KENWOOD Major Titanium KM020 Food processor

WEEZE210_2

Was just wondering if anyone had one of these food processors? They are quite pricey and wondered if it would be a good investment as we are really trying to cook from scratch and do more baking. The cheapest I've found it is £319 but the most expensive is Currys at £499.99!:eek:
Any thoughts?

helyg

I suppose it depends how much you would use it. If you would use it every day for the next 10 years it would work out at about 8p per use which isn't much if you look at it that way... Do you really need it though? I cook pretty much everything from scratch and do a lot of baking and get by with a combination of a cheap stick blender, a cheap electric hand whisk and a £30 mini Kenwood food processor. Much as I would love a big food processor I can't personally justify the cost.

HappyVirago

Well, I got a KM010 about a year ago and it's earnt its place on my worktop, definitely. However, I'd spent about 5 years cooking from scratch before I bought it and I'm not sure I would have used it as much if I'd bought it a few years ago, when I wasn't doing so much.

It's absolutely brilliant in my eyes but you need to have it out on the counter ready to use really, and it's big. The other thing is, the KM020 is bigger than the KM010 so you could save money by going for the KM010 unless you feel you need the extra capacity (mine is plenty big enough and I've been making MASSIVE cakes!). I would say if your cooking involves a lot of baking, as you say, it would be a very good thing for you.

Pitlanepiglet

I'll start by saying that I love my Kenwood chef! BUT I wouldn't buy the model that you're looking at, I think whilst it's lovely you could spend less money and still do the same things.

The high speed food processing attachment that I think comes with the model you're looking at is great, I have one that goes on my Chef BUT if you just want a food processor (so something to chop veggies etc) you can buy these much much cheaper so I think you need to think about what you want to do with your new toy?

The obvious point to make is that a Chef is nice but it doesn't do your cooking for you (shame that isn't it?!) and IMO it isn't the most obvious starting point to your journey to cooking from scratch it is though a great tool if you are planning to do lots of baking. I did make do for years just with a hand whisk though until I was sure that I was going to get my money's worth from a Chef.

Have you had chance to touch and feel the Major bowl? I found it was much too big for me to manage, I struggle to lift and manoeuvre my ordinary Chef bowl at times. I think the standard bowl is perfectly big enough.

Have a look at these people, they have good prices and I've always been really pleased with them. http://www.electricshopping.com/shop/kenwood/kenwood-store/mixers-food-processors/kenwood-chef-major/kenwood-chef-machines/kenwood-km336-chef-classic/index.html

You can buy a high speed slicer attachment for any of the models so you could buy the £210 Chef and then add a shredder for £44. I also bought the mincer as well and that is great. http://www.electricshopping.com/shop/kenwood/shop.do?cID=129&pn=2&sortProductsBy=

Happy shopping and cooking!

mandragora_2

You can get some great second hand Chefs on ebay - time when buy wisely you might pick one up for about £20, normally they go for £30-40. They are mechanical, rather than electronic, and so last a long time - if they break down they can almost always be fixed (capacitors can go bang! They cost about 50p each and a favour from someone who's good with electrics!). I've got one from the 70's - my oh stripped it out and gave it a thorough clean, and it works like a dream. HTH

pudding06

I love my kenwood food processor, which was a mothers day pressie from my OH, and was on sale for £99 in sainsburys. I use it almost every day, including for making cakes, etc. I had wanted a kenwood chef, but they are so expensive and bulky, that it was out of the question. I had a small electric mixer I could use but havent bothered since i got this one. It has a blender attachment which I also rarely use as the FP is so versatile. It makes brilliant pastry, soups, meringues and yorkshire pud batter, and i use it for prepping veg probably 6 days a week.. It also can make bread, and knead it, though Ive never tried it, I quite like the kneading bit myself.

maybe look at other models, work out what you really will want to use it for, and see what features and accessories it comes with,. I'm thrilled with mine and am glad I didnt go for the other one.

HTH
nicola

Barneysmom

I've got the Kenwood chef too and I love it dearly!
You could look on Amazon it's much much cheaper.......and if you have a Nectar card you'll get points via the Nectar website.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kenwood-Classic-KM336-Kitchen-Machine/dp/B000Q7ZCFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1254057132&sr=1-1

I also bought my son this last Christmas as I was so pleased with mine :cool:

valk_scot

I've got a Kenwood Chef, inherited from an old auntie. Over the years I've bought several attachments for it off Ebay...a liquidizer and high speed chopper/grater being the two most useful. It came with a dough hook, whisk and mixer blade. I use it almost every day. It lives out on the work surface which I feel is essential to using it regularly...it's a big heavy beast and awkward to lift in and out a cupboard.

I've never once thought the standard Chef bowl capacity too small. I think you only really need the Major if you have a really big family of seven or eight or are using it to do regular catering. Iit was created as a catering size Chef, remember. The one thing I did feel the need for was extra bowls. I have four bowls for my Chef now which is great when you're doing big batch bakes. I pick them up in charity shops or jumble sales. If you gor a Major you'd probably have to buy new ones and they would cost a lot.

A second hand Chef will set you back £30-£40 on Ebay and you can get great buys if you go for one with several attachments. As well as the chopper and liquidizer I have a potato peeler, juicer, mincer, sausage maker, pasta maker, spice grinder and I used to have the baby food jar attachments too, but gave them away when the kids got too old for baby food. I use all the above pretty regularly. If my old Chef (must be 20+ years old now) ever breaks down I'll be buying a new (or new second hand) one the next day, belive me. It's invaluable to me.

WEEZE210_2

Thankyou all for the replies, we are now looking at a slightly cheaper smaller model Kenwood KM010. My hubby is of the opinion that you get what you pay for so likes the fact that its made of metal instead of plastic which a lot of the cheaper ones are. It comes with a lot of attachments and of course we can buy anymore that we need.
We're still researching at the min but are definately being drawn to the metal and large motor of the KM010.
Any more opinions would be greatfully recieved

saverstacey

I bought the KM020 about a year ago and have rarely used it. I think I should have got the KM010 with the smaller bowl as I think it is using and washing the great big bowl that puts me off. With cakes/ batters etc I find that the beater leaves some flour etc unmixed at the bottom, despite altering the height etc. Any advice on this as if I could solve that I may be inclined to use it more???

Barneysmom

WEEZE210 wrote: »

Thankyou all for the replies, we are now looking at a slightly cheaper smaller model Kenwood KM010. My hubby is of the opinion that you get what you pay for so likes the fact that its made of metal instead of plastic which a lot of the cheaper ones are. It comes with a lot of attachments and of course we can buy anymore that we need.
We're still researching at the min but are definately being drawn to the metal and large motor of the KM010.
Any more opinions would be greatfully recieved

MY Chef Classic has a steel bowl. The difference is the bigger motor size which won't make any difference at all to everyday use, unless you are going to be baking a lot, maybe a hundred cakes a week it's a waste of money.
Like buying a bus when you only need a car?