I started decorating and selling cakes out of my home a couple of months ago, using my cheap old mixer...knowing it's days would be numbered. I've now burned up THREE hand mixers in two days when mixing my frosting! I'm looking at professional grade mixers and it seems that only the stand up mixers would be able to withstand the wear and tear. However, I'm not sure my pocket book would be so forgiving!!!! And advice on a good, sturdy hand mixer that can do the trick for now??? THANK YOU!!!

just buy yourself a Kitchen Aid HD as soon as you can afford it, in the mean time, only buy the cheapest handmixer you can find, the pricier ones are more powerful but the motors seem to burn oout almost as fast as the cheapo ones.

I hear ya, i've burned up a couple myself in the last few months. right now I have a GE hand mixer that seems to be holding up a little better than the others. It has a slow start feature that i really like. i'm saving my pennies to get a bosch as soon as i can, but it may be a while, hopefully my little hand mixer can hold out 'til then

I started out with my hand mixer (and still use it occasionally). Mine is still working, but wasn't getting weekly use or anything. It was a really cheap one too. I think it's Hamilton Beach. My other suggestion, since you mentioned frosting, is to make sure you butter is softened and to do smaller batches.

You could check Craigslist and garage sales for a used Kitchen Aid. It might cost as much as a couple hand mixers but it will probably last a lot longer. I bought two of mine on Craigslist and they work as well as the one I bought at Kohls...the only difference was the price

Watch for the black friday sales, there is usually somewhere that has the KA for sale cheap that day.

Walmart has three different stand mixers right now. The small KA - 4.5 qt; the Sunbeam Mixmaster; and the Oster.

Theresa

Kmart, Walmart, Sears, among other stores have a layaway plan. Maybe you could try that?

You can get a refurbished one from Best Buy online. I have already got one and will be getting another one in a few weeks. It's only $174.99 and they will ship it to the store for pick-up.. I think it took 7-8 days before I could pick it up but it was totally worth it.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/KitchenAid+-+Factory-Refurbished+Stand+Mixer+-+White/9632165.p?id=1218135723857&skuId=9632165

stand mixer. asap. I have no idea how you're even making the volume of icing you'd need for caking with a hand mixer.

A carpenter doesn't hammer a nail with his shoe .... he buys a good hammer.

A repairman doesn't use a butter knife to tighten screws ... he buys a good screwdriver.

A landscaper doesn't get on his hands and knees and use scissors .... he buys a big lawn mower.

Get the right tools. It's not an expense. It's an investment.

I second that indydebi.
I, for the moment, am just a hobby caker and have had the same trouble with the hand mixers. I've also had three of em bail on me. The first one was the cheapest you can get. The second was a middle price range, which I was expecting to last a lot longer. I was wrong. It bit the dust in the same amount of time. The third, I figured I would go back to the cheapest I could find. Same again. I think all three of them only gave me around two or three cakes, which was a round of batter per cake and maybe one or two batches of buttercream, so three uses per mixer really.
So I figured it out, totally a false economy. I would have to get a stand mixer.
The problem I found with the hand mixers, is that the cause of them seizing up is the powdered sugar getting into the mechanism, the cogs get all jammed up, and the finally grind to a halt when the wheels cant get round anymore. There's no way to prevent that really. They're ok for whisking liquids and small amounts of cake batter for small cakes, and a dozen cupcakes. Anything more, forget it.
The stand mixer is definitely a very wise investment, it's amazing how much time and elbow grease they save you too, it's like having a third pair of hands!
I've been lucky, my mum got me one for Christmas, and gave it to me last week just in time to do my first 3 tier topsy turvey. It's definitely a very wise investment, especially if you are doing cakes on a weekly basis and selling them. Can you put one on your Christmas list? Maybe a few relatives could club together?

I've had my KA for 6-7 years now, I'd be lost without it. Second expensive item...Agbay, don't want to think about torting a cake w/o that either.

My DH bought me a Garmin (GPS thingy, that I really wanted) and a Agbay one year for Xmas even though we couldn't really afford it. I took the Garmin back, and a few other things back....I kept the Agbay of course. lol

I got my KA as a wedding gift 7 years ago and everyone said I wouldn't use it because they all got a KA as a wedding gift and most were still sitting untouched.

Well, I proved them wrong and I can't imagine caking without my KA. I tried to make a batch of SMBC with a handmixer once as I realized that a full batch of the recipe I use is too much for my KA and it was a pain in the butt!

Try to get a KA anyway you can. It will make your life so much easier! I'd like to upgrade to something that holds a larger volume...