Food Processor or Mixer: Magimix or Kenwood

billieboy_2

I would say I use mine equally and wouldn't want to choose between the two. I have a Kenwood food processor and a Kenwood Patissier. The fp I use for pastry, chopping large quantities of onions, grating carrots, mincing meat, making breadcrumbs, etc; the Patissier I use for cake mixes, mashed potatoes:D, merinques, cream, etc. I have to admit I have one of those Kenwood mini choppers as well . They were selling them for £14 at the good Food Show a couple of years ago and, as I had some birthday money left, I got one. It's very useful for small quantities of things (onions, nuts, herbs, spices). This doesn't help at all does it?;)

HoneyBee83

billieboy wrote: »

This doesn't help at all does it?;)

Haha yes it does! It all helps,i would love to have both,problem solved but money-wise a little greedy for me myself and i!

maryb

Dissenting opinion here - I have both Kenwood Chef and a Braun Multipractic food processor. Unfortunately they don't make the Braun anymore and I dread the day it dies as I use it nearly every day but mostly only use the Kenwood when a baking urge comes over me.

chopping onions and carrot for a chilli then whizzing tinned tomatoes is a typical use and means I can get a chilli made in about 15 minutes. It makes brilliant pastry, too. The Kenwood made very good bread dough but since I got my breadmaker I don't use it for that. Finally I make a lot of soup and hummous and I couldn't use the Kenwood for that

lostinrates

Kevie192 wrote: »

Have you looked in Argos to see what each one even does?

A mixer will be good, as you say, for cakes, dough, meringue etc. but a processor is a completely different beast! A processor is more used for chopping etc. and certainly not for cakes!

Although it is very good at some things that break the back of cakes....creaming butter and sugar for example, especially if there is citrus rind in the mix, I find a whizz in the processor excellent for really releasing the citrus oils into the sugar: much easier than grating.

I have neither, but have enjoyed having access to my mothers processor. I do have a hand held mixer, which cost less than a fiver, and I'm happy to keep baking with that. I think I will eventually go for a FP first, because its useful for a lot of the sort of food one can batch cook...chopping large quantities of veg, for things like making smooth pates.

I love baking, even when I have to do a lot of it, and its worth the mixing (and the hand mixer or even a whisk has the small virtue of using some of the calories you are baking up!). I love cooking too, but love that in the FP I can, for example, get veg to hide (I used to whizz carrots, celery and onion into invisibility into almost everything when I took care of children), and deal with quantity of day to day food for the freezer.


I think it depends on how you cook.

[Deleted User]

I have a food processor which I use very rarely although I bake a lot (I was cooking for 6 until recently). I used it more often when it first came into the house but when making cakes or pastry I didn't find it much quicker by the time I got it assembled and then had all the parts to wash (not all bits could go in dishwasher). I thought it saved work but not time which was more valuable to me. It is very good for grating large quantities of carrot or cheese (but I was always annoyed at the litle end bits left ungrated). Large amounts of cheese were stored in the fridge in boxes that needed to be washed up so now but I usually just use a box grater to grate what I need. I find a stick blender and hand held mixer do all the tasks I need. I did want a food mixer for bread dough but reconsidered and use a bread maker for some things and continue by hand for special recipes (hot cross buns etc).

I think a lot depends on your lifestyle and how much chopping, grating and baking you are doing.

kunekune

I have a magimix, which I absolutely adore. It's good for cakes, and pizza dough, but also does chopping quite well. However, if you are not wanting to spend too much money, could you maybe go for some different things for different jobs? For chopping, the kenwood mini is fab, and under £20. Then add a stick blender (if you need something of that kind) and then a mixer.

babyboysmommy

I have a Kenwood Chef & it gets a lot of use, very very happy with it. You can get many attachments for enabling it to do all the functions of a food processor. I haven't bothered with most of them, just the ones I'd genuinely use regularly.

wogglemaker

I recently invested in a food processor (hubby insisted on a direct drive not belt driven - so more expensive).

I find it invaluable especialy for batch baking, today I whipped up cakes as follows (2 of each) cherry, coconut, ginger,and mixed fruit. They are now in the freezer ready to go up to dad at the weekend, he lives on his own and mum was a fantastic cook so he likes homemade cakes.

Due to lung problems I gave up making cakes ages ago - I did not have the energy, with my fp all I have to remember is to add fuit etc after creaming togeather the other ingredients and it works like a dream.

It has so many other uses also, though I aadmit there is enough space on my work surfaces to leave it out with the most used attachments ready to go which saves time.

annie12

Hi, I'm looking to buy a mixer.
I have looked to the Kitchenaid one, but wanted to know other's opinions.
Which have you got & what would you recommend?

cyclingyorkie

Can you define mixer please?

We have the James Martin hand mixer - it's brilliant!

We bought it when DD2 signed up to do Food Tech GCSE 3 years ago and it has done everything we ask of it!