Fancy mixers: you may need one if you knead.(up front: News / Trends / Advice)(Buyers Guide)

Big, pricey stand mixers stand up to dough better and work faster than hand mixers or even less-expensive stand mixers. But our tests still showed differences in how well they perform.

They work in different ways, too. Some use two beaters, which spin against each other; others use one beater, which spins in one direction and moves around the bowl the opposite way All but the three lowest rated have one beater.

With most, you tilt the mixer head up to remove beaters or bowl; with the KitchenAid Professional models, you turn a lever that lifts or lowers the bowl.

HOW THEY MEASURED UP

To test the mixers" mettle, we whipped, mixed, kneaded, and mashed. If whisks or dough hooks were included, we used them. We judged loudness at the highest speed. We checked convenience by replacing beaters and adjusting speed, and found that all the mixers were about equally convenient.

Whipping. The best mixers made fluffy whipped cream and meringue in a few minutes. The Jenn-Air left unbeaten egg white in the bowl bottom. All but the two lowest rated come with a whisk.

Mixing. The best needed little help when they were creaming, blending flour, or folding chips into big batches of cookie dough.