DASH Stand Mixer (Electric Mixer for Everyday Use): 6 Speed Stand Mixer with 3 qt Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl, Dough Hooks & Mixer Beaters for Dressings, Frosting, Meringues & More - Red, DCSM250RD

I’ve had a home bakery going on 9 years. I’ve definitely collected an assortment of appliances since then! I started with an Oster stand mixer that was gifted to me. I soon upgraded to a 3.5qt KA mini as I needed a better whipping option for meringues and such. Shortly after, I went bigger with a KA 7qt pro, followed by the 7qt GE profile smart mixer, followed by a 5qt KA tilt head. (Sorry, the larger ones are way too heavy to include in the photos.)These were tough acts to follow but the Dash was an easy choice. For my current need, I was really looking for something that was small enough to move around with a tiny footprint. But it needed to stand on its own as a disability limits my limb usage to 20% (no heavy lifting for me). Plus, they had it in pink! I did read a lot of reviews so I did know what to expect. The speed is pretty fast but depending on where the bowl lever is set can increase or decrease the spin action.Although they state that the attachments are dishwasher safe, I didn’t want to chance it based on other reviews reporting rust or breakage. It’s also a bit annoying to clean the whisk attachment that has the rubber grommet (downside to not running it through a dishwasher). But a few extra seconds of brushing (automated dishwashing brush) got it clean.As light as it is, it initially felt like a toy… like the counterpart to an easy bake oven. But it’s definitely not. Being super light, they include suction cups to help keep the mixer in place. Very helpful as it’s even challenging to press the buttons unless it’s suctioned to a sturdy surface. Button on top to release attachments, button on the right side to tilt the head back, and lever in front under the bowl to rotate the bowl placement.Although it does include “dough hooks” it’s worthy to mention what Dash considers a use case for those attachments. The instructions do state that the whisk attachments be used to start the mixture, but also suggests switching to the dough hooks for thicker mixtures. This totally made a difference with thicker buttercreams and fillings.For size reference, the Dash mixer is nestled in the middle of the Artisan mini and the classic Artisan. Welcome to the bakery family! ?

When I opened the box, and took the mixer out, it was very lightweight and did not seem sturdy to me. Well I shall put it to work. I mixed a recipe for one loaf of bread. Wow, I was amazed how well it worked the dough without straining or getting hot. Later I used it to make a whipped cream frosting. Yes it was a little loud, but I liked you can adjust the bowl where the beaters are able to do a great job. I have used the mixer also to make mashed potatoes, cake mixes, cookie doughs and other types of frosting. My skeptism went away. It is a machine to do lightweight jobs. Small enough to put anywhere. And I liked it had the aqua color to match my big stand mixer.

I originally learned of this product while at a thrift store. I found one that was used and crusty, but still functional, for $20, but found out that I could buy it "used - like new" on amazon for only $8 more.After receiving it, I tried it out by making some no-bake cheesecake filling. It struggled for a moment with the cream cheese, but worked perfectly fine after I pushed the cream cheese down into the bowl again and off of the beaters. I did end up finding some lumps of cream cheese in the final cheesecake filling, but that may have been due to user error. However, do keep in mind that the beaters do not reach the bottom of the bowl, meaning you may have to be more involved to ensure everything is thoroughly mixed. It did manage to make whipped cream pretty easily on the highest setting, and did not take too long to reach stiff peaks.It is relatively easy to clean, though I do think some amount of debris may be stuck in the little plastic bits on the bottom part of the beaters. I am not sure how to clean that part, but I am not too concerned about it.For such a small and inexpensive stand mixer, it is extremely powerful and moves very fast. Fair warning, it is LOUD even on the lowest setting, which is already very fast. I do wish that there was a slower setting, but it gets the job done just fine regardless. You should also keep in mind that the bowl does not spin on its own with thin mixtures, so you will have to manually spin it until your mixture thickens.I had no issues with it shaking due to the suction cups on the bottom of the machine, which was nice. While being very stable, it was still easy for me to manually detach it, and lightweight and small enough that I had no trouble putting it up into the pantry for storage.If I could, I would absolutely consider getting the full matching set of appliances that Dash offers, if only they all came in pink!