Kenwood chef mixer

curly from cork

My trusty Kenwood chef mixer died tonight mid way through buns !!... I inherited it from my mother and it owes me absolutely nothing. But it needs to be replaced ASAP
I am looking for recommendations please. . I was very happy with the KW chef. But am not averse to looking at a kitchen Aid either. One name better than the other ? We bake a lot , almost never use the dough hook but would like the food liquidiser to be included. Our machine was 450 w. and had 8 speeds, and a plastic white bowl.
I am boggled from looking at all the KW models available , they all seem so similar... I await your help !

phormium

I have the basic old fashioned model with the plastic bowl, 800w and 4. something litre bowl. That one is advertised at the moment by Euronics dealers at €199, don't know if it comes with the liquidiser though. Good value at that price, it's perfectly good enough for home baking. I have a kitchenaid also, very pretty machine but not as good in my opinion as the kenwood. My old kenwood lives in the utility room, the pretty kitchenaid gets to live on the kitchen counter

jdee99

the capacitors blow on these but you can get a service kit for them off of ebay.

vic20

Good to know. Thanks for that.

jdee99 wrote: »

the capacitors blow on these but you can get a service kit for them off of ebay.

curly from cork

I had to google capacitor ! IS it a big enough concern to avoid Kenwood ?

jdee99

I would suggest Kenwood is one of the better names - had mine for twenty odd years before the capacitors went.

bgrizzley

curly from cork wrote: »

I had to google capacitor ! IS it a big enough concern to avoid Kenwood ?

Not IMO, you said it all when you mentioned you inherited it from your mother. Not the first time ive heard that.
Kenwood mixers rock!

Sigma Force

I have a Kenwood, it's not the chef one it's a Kenwood Pattisier.
It wasn't as pricey as the Kenwood Chef or Kitchen aid but I think it's just as pretty..yeh ok we should all pick based on practicality but I can't help it.

I've had it about 5 years now and it's given me no trouble obviously you don't want to be putting an industrial sized amount of ingredients in it but had no problems if I need to double up igredients. It comes with a paddle, whisk and dough hook. It comes in various colours, I got the red one.
http://www.kenwoodworld.com/en-INT/All-products/Kitchen-Machines/patissier/KM270R-Patissier-Food-Mixer-0WKM271005/

Can't remember how much it was at the time, but it deffo wasn't as dear as the chef or kitchen aid. Although wouldn't say no to a red kitchen aid.

vic20

My Kenwood is nearly thirty years old and was going fine until a little hiccup recently when it decided to smoke a bit
Going OK again after a rest but now I know where to go for replacement parts if/when needed

curly from cork wrote: »

I had to google capacitor ! IS it a big enough concern to avoid Kenwood ?

Jellybaby1

I'm still using my little Kenwood Chefette from the 70's (a wedding present). So obviously I'd recommend Kenwood - the proof of the pudding, and all that!

Eviledna

This is my Kmix, which I named "stripey":

It's only 500w but it feels like more and it's got a 5L bowl. It lives on the counter and gets a lot of attention from visitors, and it's fantastic for everything I've made in it this year, sponges, marshmallows, fruit cakes, icing, everything.

However I'm only an amateur so if you are professional than one of the more workhorse powerful kenwoods would probably be better for extra power.
It's my favourite device in the kitchen.

Sigma Force

What I like about the Kitchen Aid one is that you can get a glass bowl for it, I would love to get a glass bowl just to help see what's going on in the bowl to make sure things are well mixed or when doing meringues. Love the stripey one!

kathy o brien

I have a Kenwood and researched throughly before I bought it ,as I must say the Kitchen Aid is very stylish!However most reviews came down on the side of the Kenwood mixer,sturdy,easier to get parts etc .Mine is a Kenwood chef and came with a liquidiser .Good Luck!

huskerdu

I too researched this last year. Both Kenwood and KitchenAid have lots of fans and good reviews.

The KitchenAid look great and some Kenwood models look a bit ordinary, but some look good.

For value for money, you cant beat the Kenwood. For the same spec, the Kitchen Aid is a lot more expensive and add on parts are much more expensive.

but, if you have the money to buy a Kitchenaid, its a good product.

curly from cork

Deal done ! Thanks a mill everyone for the great advice. I went for a kenwood 560 . Metallic silver grey . liquidiser on top . I paid €300 for it in Harvey Norman ( sale price ) . Havent tested it yet... just still admiring it on the worktop !!

snooperella

GOOD COOKING

Jellybaby1

curly from cork wrote: »

.......Havent tested it yet... just still admiring it on the worktop !!

Awwww, bless! I wish you many years of enjoyment with your new toy. I'm sure you will be very happy together.

Signal_ rabbit

I bought a Kenwood Chef 15 months ago and the motor has packed up. Sadly I was told by Kenwood that it is out of guarantee! My mother still uses hers from the 70's and anyone growing up in the 70's will remember these things mixing, stirring pumping (remember the cream maker attachment?).
It would appear that Kenwood are surviving on their name but the products do not last!

phormium

I was listening to Andrew McCann on TV3 couple of mornings ago and he was talking about consumer rights. Apparently there is some EU rule that certain goods should last a reasonable amount of time regardless of guarantee. The case he was talking about was a TV that broke after 13 months and shop said tough luck only 12 month guarantee, he advised that the EU rule said it should last up to 6 yrs and what person needed to do was put formal complaint in writing to shop and if that didn't work go to small claims court and they would get money back. I'm sure the National Consumer Rights agency could tell you the exact procedure.

I would imagine a Kenwood should last well in excess of 6 years too so maybe this is an option.

As an aside I have an ancient Kenwood but I gave it family member few months back who needed it at the time, I saw the same basic model on sale for a good price last month and decided to buy it to have a spare one. Only opened the box the other day and the newer model of my ancient machine is like a glorified Fisher Price toy in comparison, it is lighter, the bowl is thinner, the metal in the K beater is thinner, it is just a shadow of the original models. Sorry I did not pick up another second hand one on Ebay like my old one.

jdee99

Brought the cream maker attachment in ebay last year for £1.00