Design Engineer Tests $1000 & $49 Stand Mixers

[mixer roars] Hi, I'm Vincent, and I'm,

one second. [blender stops roaring]

That's better. [jazz music]

Hi, I'm Vincent and I'm a product design engineer.

This is a $1,000 top-of-the-line stainless steel stand mixer

and this is a $49 stand mixer I got at Walmart.

I'm gonna be testing them out,

seeing how they're similar, how they're different,

and breaking down why they're designed the way they are.

This is Tried + Tested, stand mixers.

First, I'll be making some pizza dough.

This will help me see how well each mixer's dough hook

mixes and kneads ingredients.

I'm gonna start by adding in sugar, salt and flour,

mixing them up at a low speed,

pouring in a yeast and water mixture, and some olive oil.

Next, I'm gonna set them to medium speed

and let them do their thing for about 10 minutes.

With both mixers,

the ingredients start out all over the place,

but as time goes on, the dough hooks combine them

into single masses.

In the wolf, the dough is 100% getting kneaded,

being pushed from one end, folded from another,

and being thrown all over the bowl.

However, in the Nurxiovo, after a while

the dough just started accumulating on the hook.

Since it stayed in a clump and wasn't hitting the walls,

there were definitely parts of the dough

that weren't getting kneaded.

Proper kneading promotes optimal gluten development,

gluten makes sure that the dough will be nice and chewy

and have the right texture. [jazz music continues]

During kneading, the yeast in

to make sure it releases carbon dioxide,

which is caught in the dough, causing it to rise.

When dough isn't needed enough

it won't have as much elasticity,

this means that it won't catch as much CO2,

leading to a more dense result.

Okay, let's take a look at the doughs.

The Wolf's dough feels pretty good,

it's got a smooth texture and feels pretty elastic.

The Nurxiovo's dough is smooth, but it's a bit stickier,

it's not quite as elastic as the Wolf.

You could actually tell how well the Wolf was working

in by how much it was shaking during the kneading process.

This is because the weight of the dough was moving

between the bowl and the hook, shaking everything up.

The Nurxiovo machine was more stable,

because there wasn't this weight being thrown around.

This difference comes down to the design of the dough hooks.

The Nurxiovo hook is much smaller,

and it has a single curved area.

Whereas the Wolf hook is twice as long,

and spirals down with multiple curves.

The Wolf hook is also positioned closer to the bowl,

allowing for that dough transfer

between the hook and the bowl.

The Nurxiovo has a large gap between the hook and the bowl.

Because of this, there's a greater chance

for the dough to stick the way it did.

(爵士乐continues] In the end,

I don't think that Nurxiovo did what it was supposed to do.

Instead of being kneaded thoroughly,

the dough was mostly just sliding around on the hook.

The Wolf kneads as well as a human can by hand,

but does it faster and without the mess.

The Wolf did everything it was supposed to.

Next up, meringues.

This test will show how these whisk attachments

can blend and incorporate air into ingredients.

Ultimately, I'm hoping for a meringue

that has good structure and glossy stiff peaks.

I'll start by putting egg whites and cream of tartar

into the mixers. [jazz music livens]

Then, I'll set them both to medium speeds

and let them do their thing for about three minutes,

until they get frothy.

Next, I'm gonna solely add in sugar,

then whisk until the meringue gets glossy,

and ideally, holds stiff peaks.

During this step,

the sugar provides additional strength to the mixture,

which allows the foam from before

to become the signature glossy stiff peaks

meringues are known for. [mixer stops]

[jazz music ceases] Let's check these out.

The wolf meringue is definitely glossy,

but I would say it has more soft peaks than stiff peaks.

The Nurxiovo on the other hand, made a perfect meringue.

[jazz music resumes] Look at this stiff peak,

it's glossy, it's thick, and it has perfect structure.

I think these results come down

to how the design of the whisk interacts

with the shape of the bowl.

