Kitchen mixer recommendations- ie Kenwood Chef?

[pugwash4x4]

hey Guys,

Thinking about buying a kitchen mixer (as in kenwood chef) rather than a food processor.

Looking to buy something that will last years and years- both my mothers and my M-in-Laws have lasted at least 20 years so i'm happy to spend some money.

There seems to be 3 Kenwood models and a kitchenaid model but i have no idea which one to buy- any tips? Are there any i've missed.

At the moment i'm leaning towards one of the kenwoods as you can get so many accesories for them! But the kitchenaid does seem very well made.

[CatherineJ]

I was in John Lewis last week looking at Food Processors. If it were me I would probably go for the Kitchen Aid one. Looking in their brochure there are also an awful lot of additional attachments you can buy and as you say the construction of them is really superb.

[pugwash4x4]

oddly it was in John Lewis where i was looking too

its the longevity i'm most interested in- i don't beleive for a second that modern kenwoods are made as well as they used to be!

A Thermomix would be brilliant but they are a touch expensive!

[ali_kat]

Only ever used a Kenwood Chef - my Father's. He bought it before M&D were married, when he was at Uni in Glasgow so he'd have been @ 25 ish? He's now 75 and it is still going strong! So I'm guessing it was one of the original ones from the 1950's - it is also bloody heavy!

As well as the Bowl & kBeater, Balloon Whisk, Dough hooks etc It has a Jug attachment for the top that blends and a mincer attachment.

Bloody fantastic, and when I buy one, that is what I will get - you can get the same attachments for them as you can the KitchenAid ones (Pasta etc) IIRC from when I was looking at them (in Lewis' @ Christmas).

[misscupcake]

Kitchenaid

A good, sturdy, reliable mixer. Cant recommend them enough, i love them.

[michaeljclark]

Kenwood Chef here.

Got the Titanium Back (not the MEGA one) from Amazon, for about £80 cheaper than John Lewis and spend the saving on the exta 5 year warrenty (which was still cheaper than JL)

The Kenwood is that little bit heavier than the Kitchen Aid, which I figured was better when mixing heavy stuff as it would provide a little bit more stability so hopefully it won't jump off the work top.

Both my Mum and Nan have Kenwood Chef's (each Kenwood is over 20 years old and still going stong).

[Simpo Two]

Surely you need one of these: www.blendtec.com/willitblend !

[Agrilla]

Vote for KitchenAid from me - I love mine - it never breaks a sweat.

The attachment connector is exactly the same size on all models. In fact, any attachment ever made by KitchenAid will fit any model KitchenAid stand mixer because the size of the connector has never changed.

The attachments available include: food grinder, food slicer and shredder, citrus juicer, fruit and vegetable strainer, pasta rollers and cutters, ravioli maker, sausage stuffer, can opener and grain mill.

I've got some of these attachments, but tend to use my processor more for slicing & shredding, citrus reaming and I've never made sausages yet!

It's easy to go a bit overboard with attachments - you need too much space to store them all!

I love my KitchenAid though, it does what it should very well,& KitchenAid's customer service is really exceptional.

[Pothole]

I always thought Kitchen Aids are much quieter than Kenwoods, unless KW have made some changes recently...(used KW and sold KAs for a living in the 90s)

[uncinqsix]

You can't go wrong with either Kenwood or KA in terms of quality and longevity. The KA looks better though...

[markreilly]

Always been a Kenwood man myself but i would check the motor outputs on each model

[bull996]

Kitchen Aid.

Although ours was over £500

[ukwill]

Have you thought about a hand blender instead? We had a food processor but frankly it hardly ever saw the light of day, so we chucked it. The hand blender gets used most weeks. Guess it depends on what you need it for.