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DEVELOP YOUR BAKING SKILLS AND MAKE PASTRIES AND CAKES WORTHY OF A HOLLYWOOD HANDSHAKE WITH A PROFESSIONAL STAND MIXER

The SMF13WHUK stand mixer comes with an attachment hub so you can buy extra pieces of kit to expand its use. £449.95, Smeg

MANUAL VS DIGITAL While some models feature traditional, rotary-operated functionality, others have digital presets and even LED displays. While the benefits of digital displays include a variety of settings, as well as handy timers to prevent over-mixing, others may argue that these are unnecessary distractions and would prefer to rely on intuition. Which you opt for is really down to your personal preference.

MULTI-FUNCTION ATTACHMENTS

Any stand mixer worth its salt will come with three standard attachments – a whisk, a beater and a dough hook. If you’re investing in a pricier model, it’s definitely worth looking for one that you can add more attachments to so that you can expand its use, as well as eliminating the need for buying separate different appliances or gadgets.

SIZE MATTERS If you’re feeding a family of three or four, you won’t need to worry too much about bowl capacity, but for larger families or batch bakers, the larger the bowl, the better. The average size is around 4ltrs, but some mixers conveniently come with a choice of two sizes.