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Cuisinart SM-50 Stand Mixer Review
With Breville out of the stand mixer business, the Cuisinart SM-50 has become one of the most sensible machines in the prosumer class. It pairs a 500-watt motor with die-cast metal construction, a 5.5-quart stainless bowl, and 12 speeds, at a price well below the commercial machines we usually cover. It carries a 4.7-star average from nearly 10,000 Amazon reviewers, which is unusually strong for this category.
- Capacity5.5 Quart
- Motor500 Watts
- Speeds12
- Warranty3-Year Limited
“The SM-50 is not a commercial mixer and does not pretend to be one. What it is instead is a genuinely well-built home machine: die-cast metal rather than plastic, a polished stainless bowl, twelve speeds instead of the usual ten, and an attachment hub that lets it grow into a grinder or pasta roller. For a cafe prep station or a serious home baker who does not need NSF certification, it covers most of what the pricier prosumer machines do.”
CMRG Editorial TeamPerformance Analysis
Build
Die-cast metal construction rather than a plastic shell, with a polished stainless steel mixing bowl. That matters most on a tilt-head machine, where a light body tends to walk across the counter under a stiff dough.
Control
Twelve speeds give finer low-end control than the ten found on most competitors, which helps when you are folding dry ingredients without throwing flour. The included splash guard has a pour spout for adding liquid while the machine runs.
Engineering Pros
- Die-cast metal body with a polished stainless steel bowl
- 12 speeds for finer control than the usual 10-speed machines
- Attachment hub that adds a meat grinder, pasta roller, spiralizer or ice cream maker
- 3-year limited warranty, longer than most machines at this price
- Splash guard with pour spout included rather than sold separately
Considerations
- Not NSF certified, so it is not a fit for a regulated commercial kitchen
- Tilt-head design is less rigid than a bowl-lift under heavy, stiff dough
- 5.5 quarts is modest next to the 8-quart commercial machines we review
- 500 watts is home-grade power, not built for continuous production runs
- 5.5-Quart Polished Stainless Steel Bowl
- Chef’s Whisk and Flat Mixing Paddle
- Dough Hook
- Splash Guard with Pour Spout
Who the Cuisinart SM-50 is for
This is the machine for the baker who has outgrown a basic hand mixer or an entry-level stand mixer, but does not need, and should not pay for, a true commercial unit. If you are running a licensed commercial kitchen that gets inspected, you need an NSF-certified machine and should look at the KitchenAid commercial models instead. If you are baking at home in volume, running a small catering side business, or setting up a prep station in a cafe, the SM-50 does the job for a fraction of the price.
The attachment hub is the part worth planning around. Because the SM-50 accepts a meat grinder, pasta roller and cutters, a spiralizer and an ice cream maker, it can replace two or three single-purpose appliances on a crowded counter. That flexibility is the strongest argument for choosing it over a cheaper mixer that only mixes.
How it compares
Against the Hamilton Beach Professional, the two are closely matched: both are all-metal, both run 12 speeds, and both sit in the same price band. On the numbers the Cuisinart wins most of it: a larger 5.5-quart bowl against 5, more power at 500 watts against 450, and a 3-year warranty against 1. The Hamilton Beach has its own attachment hub and is the tidier machine on a shallow counter.
Against the KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Pro 600, the KitchenAid wins on rigidity thanks to its bowl-lift design and larger 6-quart bowl, and it is the better choice if heavy bread dough is your main job. The Cuisinart wins on price and on the breadth of its attachment range.
If you came here looking for the Breville Scraper Mixer Pro, note that it has been discontinued and Breville no longer offers a stand mixer. The SM-50 is the closest currently available replacement in both size and price.
Related Mixer Reviews
Hamilton Beach Professional 5-Qt
The closest all-metal competitor, also 12 speeds and still available.
Read Review
KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Pro 600
Step up to a bowl-lift design and a 6-quart bowl for heavy bread dough.
Read ReviewFrequently asked questions
Is the Cuisinart SM-50 a commercial mixer?
No. It is a prosumer home machine and is not NSF certified, so it is not suitable for a licensed commercial kitchen that gets inspected. For that you need an NSF-certified machine such as the commercial KitchenAid models.
Can the Cuisinart SM-50 handle bread dough?
It handles normal home bread batches with its dough hook and 500-watt motor. For heavy, stiff dough in volume, a bowl-lift machine is more rigid than the SM-50’s tilt-back head.
What replaced the Breville Scraper Mixer Pro?
Breville discontinued the BEM800XL and no longer offers a stand mixer. The Cuisinart SM-50 is the closest currently available machine in size and price, with a 5.5-quart bowl and die-cast metal construction.
What attachments fit the Cuisinart SM-50?
The attachment hub accepts a meat grinder, pasta roller and cutters, a pasta extruder, a spiralizer and an ice cream maker, so one machine can replace several single-purpose appliances.
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