Tell me about your kitchen appliances - Breadmaker, Food mixer, Slow Cooker

[BikeRunSki]

My 30+ year old Kenwood Chef has died - smoke, flames etc. Not repairable. Was DS's grandma's and she died nearly 30 years ago.

Anyway - I miss it. Was going to bake tonight, but didn't because of mess, effort etc without it. I suspect it died because I have been using it to make bread for the last year or so (mixing dough, then kneading it with dough hooks).

Anyway, DH has sugguested that we get a breadmaker (he has got used to the home made bread ). I'd like to replace my mixer aswell, but really don't use it enough to justify another Kenwood. I'd use the breadmaker most days to make ordinary everyday bread and the mixer occasionally to make cakes and biscuits. And asI am going back to work after mat leave in a couple of weeks, I am intertesed in a slow cooker too.

So - please tell me what is good and bad about your breadmaker/food mixer/slow cooker. Would you recommend them?

I have seen a Breadmaker for £35, which has exactly the same description as one that cost over £100!

I have a crockpot slow cooker, does the job fine. I wish we had bought this one:
www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4228503/c_1/1|category_root|Kitchen+and+laundry|14418476/c 2/2|cat14418476|Small+kitchen+appliances|14418587/c3/3|cat14418587|Slow+cookers+and+ovens|144185 92.htm because you can use the top bit on the hob to brown things off in before you slow cook them. Would save on washing up.

We have a kenwood food mixer, so no help there!

I have a Panasonic breadmaker - it's magnificent. My Dad tried several makes (borrowed over a petriod of weeks from a mate of his - no idea why said mate has multiple breadmakers) and that was the one he said was the best by far, so good he bought me one.

I have a basic food processor - possibly a Magimix - which does the job, and a blender, which is only used for pancakes. A stick blender is better/easier for whizzing down soups etc.

i haven't got a breadmaker.

i have a very old kenwood mixer courtesy of mum that I only use for meatloaf making .Cakes done by old fashioned method cos ds likes stirring it all!

slow cooker invaluable for winter.Have a small "crockpot" one.The one kitchen gadget I wouldn't be without!

I also have a Panasonic breadmaker - its fantastic and we use it all the time. My dad also did a lot of breadmaker research before buying his, then liked it so much he bought 2 more for me and my brother!

I bought a second hand Morphy Richards breadmaker for £20 from a guy who had only used it twice (but I suspect it didn't cost much more than that in the first place) and have used it regularly for 6 years and love it. However, my boyfriend has a Panasonic (one of the reasons we got together - a mutual love of breadmaking and an unnecessary number of cats between us) and I reluctantly have to admit that the Panasonic makes a better loaf.

With slow cookers I'd advise going for one with more than one heat setting and a pot that comes out of the housing and can be washed separately is a must.

I've got a Kenwood breadmaker which I really like with one proviso: it leaves a hole in the bottom of the loaf from where the mixer blades are.

If I was buying one again (ours is 5 years old) I'd get one that has a retractable mixer. I think the Panasonic one that everyone raves about does so that looks like a good choice.

I've got a panasonic breadmaker. It does leave a hole - but more of a neat slot than the russell hobbs I had before, which tended to gouge a chunk. The one thing I don't like about it is that all the programs seem to be longer, especially the normal (non-pizza) dough takes 2 hours.

I think the new Morphy Richards breadmaker has a drop down blade which does not leave a hole in the bread.

I have three slow cookers. I bought a massive one first and regretted it - far too big. You were freezing half of anything you made and eating the rest for days on end. I only use it for large chickens now. The two smaller ones are much more useful as I can do a main and a pudding. I did look at the ones with two compartments but reviews said that the flavours intermingled.
Curry flavoured rice pud - no thanks!

Breadmaker = Panasonic - it really is the most reliable for good results.
Mixer - buy a hand mixer with whisk and dough hook attachments. You shouldn't need any more than that for cakes/biscuits.

I find that a slosh of vegetable or olive oil around the blade before you add the rest of your breadmaking ingredients helps the bread come away more neatly from the blade without taking a big chunk of the loaf with it. Took me several years to work that one out though.

I have a Kenwood breadmaker that must have about 1500 loaves on the clock by now (6 yrs) but if I needed to replace it I'd get a Panasonic - I've tasted the results. No way could I do bread if I was in charge of rising, putting in tins, etc.

Have a cheap food processor that was a wedding present, use it a lot for cakes, burger/meatball type stuff, crumble, liquidising soup. But a good handheld mixer might be good for those things.

Have a slow cooker but can never figure out what to cook in the darn thing.

have you cupboard space for all these gadgets?

I am abig fan of my Kenwood 250 breadmaker. Not tasted Panasonic so can't compare there, but its a lot better than the 2 previous breadmakers we have owned.

D'oh - when I said my Kenwood was DS's grandma's I meant it was DH's grandma's.

Another vote for the Panasonic breadmaker here!

I love my Kenwood Chef. TBH, I've never seen the need for a separate breadmaker, and it seems up to the job of mixing the dough. Plus you can get all the gadgets, should you feel the need to mince or whatever.

We have a slow cooker that doubles as a rice cooker, and we use the rice cooker all the time (far more than the slow cooker, actually). It also, apparently makes porridge,a nd can be used as a steamer. I think it's a Tefal. Anyway, cannot recommend a rice cooker highly enough. I have always been crapola at cooking rice and I now have perfect fluffy rice that sits and waits nicely until everything else is ready.