Kenwood or Kitchen Aid?

[NorthernLurker]

Which would you go for? I think the Kitchen Aid is prettier but it's a lot more expensive than the basic Kenwood. Nigella has a Kitchen Aid.....please help me decide (and persuade dh)

When we moved to the US for a few years, the Kenwood Major was one thing that we didn't take. I lent it to a friend, who fell in love with 'Ken' - she was in mourning when I reclaimed it.

I did dabble with the thought of buying a KitchenAid when we were in the US, but never really got round to it. I did get a breadmaker for bread, and a Cuisinart food processor for other stuff.

You might have a 240 circuit in your house though? We did. Thinks like dryers work on 240V, so we had 240 in our futility room and basement.

Kitchenaids have been around in the States for a looooong time--my gramma had one from the 40s which was still going when she died in the 00s. When my mum moved over here she had a special US plug installed in her kitchen so she could bring hers over; hers is from the 80s and hasn't missed a beat. Given their longevity my only regret is the rather impulsive choice I made of getting a yellow one...

Futility room! That's what I'm calling mine from now on!

Does anyone have a cuisinart? My magimix thingie died recently and I'm tempted to try something American and industrial.

Maybe I'll start a new thread.

I have a Cuisinart food processor. It is the American version and very good quality. I use it with a transformer.

My waffle iron in cusineart . Their processers seen very expensive for what they are. They don't make bread or sausages or ice cream. get a kenwood

I think that Kenwood is now owned by Cuisinart? Not sure, but it is ownd by someone.

I bought a second hand Kenwood for £50 on mumsnet advice - I LOVE IT!!!!

And none of the guilt of buying something similar for £400!

Does it peel potatoes, lara? Does it?

My mother has a Kenwood Chef that is 30+ years old, with a pea huller attachment. Beat That!

My mum has a de-stoner on hers (she only uses it when cooking damsons). Not sure what weird stuff my sister's one comes with (it was my grandmothers)

I could have started this thread - I've been mulling this for a while!

What I want to know, is what does a Kitchenaid actually DO? I have friends with one and they only seem to use them to whip up the odd batch of cakes, which is hardly rocket science and can be done with a decent hand-mixer.

By contrast, my Kenwood-owning friends seem to do a lot more with theirs. So is this down to the machine or my choice of friends?

It might be heresy to you lot, but I've not overly bothered by appearances, alright Kenwood's don't look special but I've a sneaking feeling they might be more practical.

Anyway, here's my list of what I actually do and cook, and see if you think there's a winner...

I make cakes. Lots. For smallish batches I tend to use a hand-mixer, but for larger batches, cooking for school etc, I want a really good mixer that can cope well with a large amount.

I make meringues and other recipes needing whisked egg whites fairly often - I have often found this to be the real test of a mixer or processor, so would be interested in responses on this one.

I make soup every week, so one with a good blender attachment would be good.

I'm fairly interested in ice-creaming facilities, but it's not a deal-breaker since I already have a smallish machine.

I make pastry lots - like cakes, I tend to do small amounts by hand but at times make really huge batches, so which machine mixes good pastry?

I use my current not-brilliant food processor for grating large batches of cheese and for making super-quick batches of coleslaw - any suggestions on that front?

As an aside, Kitchenaids date from 1919 - or so it said at the Science Museum display yesterday! I was surprised at that, I knew Kenwoods went back a long way but didn't realise Kitchenaid had that much history.

ecowarior - what sensible questions! I was going mostly on gut instinct - that and the fact that Nigella has a KitchenAid

Eco, I would say that the Kenwood is more of a multitasker than the Kitchenaid, but the Kitchenaid is a real workhorse when it comes to making cakes and things. The whisk is brilliant for whipping (I think you can even get a copper bowl to fit it if you're really hardcore) and the dough hook great for bread, pizzas etc. The shredder attachment is not that great imho I tend to stick to the Magimix for shredding and a blender for soups, etc. My mum has the meat grinder and uses it all the time for pates, mince it's great for using up leftover bits of meat; I'm still saving up for that one!

Well I love my Kenwood, function over form every time and plus it looks less fashion victim than a Kitchen Aid.

That's encouraging Lara - dough and egg whites are at the top of my list to do!

I've never actually seen a KitchenAid in use, so I couldn't do a comparison, but my Kenwood Major is excellent at beating, whipping etc, and came with an good liquidiser, plus the meat grinder, which I use once in a blue moon (but my mum does Christmas mincemeat with hers). I got a Major by accident (it was on my wedding list, but meant to be the chef really) and it can do very large bulk mixes. They are also very very robust, as I said my sister still uses my grandmother's one (bought before my mother's one, which is over 40 yrs old). As far as I am aware they have never been repaired. I don't think there is an icecream maker thing (although I expect there is) but I have also used the bread dough mixer successfully. My parents also had a coffee grinding attachment.

Thanks for your views, I'm not sure I'm any further forward in my decision-making. What I really need is to be left alone with one of each for a week or two to test them - any offers?

No, I thought not...!

Mine is here - it's so lovely!!! Just planning what to test it out with....

Hi,

can some one guide on the latest hand mixers. i am planning to buy one. Have found some reviews on www.kitchenhandmixer.org