The infamous Kitchenaid vs Kenwood debate

Mazzawa

Hello you lovely people!

I have done a quick search for this topic but cannot find a nice recent answer to my "dilemma".

Because I have been extra careful with the pennies I have been granted permission to buy myself something nice, and since I am trying to bake more stuff rather than buy it I figured some sort of food mixer would be a wise investment. The two I am debating between are the predictable Kitchenaid Artisan, and a Kenwood Chef or Major Titanium. I am looking for opinions from people who have used a newish one recently - since things are not made like they used to be, a 40 year old kenwood that is still wonderful isn't a very good comparison to one made today and as much as I would like to buy now and be buried with it I know that this probably wont be the case. It is a lot of money to spend so need lots of help! If I get a Kitchenaid I will need to get a food processor in the future to stop me hating rubbing in butter/making pastes out of spices, whereas the Kenwood comes with one but no idea how durable it is.

Besides a heavy fruit cake mix, I would like to make bread more than I do and as I have a bad shoulder would like a machine to do most of the kneading for me. Most dough I would make would be for a 2lb loaf and no more, but want a machine that can knead it without blowing itself up.

Help please! I love the look of the KA, but I would not sacrifice substance for style, afterall at over £400 for a fancy whisk it needs to do the job!

M x

Molly41

Try HERE

pelirocco

I had an old Kenwood , and then bought a shiny new red Kitchenaid . Big mistake , in my opinion the Kenwood wins hands down

Essex-girl_2

Kenwood definitely you can get the new stand alone ones which do look like the Kitchenaid and at least with Kenwood spares are easy to get

beetlebug1

hi

i have a kitchenaid, christmas present 3 years ago and i LOVE it!!!

i make alot of cakes and recently have been making my own bread. yesterday 24 cupcakes, 2lb white bread dough, 2lb granary bread dough and some shortcrust pastry. its a tough machine says the person who killed a braun mutipactic & a moulinex ovario.

i have a dualit muti tool for chopping and makingcurry pastes

my machine makes me smile

suze72

I got a new Kenwood for xmas after years of having an older one which was getting a bit tatty.

So far I've made cakes and meringue and have used the dough hook for bread, and I have to say it's just as good as the old one. Haven't used the blender attachment yet though so can't comment on that.

Suze

Callie22

My stepdad bought my mum the Titanium Kenwood for Christmas and it's a fantastic piece of kit - very solid and sturdy, and there's an incredible array of attachments that you can buy for it. I think if you do a lot of baking and cooking, then this might be a good investment.

But if I was buying for myself then I'd probably go for a Kitchen Aid, just because I love the way they look (candy apple red, glass bowl lol).

becs

I have the kitchenaid and do loads of bread, cakes, pastry, meringues and pasta in mine. I love all the attachments you can get so you can do s much with it. I have a small kmix food processor with stick blender attachment also. I used the food processor once to cut some cabbage and grate carrot for coleslaw. It was such a palava I never bothered again! However the stick blender is used frequently.

nuatha

One option might be to find a refurbished Kenwood 701, there's even custom paint work ones around.
I have a KM201 that is worked very hard (My 701 departed with an Ex) if as and when I need to replace it I'll be looking for a 701a (assuming I don't have the budget for a Hobart).
The Spice/Coffee Mill attachment will make pastes, and I've found the K beater to do a pretty reasonable job of rubbing in - it does take a little longer than my food processor.
I'd look at spending part of that budget on accessories, but I have never been accused of having a eye for beauty.

sistercas

i have a kenwood chef , and i couldnt live without it , i make bread, pasta, buns, cakes , it mashes my potatoes its fantastic

never tried a kitchenaid though

Flora_Poste

I have had my Kitchenaid Artisan for over five years and it's perfect. It's used a couple of times a week so it's always out. I'm just a regular 'mum cook' and it makes all the cakes pastry and bread that we eat. I will admit part of my reasoning was that it looks so nice on the worktop but it's never failed practically so it's the best of both worlds for me.