Recommendations for food mixers please

[belindarose]

I've got an unexpected (very small!) windfall and when thinking about what I'd like to buy with it, I've decided on a food mixer. I like to bake and cook, and would particularly like it for blending soups this winter.

Kitchen has limited worktop space, so I'd like it to be quick and easy to clean and put away - it won't be able to stay out all the time.

Which one do you have, and do you recommend it? Thanks

I have a Magimix processor for heavy-duty chopping, kneading and mixing jobs, a stout Braun hand-blender for soups etc., and a 'K-Mix' hand-held mixer for cakes and batters (which is utterly brilliant). The Magimix is used frequently but cleans up nicely in the dishwasher and fits with attachments in a cupboard. Ditto the K-Mix. The hand-blender is wall-mounted so that's nicely out of the way.

Do any of those do everything, cogito? I was hoping for one piece of equipment really.

I have the same combination - magimix for "proper cooking and chopping", a hand/stick blender for soup and fruit purrees, and an electric hand whisk with dough hook for cakes and batters...

You tend to find that nothing does everything "exactly" as you like it...

Okay, that's interesting. I suppose I don't need something that chops - DH loves his knives. Definitely want something for soups. I use a silly hand blender at the moment that sprays soup all over the kitchen (not good when it's beetroot!).

I'm going to get one of these: www.johnlewis.com/231706500/Product.aspx?SearchTerm=kenwood+prosperio

Like ByTheWay1 I don't find one big piece of kit does everything properly. I could probably make cakes in the Magmix but it's a lot more stuff to wash up than a couple of detachable beaters on a hand-mixer. Ditto the stick blender. Rather than transferring big hot pans of soup into goblets for blending (bit risky) and creating a lot of washing up, the stick blender does the job in the original pan and usually requires a rinse under the tap to be clean. (Incidentally... to avoid spraying soup, tip your pan up so that the stick blender is fully immersed in the deep end.) I love the glamorous free-standing cake mixers but they are enormous things to store and I don't make anything like enough cakes to warrant the expense.

BTW when I say 'chopping' in the Magimix I mean heavy-duty processing jobs like the meat loaf I made yesterday. Meat, onions, herbs, breadcrumbs.... everything goes in to be whizzed up and it saves me about 15 minutes of laborious chopping.

Oh yes... and the Magimix comes with slicing and grating discs which come in very useful more often than you'd think.

Oh - yes - I forgot that - the magimix is an absolute godsend for pastry - perfect every time!!