Kenwood Chef - do I/don't I?

Addiscomber

lemonade_money wrote: »

I'd like to be able to do basic things (that I really hate doing) like grating but also pasta making too. Would this be possible only through buying the attachments? Or would I be better off without it - just buying a pasta maker (lakeland have one for £20) and continue doing all the other bits and bobs how I am doing it now?

The basic tools enable you to mix, whisk and knead. To grate or make pasta you would have to buy extra attachments. Now I am a Chef fan and have had a 901 for over 20 years, and I bought a 7 series Major last year through Ebay while my son had a fit of wanting home-made bread for sandwiches, however in my view the attachments are more expensive (unless you manage to get them through Ebay) than something like a separate food processor or pasta maker, and you need to store them, which can be a bit frustrating as they usually have several parts. If I recall correctly Thriftlady decided that the capacity of the food processor attachment was a bit small?

annie-c

The food processor attachment is very small and I find it much more fiddly to use than my old standalone one because it sits high up on the top of the chef, and I am short at 5' 4" so has to be taken off frequently to stir the contents, as opposed to my old Morphy Richards pulse which I could 'stand over'.

I would say only spend the money on one (yours or anyone else's money!) if you're sure you have space and will use it. Mine (which was half price at £175 in Lakeland!) is nice to have but I don't 'need' it. And the attachments, which cost a pretty penny, even second hand on ebay, take up LOTS of cupboard room, even with the main machine permanently on the work top.

alice's_mum

Not sure what she thinks I'm gonna do with it! It still goes the motor sounds ok, though there is a terrible smell, probably from not being used for 15 or so years. I don't really do cake making - we're not a great cake eaters. It's come with a k shaped thing and balloon type thing and a liquidiser. Anyone any ideas as to what I should do with it. - OH thinks I should stick it on ebay is this a realistic thing to do - it must weigh a tonne to post. Don't even know what number it is they all seem to have numbers on ebay.

Thanks Liz

Barneysmom

Have you got a picture of it, it's probably a 702. Has it got a dark blue trim? You don't need the number of it. The smell will be the old bearing grease.
I want one of those.
Just trying to calculate diesel cost from Stoke to Liverpool

judy2357

Not dont put it on Ebay, Ive got one from the 70s/80s and if you know the basic recipes eg pastry, scones, bun mixture it will be of use to you. Having said that it depends on whether you like cooking. I have cleaned mine up and its on the table waiting to go, used it several years ago when children were small but its been sitting unused ever since. I cant bear to part with it and am determined to bake soon. !!!

Bitsy_Beans

Sounds like the one my mum gave me (and I know that one is definately from the late 70's). Still going strong though - she used it all the time when I was growing up and I use it every week myself. It can be our new family heirloom!!

kazmeister

My partner inherited one from his late mother - I hate it, my mother had one and it was sooo cumbersome. He's used it about 3 times in 2 years and thats after getting a replacement glass liquidiser jug off ebay as I dropped the original one :eek: . I do a lot of baking and find a normal electric whisk plenty good enough for what I make.

Would love to see the back of "the dinosaur" as its known

hotcookie101

I have my Gran's old Kenwood chef, still going strong although hardly used enough (maybe thats for the best considering how bad cakes are lol)

The thing is-she bought it because she was so jealous of my mum's, which was a wedding present. One of the ones with the ceramic bowl. Still working well. Parents been married for 35 years!!

Kenwoods rock! I am still on the lookout for a dough hook though..

cherie1122

I agree, Kenwoods rock!!!!! My mother in law gave me one and also included the original book of recipes with it. I use it most weeks and love it.

It has a liquidiser attachment which is great for converting granulated sugar to caster sugar (don't leave it too long though or you get what looks like icing sugar LOL)

:T

catnap53

I bought mine in 1979, it was well used for many years, all bread, wedding cakes etc, then after two more children close together, working full time and with a bad back, I virtually gave up baking. It sat on the worktop until DH bought a George Forman grill and needed the space, so it went in the cupboard.

Recently found OS and started cooking and baking again. Although I love kneading bread by hand I have found it impossible to even mix more than a pound of flour at a time, (sore wrists) so decided yesterday to resurrect the chef.

Got it out, cleaned it up, (and the rest of the cupboard while I was there), turned it on and got blue smoke and a burning smell :eek: .

So then I was all fired up to use it, and feeling that I had wasted my time.

Anyway, then did a bit of internet research for prices and decided that I really needed one. Needed to go into town to drop off DS, so thought we could go to look in JL, (199 pounds for the classic), but called into Costco on the way to see if they had one. They had the KM560 for 211 and I couldn't remember what the difference was apart from the motor (1000 watt v 800 watt), or the price. I decided that after taking into account extra petrol and parking to go to JL, (and other temptations) it would cost about 5 pounds more to just go for the Costco one, and they would be shut after going to JL and would need another trip whichever I then decided. DH agreed to fund the purchase temporarily (I needed to have used CC), so bought the KM560.

Checked JL price before unpacking (so I could take it back) and it would have been 299, which I would never have paid.

It has a glass liquidiser, and the new flexible K beater that is said to get right to the edges of the bowl. My old bowl fits, so I can have two batches or different types of bread proving at the same time without transferring, and I think the old liquidiser fits too, so could sell the glass one.

Unfortunately, I think I binned my mincer attachment when we needed some space in the kitchen about two years ago, never thought I would use it again. There is an outside chance it is in the loft, but I don't hold out much hope.

I am now off to mix a cake before going into bread mode, just to start it off gently.

Zzzz