kitchen aid or kenwood chef/food processor?

[Chauffour]

We are thinking about buying a mixer, mainly to mix/knead bread to bake in our wood burning pizza oven. We therefore need something which will mix large quantities of dough (the oven works best when full of bread).
Has anyone experience of either brand and where did they buy it, how long has it lasted, etc? Does anyone know of a good online French resource for this information or to buy them?
As an addition I would also like a food processor to chop, blend, liquidise, chop dry ingredients (small as well as large quantities)
What experience have any of you had with these? Can you offer any recommendations?

 

Tracy

[Chezstevens]

We have a kitchenaid that is nearly 10 yrs old and in constant use.  I bought it in the US for approx £130 (yes!!) and have it connected to a transformer.  If it broke I would definitely replace with another kitchenaid - we have several other kitchenaid appliances.  Advantages - heavy and built to last, disadvantages : heavy; we tend to leave it in a corner ready for use.

Debs

[Lizzie15]

The kenwood Chef's dough hook attachment works really well and I used it for years before I started buying the packets that you just add water to and pop in the breadmaker. I always have lots of other gadgets as well though cos I think the Kenwoods' attachments are a bit faffy,and yes, I've had most of 'em[geek]. I like to use a freestanding glass liquidiser altho' I did use the Kenwood one for quite a while but prefer just having one standing on the side- I tend to use stuff more if it's accessible,things in cupboards seem to stay there[:$]

[Miggimeggi]

How long it lasted?  I have a Kenwood Chef,  now pretty much on it's last legs but I bought it more than 30 years ago and it has never been serviced.  Only the seals on the liquidiser have been replaced and now, sadly, seem to be unobtainable for our old model.  It is  and has been, used close to daily for mixing, juicing, mincing, blending, slicing & shredding etc.,etc. and in it's lifetime has travelled with us to Singapore,  UK, Kenya, UK, South Africa, (where it is available and supported) and then to France.  I am not sure that it will do sufficient bread dough in one go for you.  Probably a kilo of flour is it's maximum but is is a domestic machine.  I have forgotten the name of it but there is another Kenwood machine which is more of a professional model which will undoubtedly take larger quantities.  I have seen Kenwood Chefs for sale here in France - can't remember where but I mostly go to Darty, LeClerc and Carrefour so probably one of those places. If the new ones are as good as my old one, I doubt you could do better.

Anne

[Clair]

I bought this KitchenAid mixer last month from http://www.maismoinscher.com/ for €331 (compared to up to €520 in the shops) and was delivered 4 days after I placed the order.

It's fantastic for cake and bread making. I also received a very smart KitchenAid recipe book very quickly after registering my purchase with them.

Actually, as I use it almost everyday and it was so cheap (well, compared to the shop price!), I am considering getting some accessories for it.

It mixes cakes and bread dough quickly and effortlessly, it's sooooooooo easy to clean compared to my Magimix, although it does not replace it but rather complements it.

Very happy with the price, the purchase and the results  [:D]

[LisaJ]

We had a Kenwood for years then replaced it with a KitchenAid about 10 years ago. Not much to choose between them, though the build quality of the KitchenAid is better, we think. Very good for large quantities, I still like a hand held mixer for smaller quantities.

regards

Lisa

[Missy]

>>>We are thinking about buying a mixer, mainly to mix/knead bread to bake in our wood burning pizza oven. We therefore need something which will mix large quantities of dough (the oven works best when full of bread) ...... <<<

Had a Kenwood for a while given by my Mother-in-Law. 'cos she wanted a better model she lumbered me with that old machine which hasn't seen the daylight out of the pantry since!.. Had a catering size Magimix. Pretty penny but worth every single one of them, whilst the kids where home and that too is now retired to the pantry..

Now it's good old elbowgrease, sharp knives and brute force 'justa-lika-Mama' use to do !!!

Does wonder to tone up the onecep, biceps and triceps!

[powerdesal]

  [I have a Kenwood Chef,  now pretty much on it's last legs but I bought it more than 30 years ago and it has never been serviced.  Only the seals on the liquidiser have been replaced and now, sadly, seem to be unobtainable for our old model.]

Yours is probably the same model we bought 32 yrs ago, its still very much on the go. You can ( I believe) get an adaptor plate to allow the new model liquidiser to fit to the old flanges. Havent been down that route as the old liquidiser still works. Kenwood quoted a part number but I've lost the e mail!.

They dont build things like that any more but I must say our 'other Kenwood Chef' is 15 yrs old and still as good as new.

Regards

[Miggimeggi]

Thank you very much for that Steve.  I will look for their website and see what I can come up with.  I am rather attached to it.

Anne

[Patf]

I sometimes make double quantity - 3 kilos of flour - of bread by hand

and it's not such hard work. Like you, missyesbut, I don't use gadgets,

apart from an electric hand held mixer.  I once heard a woman

saying " I can't make a cake this weekend - my Kenwood's broken." Pat.

[Cat]

I bought my fire-engine red Kitchen Aid mixer about 4 years ago, I went for the professional model as it was bigger and not too much more expensive.  I use it nearly every day and think it's the best bit of kitchen kit I own.

I also bought a Kitchen Aid Liquidiser, although I tend to use this less often.  As others have said, a hand held blender is better for small quantitiies, and needs less washing up.

Kitchen Aid stuff is fantastic quality, if a little on the expensive side, and also so attractive that I don't feel I need to hide it away when not in use (which is just as well, as it weighs a ton).