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Employing a 1000W direct drive motor for reliability the machine offers eight different speed settings from slow for gentle mixing or kneading up to a high whisking speed. The rotary switch also offers a pulse setting. It certainly appears to be robust enough for all domestic food preparation tasks and it had no problem in kneading dough even though, in the instruction book, there is a warning against overheating.

The mixer, which is available in red, cream or champagne, is provided with a 4.6litre stainless steel bowl which should be large enough for any domestic kitchen task together with beater, whisk and dough hook. There is also a mincer. In addition to its three different cutting discs there are a number of other attachments. There are four for making pasta; two each for sausage and kebab making and a further three for biscuits.

With the basic machine there are two splash guards one of which is in clear plastic and fits over the bowl. It has a funnel shaped aperture through which ingredients can be added safely and cleanly. The other, fits onto the beater, whisk or dough hook to prevent any of the contents of the bowl migrating upwards onto the drive shaft.

Although the same bayonet mechanism is used for all three of these attachments, it was disconcerting at first to find that the dough hook can only be fitted one way. The dough hook has a silicone coating from which dough rolls off quite easily. The beater also had a similar coating and then had soft plastic moulded on to it to provide a better beating surface while the whisk is in stainless steel.

The head of the machine, which is quite heavy, can be locked in the normal, working, position or in its upper, open, position. This enables one to place the bowl on the stand, or remove it, as well as attaching/removing a beater. The handle of the bowl makes for easy carrying as well as being needed to rotate the bowl to lock it firmly into position prior to switching on the machine.

The mincer, which can be used for a number of other purposes such as a sausage or pasta maker, comes with three meat cutting discs, a feed tray and an associated pusher. Removing the protective cover at the front of the machine exposes the mincer’s drive shaft. The A4 sized instruction booklet shows how it should be assembled and used safely both for mincing meat as well as using it for the other tasks. There is also an A5 recipe booklet.

In practice, I found that both the basic machine and the mincer were easy to use and clean even though removing the protective cover from the body of the machine in order to fit the mincer was a problem first time.

Despite the “professional” description on the box, the mixer is intended for domestic use only. However, it is solidly made and worked effectively and so one would expect that it would have no difficulty in outlasting its 3 year warranty. Priced at £149.99, including the accessories, it is a versatile machine that will provide the imaginative cook with a lot of scope. Available online now or in their stores from Thursday 20th October 2016.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/red-premium-stand-mixer/p/072644061408400