Confined impinging jet mixers (CIJMs) are widely used in laboratory applications due to the generation of high turbulent energy dissipation (>10(3) W/kg) and, thus, intensive mixing. In addition to the possibility of achieving highly reproducible mixing conditions, these mixers enable a sensitive control of fast reactions, an efficient initial homogenization of educts and, consequently, a rapid buildup of supersaturation as the driving force for precipitation. The characteristic mixing times as the competing time scale to the reaction time is of fundamental interest. Proper descriptions of parallel or consecutive processes, the correct interpretation of results, such as the particle size distribution, or the setup of an adequate process design depend strongly on this time constant. Since the mixing influence refers to a span of time in the range of milliseconds, experimental access with an appropriate accuracy is very challenging or even impossible. Therefore, this contribution tackles this sensitive topic using experimentally validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations. Thereby, mixing times are extracted from CFD using the spatially and temporally reduced numeric measurement approach (STAR NM), lately presented by the authors. These mixing times, sampled over a wide range of flow rates and inherently a wide range of energy dissipation rates (10(-1)-10(7) W/kg) in a CIJM, are interpreted in the framework of classic mixing theory. Comparison to mixing times calculated with the engulfment model of mixing and some modifications such as the Global Mixing Approach are made. Based on the STAR NM data that are taken for reference, a modified mixing approach is developed that takes meso and micro time scales into account. An outlook of certain scale-up rules for CIJMs is made. (C) 2016 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.