This futuristic mixer is the baking teacher you never had

The GE Profile Stand Mixer is one of the many products featured in this year’s Holiday Gift Guide. Check out the full guide for everything you need this gifting season, from stocking stuffers to splurges.

* * *

Growing up, no one in my immediate family baked. My mom was more likely to be found lecturing in her classroom than bending over an oven, my dad didn’t even know what a measuring spoon was, and my grandmother was so burned out from raising four kids that she declared her kitchen days over sometime in her mid-seventies.

So when, as a teenager, I developed a raging sweet tooth and a subsequent passion for baking, I really could have used GE Appliances’s new Profile Stand Mixer in my kitchen. That’s because this smart mixer does what most others can’t: It actually teaches you how to bake better, in addition to classic functions like whipping and kneading and creaming.

Courtesy of GE

Fundamental features

First of all, this mixer nails the basics: It’s equipped with small, thoughtful functions, including an easy-to-use release function for beating attachments so they pop on and off quickly (the mixer comes with a beater, dough hook, and whisk attachment, similar to most stand mixers), a timer that allows you to set-it-and-forget-it while mixing, and a pause button so you can stop in the middle of mixing, then resume by slowly working back up to the original speed. There’s also a reverse-mixing function that spins the attachment in the opposite direction to ensure thorough mixing and no missed streaks or ingredients. And lastly, it has voice control activation compatible with Alexa or Google Home — particularly helpful if your hands are sticky or occupied with other baking tasks.

One particularly cool feature? It has a built-in scale, so you can measure ingredients directly in the bowl as it sits in the mixer. The scale also works for any bowls you place on the mixer’s base or its top, so you don’t need a whole separate scale to measure out other parts of the recipe. 

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

A smarter mixer for better baking

Notably, this mixer also comes with its own app. That app is programmed with recipes (including over 40 King Arthur recipes, such as Chocolate Mousse Cake, Honey Oatmeal Bread, Holiday Butter Cookies, and much more) that show up both in the app itself and on a small digital display screen on the mixer. The directions walk you through the recipe step by step, with the appropriate speed settings for mixing or kneading. But these directions also go beyond basic instructions like “Mix all ingredients until smooth.” The recipes are literally step by step, including reminders to remove ingredients from the fridge an hour before baking so they reach room temperature. The recipes are designed to be clear, informative, and exceptionally thorough — exactly how a teacher might direct you in a culinary classroom.

Ultimately, though, this mixer’s coolest, most innovative feature is its “AutoSense Technology,” a fancy-sounding phrase that means it can monitor texture changes in doughs, batters, frostings, and whipped cream and alert you when they’re perfectly mixed.

Say, for example, you were decorating holiday cookies and making Royal Icing for the first time. The key to Royal Icing is nailing the consistency; as the recipe directs, by the end of mixing it should be a “stiff, glossy icing that holds a tall peak.” But if you’ve never made it before and you don’t have an experienced baker in the kitchen to show you, how are you supposed to know precisely what that means? That’s where the mixer comes in: It can gauge the consistency of the icing as it whips, then let you know once it’s reached the correct viscosity. Pretty wild, huh?

(It’s worth noting that this particular function is only available for specific recipes available via the mixer’s accompanying app, including Whipped Cream, Royal Icing, and Meringue, as well as common recipe steps like creaming butter and whipping egg whites.) 

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

This mixer is as much for experienced bakers as it is for new ones: It’s recently become a favorite in the King Arthur Research & Development kitchen, where our baking experts have been playing around with its many functions and capabilities. “I love the timer!” says R&D Specialist Frank Tegethoff. “I’m also a fan of the bowl lift system, which isn’t dependent on arm strength, and the slow start feature, in which the mixer slowly ramps up mixing speed.” Fellow R&D Specialist Jonathan Brasil calls out the built-in scale, which makes it easier for people to measure by weight; for R&D baker Melanie Wanders, the reverse-mixing function — a small but extremely helpful feature to ensure thorough mixing — is a personal favorite.

At $799.95 (though it ships for free!), the GE Profile Stand Mixer is an investment, to be sure. If you only bake a few times a year, it’s probably not what you need. But if you’re a regular baker interested in streamlining your process or a new baker looking to grow and evolve your skills, this comprehensive mixer is for you. Just, you know, be sure to still make time to bake with your grandmother if she asks, too.

Looking for more baking splurges this gifting season? See our full Holiday Gift Guide.

Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.