What new kitchen appliance do I need (please say kitchenaid...)

[elliott]

I am feeling a bit thick about what various food related kitchen appliances will do for me.
I would like something that will:

• help with baking - cake mixes, batters etc

-whisk eggs and cream

• ?do pastry (maybe, this might be wishful thinking)
• chop up herbs/spices/nuts/onions

I currently have an old food processor which isn't good for cakes, and I use mainly to chop up onions very finely for fussy ds1; a hand blender which I basically use for most mixing/whisking jobs; and a blender which tbh I don't use very much as its no good at chopping the kind of things I want it to; a hand blender that I use quite a lot for sauces and soups.

What new appliance woudl change my life? Particularly wrt baking?
Kitchenaid? Kenwood chef??

Sorry, don't know Elliott but I'm hoping somebody will be along soon so I'm going to line up next to you.

Also, anybody know the difference between the KitchenAid mixer and the KitchenAid Artisan mixer? Besides humungous price difference I mean.

Hello there

The Kitchenaid won't chop - a Magimix is a better bet for an all-singing answer to your prayers.

I don't think there's any difference between the Kitchenaid & the Artisan - perhaps one has a splash guard on the bowl if I remember correctly. I reckoned I'd usually leave that off anyway.

I actually have a Magimix and a Kitchenaid but if I had to choose one I'd have the Magimix - it does everything.

Worth shopping around for both machines - I got my Kitchenaid cheap because it wasn't an Artisan and it wasn't a trendy colour, and the older style Magimix is just as good but cheaper.

HTH & happy baking!

Oh, and they both do pastry (I take it you mean shortcrust!).

OK, so what will a magimix do for me that my old food processor won't? One thing that annoys me about the food processor is the shape of the bowl, with the funnel in the middle - makes it difficult to do mixes imo.

kenwood chef..

Kenwood chef with a chopper attachment would do everything you want. cake mixes and whisking perfect, pastry very good (don't over-mix, obv), small chopper attachment sits on top and is perfect for small quantities - you have to buy this separately - and it comes with a liquidiser, which is essentially a jug blender, and will chop onions ok, plus do things like make caster sugar.

I don't know much about kitchen aids, other than the bewildering range of colours and the fact that they're shiny, but I suppose they might have similar attachments...

this is the chopper attachment - handy as it has 3 jars and lids, so you can store what you chop.

I love my Kenwood - my mum's is nearly 40 years old and still going strong.

Actually,isn't a Kenwood Chef made by the same people as Kitchenaid? First thing DH said when I took my treasured Kitchenaid out the box - 'Looks just like my mum's old Kenwood Chef'....

If you want an open bowl type thingy get a Kenwood Chef or (now I know you won't like this idea but just go with it) ...

get a Kitchenaid.

They are nice.

They are easy to use....

They have reliability issues which the Magimix don't......

but...

they are nice.....

Pah to "nice" - Kenwoods stand the test of time. I laugh at your beautifully coloured unreliable mixers...

Actually, I didn't know that KAs had reliability issues - that does surprise me. If I was going for a food processor I'd get a magimix - I have an old kenwood one that comes out for coleslaw, etc, but use the chef for everything else, including making bread, which I'm not sure a magimix would handle.

just got my kenwood chef and have loved it so far - cakes bread - mixing chopping, blending.

Pah - my Magimix has a dough blade (but I do use my Kitchenaid for bread tbh).

It's not my fault I am a sad kitchen appliance collector. Don't pick on me just cos of that

Nobody's recommended the super-poncy Cuisinarts, have they? See, even I don't have one of those...

The latest kenwood chefs have a food processor thingy that sits on the top (which you buy separately). I invested this summer and it has been wonderful, used nearly every day.

Well, I think it is going to have to be a kenwood chef, isn't it? With added chopper of course. Will it do grating/slicing?
Dh won't approve though. And it will be our third blender (I really don't need another blender...) boogeek what model did you get?

They're just not as pretty as kitchenaids though are they?

No, it doesn't do grating/slicing - you could check for attachments. They're not pretty, no. That's because they are Proper Kitchen Machines for Real Cooking

Get both - Keep the Kitchen Aid on your counter and the Kenwood in the cupboard

err, that'll be a mere £600 then?
I think not...

Just for the record, mine is neither pink nor turquoise! Pah!

It'll be mauve, then. or ochre. Or some other dulux colour. Industrial style stainless steel, missy, that's what you want.

Mine is stainless steel and very beautiful. It grates and slices (you get a gratey slicey plate with the FP attachment). I paid £279 for the KM010 machine/liquidiser/food processor (and then bought a multimill and an icecream maker)

I have a KitchenAid (red, shiny, beautiful, mmmm) that I use for bread and baking, it is fantastic. And a Braun multiquick which I use for anything else.

There's a lot of Kitchenaid/Kenwood chat on Mumsnet at the moment, isn't there? Prompted me to make a lemon polenta cake today and give 'her' (ahem) a good clean and polish afterwards.

It's me trying to create a new MN schism, hj. I just don't think there are enough.

And 'her'??!! Nuff said, lady.

You're right Habbibu! Who needs SAHM/WOHM, Breast/Bottle, when you the really important issue is whether your appliances are sensible and reliable(pah) or shiny and slightly impractical!

I'd better not tell you her name or you'll think I have wierd gadget issues.

Okay, guys, I feel the need to share with you the fact that my Kitchenaid is cream. Just plain cream, okay?

And my Magimix - stainless steel - ha! Gotcha!

Feel better now. Do agree with the female gender though for my KA though- whereas the Magimix - strong, brooding, serious workhorse that one. Kind of a Sean Bean on my worktop. If only..............

Oh dear,I have a feeling my Braun multiquick doesn't really come up to scratch with 'strong, brooding and serious..'