do i need a kenwood chef

[moocowme]

my trusty handheld mixer has died after 21 years. just went past our loovly kitchen shop and saw them in the window. it would be so nice to just stand and chuck ingredients in at let it do the work.

at the ment i make muffins, bread, the odd batch of biscuits and the like most weeks. i am just thinking how much more i could make with all those attachments.

does any one have one and make good use of it?

I have one and it's the least used item in my kitchen. It's just too big. I use the Magimix for making cakes and biscuits, have a breadmaker for bread.

The one thing it is good for is stopping me wasting money on one of these, which I covet with a passion.

My Kenwood is my parents' 21 year old machine (they treated themselves to a new one last year) and I love it.

On Sunday DH & I made 3 Christmas cakes, and the actual 'making' of each cake took 3 minutes.

Mashed potato is a whizz. A whole block of cheese is grated in 2 minutes. Carrots sliced. Sausages made easily. Meat minced. It even makes cream. (Buy attachments separately).

I love mine too - we used it at the weekend to make our pastry for mince pies - so easy. Really good for a range of different things - it's one of the most used items in our kitchen. Go on, get one!

Mine is 20 years old and gets regular use. my Mum's dates from the early 60s and is still going strong. great for cakes bread biscuits pastry. I've got some attachments and love the wizzy thing for slicing runner beans ( I lead a very sad life.....!) I don't have a food processor though so can't compare.

oh and makes the best meringues and pavlovas

i have got a kitchenaid mixer, but an old bowl lift one. make a lot of bread with it. and whip egg whites etc but there isn't so much call for that.

I have a Magimix that literally exploded while mixing dough, hardly used it.

Have a breadmaker and a Braun Turbo 600 which chops, grates and blends, whisks. I use it a lot as it is quite small and handy. It is much cheaper than a Kenwood Chef too which I think I would hardly use except perhaps making cakes.

I love my Magimix (and so does DD1 pressing the buttons ). We have a breadmaker so no dough making but plenty of sauces, coleslaw, grated cheese, curry spice mixes and cakes made with it

I have a Kenwood Chef, so does my mum - hers is at least 40 years old and still working well. I absolutely love it and use it several times a week, mainly for cakes, biscuits and soup (in the liquidiser). I make bread in a breadmaker though - (also a Kenwood). There are several websites where you can get cheap spares too which is a big bonus.

mashed potato? slices veg? grates cheese? oooh sounds good. so many more things i could do with it. i just saw it had an ice cream maker attachment. yes i am thinking of getting one. just need to work out which model i want now.

don't know about you but I need one!

you really do need a kenwood chef.

i use mine all the time: the standard one comes with a blending jug, k-beater, whisk and dough hook.
you would not believe how easy it is to make dough/pastry/other stuff that needs to be made into a ball with the dough hook.

cakes with the k-beater, anything that needs whisking with the whisk, soups, juices, purees etc with the blender. and you can buy so many attachments on the kenwood website, that it can be an entire food processing centre.

they really are brilliant (mine was my mum's so it's about 40 years old now and running well!)

i am sure i can do lots of healthy food with it. i think this will be the deciding factor.

I am a convert too!! I got one for Xmas last year from my mum and after getting that I threw my Magimix out (absolutely no match for a Kenwood chef).

Pastry is a dream...

I have the KitchenAid mixer and I use it all the time. I couldn't contemplate cooking without it.

I make muffins nearly every day and use a spoon.

Damn, have now read all the thread and want one .

DH bought me what I call a food mixer and I only use it for about 2 things but not very often.

I blimmin love mine (b'day present from DP a few years ago) and use it loads. Makes fabulous dough for bread/pizza, great for cakes and the blender is good for soups and smoothies.

When I am feeling particularly domesticated I covet the mincer attachment, so I could do a roast and then mince the leftovers to make sheperd's pie etc.

I too really wanted a KitchenAid so am relieved to hear that DP made the right choice! Have you seen the new Kenwood you can buy that actually cooks the food too? I have no idea how it works - some sort of heated bowl I think - but strikes me it might be a step too far (and probably £££ too).

I think the new one that cooks food is £999!!!

right the titanium one looks cheap compared to that model.

I got one last week for my birthday. I was so excited. Made excellent pastry for mince pies, creamed potatoes and made chocolate muffins. Makes spongier cakes than the magimix as more air is beaten in.
Got the classic from Amazon - it was around £145.
So I would say, of course you need one.

just found out you can even make butter in it. also found this recipe for soft butter

I second magimix