Kenwood or KitchenAid?

[drpiggledy]

The Kenwood vs KitchenAid mixer seems to be a great divider between homecooks and professional chefs alike. You have to pick one and stick with your brand and defend it until the end of your days. Switching, as far as I'm aware, is not allowed.

Okay, I obviously exaggerate a bit, but in my experience people tend to have a strong preference for one or the other.

I have a Kenwood Chef myself. The choice was mainly one of finances. I got a very good deal on the Chef in the after Christmas sales a few years back, and the machine is a bit cheaper than the KitchenAid equivalent anyway.

That being said, I'm very happy with my Chef. It gets used nearly every day, especially as I try to bake most of the bread for my family myself. No way I could keep that up without a decent mixer. It is also invaluable for any kind of other baking, and I use the blender and mincer attachments quite a bit.

As happy as I am with my Chef, I do confess I sometimes look at KitchenAids with a bit of envy. They are so pretty! I've never used one so can't compare how they perform, but they certainly look good. KitchenAid also seems to spend a good bit on product placement as they tend to turn up in the kitchens of TV chefs.

So, which do others here prefer? KitchenAid or Kenwood? I'd love to hear from someone who has actually used both and can tell us how the two actually compare.

 

[Berties]

Kitchen aid if it goes wrong can be only mended by kitchen aid hence a £10 bit will cost £80 with courier etc as a ken wood can be mended by your local appliance centre,I use a kitchen aid and get the kenwood out when it goes wrong,and mine is used professionally ,just something to consider

 

[drpiggledy]

Kitchen aid if it goes wrong can be only mended by kitchen aid hence a £10 bit will cost £80 with courier etc as a ken wood can be mended by your local appliance centre,I use a kitchen aid and get the kenwood out when it goes wrong,and mine is used professionally ,just something to consider

That's very interesting I had no idea. And certainly for the home cook that sort of cost would be an important consideration.

You say the KitchenAid is your first choice professionally. So does that mean you think it's better?

 

[Berties]

That's very interesting I had no idea. And certainly for the home cook that sort of cost would be an important consideration.

You say the KitchenAid is your first choice professionally. So does that mean you think it's better?

they are a better machine,more constant in its gearing,look better like the bowels with the collars,all metal .i just like them,just don't like having to send them away to be mended,though you can change the brushes on them your self

 

[Alex H]

I voted for Kenwood

I've had 3 Kenwood's in the last 40 years and fixed 2 of them myself (electronics go 'dry' after a few years and the machine will smoke when switched on)

 

[OhioTom76]

I think most Kenwood products are just made by other manufacturers and rebranded with the Kenwood name. I think Cuisinart makes some of the Kenwood products for example.

 

[Alex H]

I think most Kenwood products are just made by other manufacturers and rebranded with the Kenwood name. I think Cuisinart makes some of the Kenwood products for example.

That may be the case now, but the Kenwood I recently bought is at least 20 years old , so is a 'real' one.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Kenwood here as well. Used to have a really old one (I bought it back 20 years ago for £25 and it was antique then!), but sold it when we went off to cycle around the world. When we came back it was replaced with an even older one which was doing fine until it jumped off the counter and found the floor... it lasted another couple of months after that, but as soon as it gave up the ghost (a terminal failure) I had to replace it with another one. My original one is still going strong with its new owner. Never greased it or anything like that and never had any problems with it either - other than one of the glass 'feet' chipping so the bowl did not fully clip into place and you had to hold it down if you were using the dough hook!