The Nurxiovo has a smaller diameter to bowl,

which means more of the ingredients are situated

tightly at the bottom.

The whisk has a circular cross section throughout,

which means it has great coverage

inside the area of the bowl.

The Wolf's bowl is larger and has a wider base.

This means that the ingredients are more spread out,

and the whisking process is less efficient.

This whisk has more of an oval shape,

which means that it offers less coverage

inside the area of this bowl.

(爵士乐continues] As it spins,

there are more areas that just aren't being touched.

Additionally, if we made a large- volume meringue,

I think the results could have improved.

This is because it looks like the Wolf is designed

to work better with higher capacities.

Overall, I think the Nurxiovo

ultimately gave us better results.

If you're a professional

and you're making larger batches of meringue,

then maybe the Wolf is for you.

But if you're at home making smaller batches,

then I think the Nurxiovo can suit you just fine.

[jazz music ceases] Next, I'll be making frosting,

and this will help me evaluate

each mixer's paddle attachment,

看看每个可以混合和奶油

all the ingredients together.

I'm ideally looking for the paddle to make a frosting

that's airy, whipped and has a smooth texture.

I'm gonna start by adding the cream cheese and butter,

and beating at a medium-high speed for one minute.

[mixers whir] [jazz music resumes]

Before we started today,

I used a tachometer to measure their RPMs,

medium high for the Nurxiovo, measured in at about 433 rpm,

while it was about 454 RPM for the Wolf, so for medium-high,

they're both relatively going at similar speeds.

Next, I'll reduce their speeds to low,

add some salt, and gradually beat in some powdered sugar.

Then, I'll increase the speed to high for about two minutes.

Both are set at max speed now, but the tachometer shows

that the Wolf is operating at a much higher speed.

My guess is that the higher speeds means

that more air is going to be incorporated

into the frosting made by the Wolf stand mixer.

Finally, I'll add in some food coloring.

[mixers whir vigorously] [jazz music continues]

We got frosting.

The Wolf's is definitely smooth, whipped and pretty airy.

The Nurxiovo frosting is also smooth and whipped,

but maybe not quite as airy as the Wolf's.

I think this difference in aeration

comes from the variation in max speeds.

The max speed of the Wolf is about 350 RPM faster

than the Nurxiovo,

this allowed the Wolf to incorporate more air than Nurxiovo

in the same amount of time.

When you turn on a mixer, the motoring gears inside the head

begin to rotate the paddle in a circular motion,

while spinning it at the same time.

As the frosting gets pushed back

into the middle of the bowl,

air gets trapped between the layers,

and incorporates into the mixture,

making it light and fluffy. [jazz music continues]

Also, the paddle design plays a role in this.

Both these paddles have lines through them.

As the paddle spins,

the ingredients are forced to go through these,

separating them back out,

so they can get reincorporated and mixed even more,

while providing even more opportunities

for air to get trapped inside.

With any mixer, there's always going to be some space

between the paddle and the bowl,

which means not all the ingredients can get incorporated.

For the Wolf, I did have to use a paddle

to scrape down the frosting a few times.

The Nurxiovo did a a pretty good job of blending,

I also used a paddle to scrape down at one point,

but it was a lot less necessary

and it incorporated really well.

For the Wolf, after adding the food coloring,

it was clear that there was a lot

that was not getting incorporated.

With the Nurxiovo, you could see that, overall,

it did a better job of incorporating the food coloring.

These differences all come down

to the individual bowl and paddle designs.

The Wolf comes with a 7-quart-capacity bowl,

与一个非常大的,特别是高桨attachment.

Because the paddle's so tall,

it creates a thin layer of ingredients

that don't easily get incorporated back into the mixture.

The Nurxiovo comes with a 6.5-quart bowl,

but more importantly,

its paddle attachment is much shorter than the Wolf's.

This means that the ingredients stay lower in the bowl,

and have a better chance of getting incorporated

into the mixture. [jazz music continues]

You could really see how big of a difference this made

while I was scraping down after adding the food coloring.

