Food processor - advice! Magimix or KitchenAid? Which model?

[gerbo]

Advice gratefully received...

My husband has agreed we can invest in a food processor (how 1950's does that sound?!) and I'm a bit at a loss as to which to choose.

Magimix (couple of friends recommend these) or Kitchenaid? I would definitely use it every day as at the mo I have the time to cook fresh, so would use fairly heavily for chopping/liquidising soup, etc...

Would rather pay £200ish than £300ish obviously, but for something that lasts 10 years we would pay extra.

Thanks in advance for opinions.

---

This thread is very old, but if you’re here looking for the latest products, we’ve recently refreshed our guide to the best food processor with the top options recommended by Mumsnetters, including info on both Magimix and KitchenAid. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

Which to go for depends on budget and what you want to do I think.

You can get the KitchenAid Classic (slightly smaller and less powerful, comes in white only) for about £100 less than the KitchenAid Artisan, if that helps. Check it out on Amazon.

My mother has the Magimix and my sister has both a Magimix and a KitchenAid. They use them for rather different things. For chopping and liquidising, the Magimix sounds like the best bet.

The KitchenAid is great for cake-mixing and bread. You can do all the other things with it but you would need to buy in accessories which are not cheap (think £100 for the basic set of add-ons). They are sturdily made and should last a lot longer than 10 years if used properly.

I am biased as I've just decided to go for the Classic.

I have the Kitchenaid food processor and don't recommend it as the attachments are fairly flimsey and a couple of mine have broken. When mine needs replacing I'll probably be looking at the Magimix.

I have recently bought a magimix and I have to say it's fab!

I have a Magimix and love it. I use it for both batch cooking and baking, it seems to be good for both.

I have both a magimix and a freestanding kitchenaid mixer. I use both all the time, but for different things.

Sounds to me like the magimix would be the mest bet for you.

I have had other food prossessors in the past but none come close to the magimix.

Magimix is a food processor - its great however there are pitfalls like you have on/off/pulse - there are no controls to alter. The whisk attachment is rubbish and absolutely no good for whisking egg whites etc - you cant get air to it either. I went for the top of the range as more on the professional side you get a better motor. I use it alot. The smallest bowl isnt small enough for say chopping herbs/spices etc you would need a handheld stick type for this. There is a local dealer that does do maintenacnce too so thats handy, I can drop it in and collect within an hour or so (got the attachment stuck on). Quality very strong and robust.

Kitchen aid no idea.

But really you need 3 gadgets 1. food processor, 2. a stick blender with attachments and 3, Kenwood mixer.

I was given a Magimix when I was too young to appreciate it. It's still great now but I could do with more blades / attachments (many got lost in successive early-20s flat moves). My parents' attachments don't fit it sadly. I do love it though, and think if I were in charge of choosing I'd go for it above anything else.

The Kitchenaid is for baking and mixing imo. I want one, but not before I've got an oven I can do that in.

Oh, and bacon is correct - the stick mixer is also essential, esp for if you are doing purees for babies.

Magimix for a food processor and kitchen aid as a mixer.

I have both and use the magimix much more. You can't display it artfully on the side though, far too utilitarian. The Kitchen Aid is a statement of food poncery and aspiration as well as beating egg whites very nicely.

now you see, I have just had this conversation with DH too. I cant decide between the magimix and the Kitchen Aid, although I think the Magimix is winning for me.

I have a stick blender thingy and I also have a Vitamix which is absolutely magnificent, but it just doesnt do cake mixes, pastry or 'dry' mixing very well, although for soups, ice cream and other wet things it is absolutely amazingly brilliant. (Can you tell I love it)

I am definitely leaning towards a MAgimix and after having read various reviews the 4200 gets better reviews than the 5200.

Jax, what sort of things would you be using it for?

I make a lot of cake and a fair old wodge of puddings so the Kitchen aid gets a fair amount of use from those things but if I was not a cake and pudding person it would sit there, resplendent and shiny but gathering dust.

I've had the magimix out of the cupboard virtually everyday over dec. I make all my pastry in it, plus the odd all in one batter type cakes (think lemon drizzle).

OP, I assume you are comparing a KA food processor www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&q=kitchenaid+food+processor&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i8IgTd7POpK0hAfMtZm3Dg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDkQrQQwAA and not a KA food mixer against the Magimix?

I looked at both the KA and magimix 4200xl as wanted something with a wide feeder shute for veg prep, chopping etc. Lucky enough to have a food mixer for cakes etc and anyway don't think a food processor is the right machine for baking.

I eventually opted for the KA as I felt it was sturdier, the plastic bowl on the magimix seemed flimsy . Read loads of reviews and the KA seemed to just about come out ahead. The fact that it's bright red and very shiney may have been the deciding factor tbh though

I've recently homed a kitchenaid and apart from general admiring, I've used it for cakes, bread, pastry, whipping cream. It is very lovely.

I have a sturdy stick blender which I use for quick soups, anything smoother and I put it in a magimix type one.

The combo of bread hooky kitchenaid and stick blendery soups is delightful at this chilly time of year (and credit crunching!).

The magimix is good for chopping, grating and pastry making, the kitchenaid is for mixing, whipping etc and then you need a blender, ha ha and a ice cream maker, a sandwich toaster, a nespresso coffee maker, a steamer, a george foreman (sorry have spent the day cleaning and disinfecting kitchen cupboards and am aghast at the amount of shit we have that I hardly use!).

I would say the kitchen aid is worth it if you make lots of cakes and puddings (as I do and it looks pretty and matches kitchen) but the magimix is good if you want it for pastry and chopping etc.

I think I would plump for a magimix and a hand blender (maybe a dualit one) if I were you and had a budget.

slubber I think mostly for pastry and lemon type 'allinone' mixes mostly. Might even, grate, slice and julienne too.

I dont need a juicer, smoothie maker or hand mixer and the vitamix does most everything else, but pastry and cake mixes are still being hand made and to be honest, I cant be arsed dont have time to make pastry from scratch that way and there is so much more baking I could have done if I had a mixer for pastries.

My magimix has served me well for over 20 years.

magimix every time (unless you only intend to use it for whisking up egg whites/making cake mixture etc in which case the Kitchenaid).

I have magimix for chopping/blending/slicing/pastry making etc, stick blender for pureeing soups, and electric whisk for egg whites/cream etc.

I think it will be a magimix for me. Although the kitchenaid food processor looks lovely.

DH likes the 'artisan' kitchenaid mixer, but I dont need it and dont like having things out in the kitchen. Besides it is too big and bulky looking and I would HAVE to bake more if I had it.