Hamilton Beach 6-Speed Electric Hand Mixer With QuickBurst and Bowl Rest

Why it's worth it

The mixer to buy if you bake a handful of times a year or you're setting up a first kitchen. It comes with a whisk, traditional beaters, and a snap-on case, and its 250-watt peak motor handles cake batter and whipped cream without complaint.

For light baking, this does everything the expensive mixers do. Whipped cream, cake batter, boxed brownie mix, beaten eggs — none of it strains a mixer, and owners consistently describe this one as more than powerful enough for those jobs. The six speeds give you more room than most budget models, which often stop at three.

The snap-on case is the feature that earns it real goodwill. Beaters and the whisk clip into one unit, so nothing wanders to the back of a drawer. There's also a bowl-rest feature that lets the mixer perch on the rim of your bowl while you go grab the vanilla, and drips land in the batter instead of on the counter.

From our review of 5 hand mixers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +For light baking, this does everything the expensive mixers do
• +The snap-on case is the feature that earns it real goodwill
• +It's a well-worn design with a long track record
• +The QuickBurst button gives you a short shot of extra power without changing speeds — handy when you hit a dense pocket in…

What to know

• –The motor audibly strains on stiff dough and thick frosting, and the speed drops before it recovers
• –It's noticeably louder than the KitchenAid options, and the beaters are plastic rather than stainless — they're more prone to…