top recommendations for the best hand mixer for bread dough. I didn’t want to come close to the price of a Hamilton Beach 7-Speed Stand Mixer.
Well, if it weren’t for the fact that we have to be looking for a very good mixer that comes with dough hooks, it would have been possible to recommend cheaper machines. Alas, if you want a cheaper option, check out my Black+Decker MX600B review below.
Moreover, I must admit that the Breville BHM800 is really expensive but it’s another tempting option if you have the budget for it.
Attachments
It comes with the following: 2 mixing beaters, 2 dough hooks, chef’s whisk, spatula, and storage case.
The attachments look solid and capable, which is exactly what we want to see.
Features
There are 9 speeds. You shouldn’t exceed speed 3 when using the dough hooks. Start on speed 2 until the ingredients are mixed well and then switch to speed 3 for the next 5 minutes or so until the dough looks kneaded enough.
In the user manual you’ll discover how each speed should be used. The instructions are not the best, to be honest, but they’re comprehensive enough.
Power
It has a 220 watts motor. It’s not one of the most powerful but it’s still very good for amateur bakers.
It also comes with a 3-year warranty.
3. Breville BHM800
Where you in the mood for reading about a hand mixer that is actually more expensive than the Hamilton Beach 7 Speed Stand Mixer? Yes, the price for this Breville definitely exceeds $100 by quite a good amount.
But it’s nice to know that we can always rely on this manufacturer to have prices that are 3 to 5 times higher than its competitors. It’s an interesting idea because it either makes us spend too much money on their products or it makes us go with the much cheaper alternatives. Let’s see how the balance will be tipped this time.
Attachments
Obviously, we have 2 dough hooks, which is the main thing that interests us. The dough hooks look awesome and solid, I really like them.
Breville tells us that this attachment combines, mixes, and kneads heavier batter and dough. That’s exactly what we want to hear.
If you want a powerful hand mixer with strong dough hooks, this model is great. But also so expensive.
The other 4 attachments are: quiet scraper beaters and balloon whisks. There are actually 2 balloon whisks instead of 1 as it happens with the other models.
The beaters are called quiet scraper beaters because they are coated in rubber.
However, this innovative addition seems to also be the feature that receives the most complaints. Users state that the rubber is coming off the beaters. If that were to happen, I would find some way to get the rubber completely off. You’ll be left off with standard normal beaters.
Last but not least, there are some who love the addition of double whisks.
Features
One of the most interesting features that I believe to be unique to this manufacturer is the fact that the mixer detects which attachment is inserted.
By recognizing which attachment is used, it automatically adjusts the speed range. I think that’s really awesome and perfect for people who are true beginners in kneading dough with a dough mixer, instead of doing it by hand.
For example, for the dough hooks, the speeds are adjusted to a lower range for maximize torque. That’s precisely how it should be.
There are 9 speeds, which is a lot. Speed level is controlled through a scroll wheel. It might take a bit getting used to but I don’t think so. Push the scroll wheel forward to increase the speed and rotate the wheel towards your hand to decrease it.
There’s also a very precise timer with minutes and seconds for recipes that require precise timing.
Moreover, this model comes with a mixing light. The light will illuminate ingredients in the bowl. I never would have thought of that.
The user manual also comes with some recipes for cookies, frosting, classic butter cake, raspberry meringue, pancakes, cheesecakes, calzones, gozleme, quinoa, flaxseed and chia bread. I’m impressed with this recipes, quite the nice range.
If you follow the recipes for calzones and bread, you’ll see exactly how a dough is kneaded, it’s awesome practice.
Power
One of the most powerful, even if it only has a 240 watts motor.
It’s very efficient and I must admit that, despite the price, it’s an awesome candidate for the best hand mixer for bread and so much more. Excellent range and capabilities.
4. Black+Decker MX600B
If you really don’t want to spend more than $30 but still want to get one of the best hand mixers for bread dough, you can go for this Black+Decker.
Attachments
It includes the usual: 2 beaters, 1 wire whisk, and 2 dough hooks.
These are called helix beaters and they’re not the classics that we’re used to. Well, sometimes manufacturers should maybe just stick to what it has been proven to work perfectly for decades.
