KitchenAid Mixers

Loki

Loki

Loki

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Joined
17 Nov 2004
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The Republic
Hey guys,

Looking to take the plunge on a kitchen aid mixer. Mainly for dough prep. Question to the community, are they worth the money. I bought an own brand one a few years back from Amazon and it's ok but nothing more.

Interested to get feedback from people who use them or experience of them.
 
I have one (Artisan, 300w model), I like it but I can't say I use it enough to justify it. My sister also has one but she bakes more and loves it. There are lots of fans for Kenwood too but I got the KitchenAid because partly of its reputation..

What is good are all the accessories you can get for it, from pasta cutter to mincer to ice cream attachment.

p.s. the glass bowl is pretty but heavy and easier to break. Great if you need to see what is inside, like for a YouTube video but unnecessary for home IMO.

I also just checked the price, these things just getting more and more expensive! I swear I paid £500 for one during the pandemic (2021)...it is now £600. I think my sister paid about £350 for hers, but like in 2010.
 
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K Mix household here! Ours still going strong after a decade. For some reason they seem to be heavily discounted at the moment online. Plenty for <£250. Not sure I could justify more than double for a Kitchenaid for our uses.
 
KitchenAid Bowl-lift have the best dough hooks, with Kitchenaid Artisan and Kenwood Chef close behind. KMix have arguably the weakest dough hook, but like @tom_nieto I absolutely love mine and have had zero issues in my ownership time, which is probably going on for 10-years at this point.

For bread, pizza and other dough - if buying new, I would go with Kenwood Chef. If you value aesthetics, KitchenAid.
 
Ours is great, very durable, probably repairable and gets results. Not sure they are good for commercial applications but at home it's been worth the investment. Looks good too so one less thing to put away.
 
alex24 said:
Ours is great, very durable, probably repairable and gets results. Not sure they are good for commercial applications but at home it's been worth the investment. Looks good too so one less thing to put away.
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They're top notch for home kitchens, rarely used commercially because you can get 10-20 litre planetary mixers from Hobart and Buffalo that are better suited to large scale cooking.

If I had use for one at home I'd buy a KitchenAid in a heartbeat. They're not that much more expensive than competing models, reliable, well made and look nicer.
 
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tom_nieto said:
K Mix household here! Ours still going strong after a decade. For some reason they seem to be heavily discounted at the moment online. Plenty for <£250. Not sure I could justify more than double for a Kitchenaid for our uses.
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My mums Kenwood is still going strong after more than 25 years, so much so, my sister bought the same old model off marketplace for about £30 and hers has been just as reliable. Couldn't tell you if they are still as well built but sounds like thye might be.
 
you have a kenwood that takes a spiral hook ?

as glitch said need a bowl-lift to accomodate a spiral dough hook and make dough - was out of budget for me,
but, trial 2nd hand chef is going strong for other tasks cake/pastry (albeit power control sometimes a bit sticky for pulsing pastry)


jpaul said:
stand mixer (kenwood chef) is great for creaming for cakes with flexi-beater, and food processor attachment for pastry,
bread - unfortunately most stand mixers (like kc) don't have spiral dough hooks, just these C things, so not much good for bread, even if I was prepared to then turn the oven on just for baking bread , can't bake bread in an air fryer - all videos show poor results. (top end KA's have spirals eg. https://momsbakingco.com/kitchenaid-dough-hook-vs-spiral/)

so use the Panasonic bread machine for both bread and pizza dough, very convenient , no mess and makes at least a loaf a week, not as good as the ~£3 artisanal loafs I could buy on the market at brownbread
but for 50p a loaf as good as any supermarket specials.

kenwood chefs are bullet proof, ours purchased 2nd hand, and 5+ years, in; Panasonic bread machines we've bought new, and not as robust.
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I use a bread machine for most of my dough work as it can be set to rise etc too, save using a warming oven or something. Just a wildcard option for you...
 
Kenwood K-Mix had the better reviews when we looked, so we got one of those. KitchenAid had a lot of reports about being underpowered and having QC issues at the time, plus it looks like something from the 1950s... which is great if you wanna get your Betty Crocker on or are watching that TV series about Julia Childs, but despite being quite rural nothing in our kitchen would match.
 
I also have a kenwood (chef titanium) going on 15 years. I use it mostly for dough (what I bought it for), although have other attachments. One thing to bear in mind, all stand mixers like this will probably get you 80 > 85% of the way there with dough. But the hooks (spiral, non-spiral, I have also used a KA for some months too) just can't get the right amount of gluten development.

If I can ever justify it (i.e. my kenwood dies or win the lottery) I'll probably get one of these bad boys for dough; https://www.bakerybits.co.uk/baking-equipment/mixers/ankarsrum-assistent-mixers

They are really built from the ground up for that particular job.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Kenwood K-Mix had the better reviews when we looked, so we got one of those. KitchenAid had a lot of reports about being underpowered and having QC issues at the time, plus it looks like something from the 1950s... which is great if you wanna get your Betty Crocker on or are watching that TV series about Julia Childs, but despite being quite rural nothing in our kitchen would match.
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Oi, steady on with the old.... I've updated mine now so it doesn't so much look like a pirate swishing his hand around the bowl hoping for better luck!
hooks-Copy.jpg

For the challenged types... it will fit the profile of the bowl better.
 
My Kitchenaid Artisan is still going strong for nearly a decade. Read lots it not meant for Pizza dough but not had an issue with it for the times I have used it for that. Works great for bakes and icing and what not. Also got the handmixer from KA and works very well for quick bits.

Have family who love their Kenwood mixers. Can't go wrong with either but the KA stands out in the kitchen as bright red :D
 
We use our kitchenaid artisan mixer exclusively for pizza dough.

Making dough is hard work, even for the kitchenaid, we made 4 batches one after another, and then found the dough hook was seized to the orbital mounting.

Warranty support was really good, hardest part was finding suitable packing. Kitchenaid collected the mixer then returned a new or refurbished one with a new dough hook. Amazing for making dough, just don’t make too many consecutive batches without giving it a break.
 
shephga said:
We use our kitchenaid artisan mixer exclusively for pizza dough.

Making dough is hard work, even for the kitchenaid, we made 4 batches one after another, and then found the dough hook was seized to the orbital mounting.

Warranty support was really good, hardest part was finding suitable packing. Kitchenaid collected the mixer then returned a new or refurbished one with a new dough hook. Amazing for making dough, just don’t make too many consecutive batches without giving it a break.
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How's it been since coming back? In recent weeks maybe due to the heat mine has struggled a bit so had to stop it half way. It's got a lot warmer and struggles. 60% hydration. It clumps around the dough hook. I've looked up spiral hooks but undecided yet.
 
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