Wolf Stand Mixer Review: Pricier Than a KitchenAid, but Is It Worth It?

I’m an enthusiastic baker who has a rather large stand mixer collection, which is highly unusual considering I live in a postage stamp-sized apartment where countertop real estate is tight. But while some folks shop for shoes or clothes, I’m constantly on the lookout for new kitchen equipment (much to my husband’s chagrin).

While I do love my KitchenAids, I was mighty impressed with this Wolf Gourmet model when I reviewed stand mixers for this very site. However, it’s even *more* expensive than a KitchenAid (a harder sell to be sure!). So, to prove why it could be a good option for some bakers, I put it through even more tests, using it over the span of a few months. 

The Tests

• Whipped Cream Test: I whipped one cup of heavy cream to see how easily the Wolf Gourmet stand mixer could handle a small amount of ingredients.  
• Pound Cake Test: I made a loaf-shaped pound cake to test how well the mixer whipped and creamed air into the butter.
• Pizza Dough Test: I made Neapolitan pizza dough to see how well the mixer kneaded stiff and sticky dough with its dough hook. I watched to see how much the dough “climbed” up the hook, how often I had to stop to adjust the dough in the bowl, and how the dough felt and looked after the 10-minute kneading time. 
• Double and Triple Pizza Dough Test: I repeated the pizza dough test, doubling and then tripling the recipe, to see how easily the Wolf handled larger batches of stiff and sticky dough or if the motor struggled or heated up.
• Half-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies Test: I made a half batch of chocolate chip cookie dough to see how adequate the paddle attachment would cream a smaller amount of butter and sugar. The chocolate chip cookie dough was a also great test for the model’s “pulse” feature, which allows you to add in dry ingredients like flour and solid ingredients like chocolate chips in short mixing bursts.
• Usability and Cleanup Tests: Throughout testing, I evaluated how easy the Wolf was to operate and how simple it was to add and remove its attachments and bowl. After every test, I cleaned the attachment and bowl by hand.

The Good

The Mixer Easily Tackled Larger Batches of Dough 

The Wolf Gourmet stand mixer is a massive machine, with a 7-quart bowl. But just because a mixer has a large bowl, doesn’t mean it will easily work with big amounts of dough. I ran into this problem when testing the Instant stand mixer, which had a huge, 7.4-quart bowl. The Instant attachments were thin, cheap, and didn’t fit properly to the side of the bowl (there were large gaps), which led to under-kneading.

But the Wolf didn’t struggle at all with large batches of dough, mixing up a double batch of the Neapolitan pizza dough with ease. The dough kneaded up beautifully, without any of it creeping up onto the dough hook. Since doubling the dough proved to not be an issue, I decided to push the mixer a bit more and tripled the recipe, kneading just over six pounds of pizza dough. But the Wolf delivered, easily incorporating and kneading all the ingredients without struggling, stalling, overheating, or walking across the countertop. If you have a large family, like to make lots of pizza for friends, or run a side gig making bread for your local farmer’s market, this mixer might be your new best friend. 

It Could Also Handle Smaller Amounts

If the Wolf could work with triple amounts of pizza dough, could it also handle smaller amounts of ingredients, properly mixing them? We whipped up a single cup of whipping cream to see if the whisk would adequately reach the bottom of the bowl. In short: It did, creating airy whipped cream easily.

Creaming butter and sugar together with the paddle attachment for a pound cake was also a breeze. The tight fit of the paddle attachment against the side of the bowl meant there was minimal need to scrape down the sides of the bowl to incorporate unmixed butter. The powerful motor easily incorporated and creamed the smaller amount of ingredients together to create the ideal pound cake, one that walked the line between solid and substantial but not heavy or dense.

The Mixer Was Intuitive to Operate and Had Nice Usability Features

The Wolf Gourmet comes with the brand’s signature red control knob on the side (though you can also swap out the knob for an included gray or black one). Easy to use, turning the mixer on just requires a simple twist of the knob, which increases the mixer’s speed incrementally. 

And though the knob does have numbers on it, to let you know how fast you are turning the mixer on, there are no automatic preset speeds for the mixer. This means the knob is infinitely variable, allowing you to adjust the speed to whatever you need for the recipe. This small touch is great for avid and professional bakers who like total control over how fast their mixer is when making their dough or batter. 

Even nicer is the “pulse” feature, which allows you to pulse on and off the mixer by turning the knob in the opposite direction of the numbers indicated. Much like pulsing a food processor or blender, the mixer’s pulse feature allows you to slowly incorporate dry ingredients or add-ins. I made a half batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and then added the flour to the creamed butter and sugar. Instead of the flour flying up from the mixing bowl when the mixer turned on, the pulse feature allowed for the gentle incorporation of dry ingredients without dust or spillage.

Finally, the fitted bowl in the base locks into the mixer with a simple twist of the bowl. Unlike the KitchenAid Professional mixer, which requires you to lock the bowl into the mixer, and then use a side lever to raise the bowl up to the mixing attachment, the Wolf Gourmet only requires you to twist the bowl into the diagonal slots, which lifts the bowl up. Unlike other stand mixers where the bowl occasionally got stuck on the base or was difficult to attach or remove, the Wolf bowl smoothly inserted and moved up and down.

The Bad

Size and Cost Could Certainly Be An Issue 

The biggest downside to the Wolf stand mixer is the size. It’s a huge machine, taking up a large amount of space. If you’re the sort of person with a small amount of countertop space, or if you are a more casual baker who likes to store their stand mixer and pull it out when you bake, this is probably not the mixer for you. The machine weighs nearly 26 pounds and is 17.5 inches tall and nearly 17 inches long. 

The Wolf Gourmet also costs a lot more than the KitchenAid 600 series does. In fact, nearly twice as much. Ouch.

The Verdict

The Wolf Gourmet is a great stand mixer for enthusiastic and professional bakers. It works exceptionally well for both large batches of dough and smaller amounts of batter. It’s intuitive and easy to use, with some nice features like the infinitely variable speed knob and the ability to pulse the mixer. If you have the countertop space and can afford the steep price, it’s a worthy addition to your kitchen.

Key Specs 

• Weight: 25.8 pounds
• Dimensions: 17.5 x 16.75 x 10.5 inches
• Stated bowl capacity: 7 quarts
• Wattage: 500 watts
• Cord length: 38 inches 
• Attachments: Paddle, dough hook, whisk, plus splash/pouring guard shield
• Care instructions: Bowl is handwash-only; attachments and shield are dishwasher-safe (top rack)
• Materials: Brushed stainless steel, die-cast construction
• Price at time of publish: $995

FAQs

What is the Wolf Gourmet stand mixer made of?

The Wolf Gourmet stand mixer is made of brushed stainless steel, die-cast construction with a plastic base and knob. The knob is made of red plastic but can be swapped for a black or brushed stainless steel plastic knob which is also included.

Is the Wolf Gourmet Stand Mixer worth buying?

The Wolf Gourmet is an expensive machine, but it’s worth buying if you bake a lot or are a professional baker. It easily mixes triple batches of pizza dough as well as small amounts of whipped cream and cookie dough, making it a versatile machine. It does cost a lot, though.