Is a KitchenAid worth it?

[WeCouldBeNiceToEachOther]

One on sale on Amazon for £350 down from a starting price of £550. A lot of money but I have the savings and can think of a couple things I’d use it for in the next few months, including bread etc weekly.

Is it worth it though, before I pull the trigger?

Kenwood chef types are better for bread making IMHO. I have both kenwood chef titanium or something and a kitchenaid idk what type I think they're all the same.

Idk what exactly you want to know but I bake and cook a LOT and host throughout the week.

I don't have two in the same property as we move around and I didn't know which was better so we got the one I didn't have for other property. Same with ice cream makers - I got cuisinart for London and sage for here. So I can do a lot of comparisons 😂

I don't know the costs of these items if its a good price or not, we paid just under £1k for kitchenaid some special colour and then a grater, sausage thing that also becomes a meat grinder and i think that was it in that starter package we got but since then we've also bought the extras like pasta etc. Pasta machine shape maker is better on kitchenaid. Chopper better on kenwood. It all depends what your needs are. My kenwood has a better dough hook than the KA but the newer kenwoods idk I'd have to have a look. I'm also considering changing here to kenwood too but it's just such a shame to waste all that money. KA whisk is mildly better IMHO than kenwood but not by much. I prefer KW K beater but again I'd have to see. Oh KA was also expensive because we went stainless steel so we could shove the stuff into dishwasher the beaters of all kind.

I don’t think they’re as amazing as made out but I guess it depends how much you use them. We only have the whisk, paddle and dough hook. Ours is a few years old but I do find I have to use a spatula as well as I find it misses the bottom sometimes. We have the standard silver bowl.

I have one that’s 20 years old, used 2/3 times a week and looks like new. Best value piece of kit I’ve ever bought.

We have a Kenwood Chef and use its various functions multiple times in the week . It’s brilliantly made and has been very reliable. I always think that the Kitchen Aid looks a bit gimmicky.

Mine’s 25 years old and still going strong. I love it. I’ve been through a variety of smaller food processor type items in that time.

I have recently got some off brand accessories for it- an extra bowl, an extra paddle etc. The bowl is particularly helpful.

Everything goes through the dishwasher.

I sadly regret buying one of a series of negative experiences. I ordered a KitchenAid artisan a year ago and it broke at the second use. We got a refund and ordered another one. That broke after about 6 months. They sent a replacement which broke after 2 months. Each time the same problem, something in the internal core of the mechanics generation the movement. It was used just once or twice a week, for kneading biscuits and standard white flour bread dough. Customer service has been slow most of the time; I am currently waiting for a reply to an email a week ago.
I am puzzled this happens with a high-end brand that costs nearly 10 times as much as the cheap version at Lidle. I wonder if they have changed the design and/or material of some components.
Does anyone have experiences like this? I would be very grateful for any kind of advice in this space.

We have a mini one - I love it. It’s on the worktop all the time. Have a Kenwood as well that I keep in a drawer.

We have a kenwood that must be over 15 years old, it’s a workhorse and is used almost every day. We (okay never me, dh and dd) make a lot of bread, I make cakes a lot, it has a blender attachment, whip up pancake batter at weekends and dh uses it for Yorkshire batter too.
It lives in a deep drawer in the kitchen because we hate things left on sides other than the kettle!
Never had a kitchen aid so can’t compare but it all depends on if you’ll use it enough to feel it’s ’worth it’.

I hear Kenwood Chefs are better functionally.

But I don't care because I'm shallow and my kitchenaid is a thing of beauty and it brings me joy to see it in my kitchen every day.

Mine is years old now. Works well, looks gorgeous.

My Mum had several Kenwood chefs. I bought a Kitchen Aid, she took it hostage until we bought her one too!! I’m a Kitchen Aid fan, highly recommend them.

My kitchenaid is 42yrs old an original hobart motor.
Honestly I’m not sure the new ones are adequately made.
The attachments are all at an extra cost and might not be worthwhile.

Have a look on Facebook marketplace, I got mine on there for £30.

Place marking. Every year around Nov, DH starts looking at mixers and asking if there are any I fancy. I'd like one with a pasta attachment, but I do get by with what I have- which is a hand mixer! I do bake a fair amount but the hand mixer does well for lemon meringue tart and about anything else I make. On the rare occasion I make bread, pizza base, hot cross buns etc, I just do them by hand.

By nan was given a mixer as a wedding gift in 1946. My mum has it now and I use it when I visit. Maybe I need to re-look at the various ones mentioned in this thread.

Definitely worth it