These beaters are actually made of reinforced nylon, which is supposed to deliver strength for tough mixes and durability.
Features
There are 5 speeds plus turbo boost.
It’s a 250 watts motor so, it’s satisfyingly powerful.
You should use the dough hooks on speed 2. Don’t exceed that.
Cons
For some users, the problem with this model seems to be the beaters. Funny that the above very expensive Breville had complains about the beaters, too.
It seems that due to their unusual shape, the beaters will cause the dough to creep up and get stuck in the holes of the machine.
It must be said that others are completely satisfied with the overall performance. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have included it on my list. You can be totally sure of that. But you’re going to take a few risks, hoping that everything works out great.
5. Braun Electric 9-Speed
When people are buying this hand mixer from Braun, they’re looking for the famous German quality. It seems that some buyers were quite disappointed, the rumored quality failed to appear in full force.
Plus, this is not a cheap best hand mixer for bread. Because of that, it’s my last recommendation.
Attachments
This mixer is so pretty and people praise it for working easily and being well balanced.
There are only 4 attachments: 2 beaters and 2 dough hooks.
There is no whisk but you can use the beaters as a replacement. In my opinion, it’s not a big con.
Features
It has a 350 W motor. That’s way more power than any of the above models. However, there are some who complain that it doesn’t have enough power. And that even the Turbo mode it is not Turbo.
The Braun Electric Hand Mixer is indeed advertised as having 50% more power with half the effort.
Another interesting feature is the SmartMix technology, which delivers an in-line vertical motor design that shifts the weight of the mixer out of your hand and into the bowl.
How to Use a Hand Mixer to Knead Dough
Firs of all, do you need a special mixing bowl for kneading dough with a hand mixer?
Of course not.
If you search for a mixing bowl during your online shopping session, on whatever online retailer you prefer, the results will mostly look like the bowls we already have in our kitchens. The exception is done by bowls with pour spout but those don’t interest us for baking bread or making pizzas. Those are awesome for making desserts.
Also, read the user manual because it will provide you with everything you should know, all the needed instructions are written there.
This is how you use the best hand mixer for bread/pizza dough:
- all of above reviewed models come with 2 dough hooks – these are the attachments to be used for mixing and kneading
- in the mixing bowl, you can first stir the dry ingredients with a spoon/spatula
- then add the water/oil and start kneading with the dough hooks
- completely immerse the dough hooks in the ingredients and only then you can turn it ON
- start the mixer on low speed
- dough is kneaded on lower speeds – for example, I wouldn’t exceed speed 3 if the mixer comes with 9 speeds, KitchenAid is the exception because we are instructed to go as high as speed 6
- until the ingredients are thoroughly combined, go with speed 1 or 2 (it depends how many speeds your model has)
- after that, increase the speed by 1 and knead for 5 more minutes until the dough takes the needed shape and smoothness
Moreover, if you want to know exactly how that works, you can watch this very short video. It will convince you that the best hand mixer for bread can be the perfect choice for those with smaller budgets or smaller living spaces.
Hand Mixer vs Stand Mixer
There are definitely certain advantages to using a stand mixer vs a hand mixer:
- higher power levels
- capacity to perfectly knead a large quantity of ingredients if you get a model with a fairly large bowl (like a 5.5-quart one, which can handle at least 6 cups of dry ingredients)
- the attachments are different but, at the same time, not that much different – the flat beater is the attachment that looks absolutely different between the two
- with hand mixers we get 2 dough hooks instead of 1 very large one, as it happens with stand mixers
- and last but not least, the fact that a stand mixer is stationary, you can leave it be to handle the mixing and kneading while you do whatever else
However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use the smaller of these two kitchen appliances to do exactly what you would do with the bigger stationary models.
You just have to hold the bowl with one hand and the mixer with the other. You’ll have to juggle that aspect if you’re making a recipe that indicates adding the ingredients one at a time.
Fortunately, when making bread dough all the ingredients can be added in the beginning. You will have to circulatory move the mixer to touch the sides of the bowl, too – planetary action done manually.
Overall, I’m still under the impression that some people believe that only stand mixers can knead dough. I hope that this article on choosing the best hand mixer for bread has contributed to demonstrating the opposite.
