Whether for kneading dough or whipping up a heavy cake mix, these kitchen workhorses chosen by our expert will have you multitasking and saving muscle power with ease

• From kitchen scales to cake tins: 14 pieces of baking kit the pros can’t live without

Restaurant owner and caterer Margot Henderson once described being on a big job, and the power – or maybe the mixer – failing, I can’t remember which. What I’ve never forgotten is that meringues were on the menu, so her team resorted to whipping them up with forks.

That is a story about how you can bake almost anything you set your mind to without a stand mixer. But like any good power tool, having one definitely makes life easier.

Best stand mixer overall
KitchenAid Artisan tilt-head mixer 4.7l
_{£449 at Amazon}

Best value stand mixer
Lakeland digital stand mixer 6.5l
_{£249.99 at Lakeland}

Best compact stand mixer
Kenwood Go stand mixer
_{£249.99 at John Lewis}