Overall, these both made pretty solid frostings.

Though the Wolf's was a bit airier,

it did take a bit more work for me to get it there.

If you're making a moderate amount of frosting,

both of these do a great job,

and I'm not sure if I can justify

the much higher cost of the Wolf.

Finally, I'll be grinding pork.

This test will help me evaluate

each mixer's meat grinding attachments.

I should also note

that the Nurxiovo came with this attachment,

but for the Wolf, you have to spend an extra $150,

on top of the $1,000 you've already spent.

In front of me, I have cubes of pork

that I'll be passing through the grinders.

I've also chilled both meat grinders,

which helps prevent the meat and the fat

from becoming emulsified as it goes through.

All right, let's grind some meat.

So first, I'm gonna load up the top tray

with the pork.

For the Wolf, I'll set it to speed three.

For the Nurxiovo, I'm gonna set to speed the two

and then start pushing the pork through.

[grinders roar] [jazz music continues]

As the meat passes down through the hopper,

it enters a chamber with a helical shaped auger,

which pushes it forward.

As it moves forward, it goes through sharp blades

that grind it up, then continues through circular dies

,菲尔特er break down and shape the meat.

All this is powered by the rotational motion of the motor.

In terms of end results, both mixers did their job,

and we have pretty similar ground meat.

The only differences I found were in terms of usability.

The Wolf is a much taller machine,

so it was kind of difficult to get the leverage

that I needed to push the pork through the system.

I really had to reach high,

and it was hard to maintain balance.

The Nurxiovo is much more ergonomic, because it's shorter,

and I was able to easily balance myself

and pass meat through the grinder.

However, the build quality of the Nurxiovo

is noticeably worse than the Wolf.

(爵士乐continues] When pushing the meat through,

you really have to exert a lot of force.

I can feel the machine bending and flexing with every push.

It really felt like it could break at any moment.

The Wolf, on the other hand, super solid,

this is a machine built to last.

Taking a look at the end results,

overall, these look pretty similar.

You can see the specs of meat mixed with fat,

and it's not all mushed together in one clunk.

Overall, both these gave great results,

but I would be concerned with the longevity on the Nurxiovo.

If you're looking the ground meat every once in a while,

this is probably fine,

but if you're looking for something that'll last a lifetime,

then the Wolf is definitely the way to go.

Is that worth over a thousand dollars?

That's for you to decide.

While doing these tests as an engineer,

there are the other things I couldn't help but notice.

Bowl-locking mechanism.

(爵士乐continues] The Nurxiovo bowl locks in

by twisting it like a screw into the base.

The Wolf has unique tracks in the base,

which guide the bowl upward while locking it into the base.

This seems cool,

but it limits you on how much space you have

to put ingredients and attachments in place.

Attachment-locking mechanism.

The Nurxiovo has a standard spring loaded pin mechanism

that holds the attachment in place.

The Wolf has a similar mechanism,

but the spring is hidden inside.

This makes it look more sleek,

but a bit more difficult to put on the attachments.

(爵士乐continues] Mixer heads.

The Nurxiovo has a tilt head,

which makes it really easy to put ingredients in and out.

The Wolf has a fixed head,

which means that you have to constantly move the bowl

to get ingredients in place.

Stability.

The Wolf is a heavy machine

that stands its ground on the table.

The Nurxiovo is lightweight plastic,

and relies on suction cups.

The Wolf will be able to handle most heavy duty jobs

that you throw at it,

while in the Nurxiovo,

I just don't know how much I trust the suction cups.

In the end, you can get good results

from both of these machines, and that's really surprising

considering the large price difference.

If you're serious in the kitchen

and want something that lasts a long time,

you're probably better suited

for something towards this end of the spectrum.

But if you're more of a casual chef,

or just looking to experiment,

this $50 machine could get the job done.

Obviously, there are also many other options

in the middle of the spectrum,

so do your research, and get what's right for you.

[jazz music subsides]