Kenwood Chef - do I/don't I?

Agapanthus

I was given a new Chef for Christmas last year. It's lovely! The blender and bowl are bigger than on my old 901, so I can do larger batches at a time. It's quieter and starts more slowly, so it doesn't throw stuff everywhere (though it also has a cover to put on the bowl to stop that happening, which the 901 didn't). It has a food processor attachment, but I've only used that once - the basic chef and blender seems to do most things.

The Chef's best attachment (for all the different models), in my view, is the sieve. I put loads of plums through it the other day, to make Chinese plum sauce. It's very good for making passata with tomatoes, too. Just set it going and it removes all the stones/seeds/skins and leaves you with the puree. Magic!

lapis_lazuli

Just a question to anyone who knows: why is the maximum limit for stiff bread dough still 3lbs? It's been 30 years since the A901 reached this capacity. Surely the newer machines should have more clout? :think:

Doc_N

An interesting thread. Any thoughts from users on whether to go for the KM010 or the larger KM020?

I'd also be interested to hear about Kenwood reliability these days (I'm wondering whether a £50 add-on 5 year warranty's a good idea). I know the old machines made back in the 60s and 70s (made in GB) used to go on for ever, but I hear very mixed reports of the life expectancy of today's machines. They don't seem to be lasting anything like as well.