Kitchen Mixer Help

Oh I have missed my Kenwood mixer from the time I lived in Italy for 3 1/2 years!! Thank God for Delonghi! Being a personal chef, I had been depending on my 1994 KitchenAid Professional mixer for quite a while now. But have never been fully satisfied with the power, size or ease of use of the machine. So when I started looking for a new mixer I compared all brands of the professional brands out there. Heard to many negative reviews on KitchenAid (motor, etc.) and from personal experience hated that it still had the lift bowl that is only 6 quarts. Turned to Viking and again was hit with negative reviews again (didn’t reach bottom of bowl, loud motor, overheating, etc.). Finally started looking for a Kenwood mixer, only to find that Delonghi had taken over the Kenwood name in America for a few years now.

The Delonghi Stand Mixer is sold under license by Delonghi USA, and is made by the Kenwood UK Company as the “Kenwood Chef” in Great Britain. Delonghi has a fabulous reputation and that they have chosen to associate themselves with Kenwood UK adds even more respectibility to this outstanding machine. This workhorse of a mixer features a solid metal body with tilting head, 710 watts of power (about 3/4 horsepower), planetary mixing action, variable speed with a “pulse” setting, 3 mixing attachments, 3 more outlets for accessories, a 10 year warranty on the motor and 1 year on the complete machine, a stainless steel bowl with a 5 pint capacity (that is 5 imperial 20 floz. pints I believe, not US 16 floz. pints), an overload protection feature, and attractive European styling (mine is stainless steel/white). This mixer is not designed to sit on your counter looking pretty and colourful, it is designed to sit on your counter and be worked hard every day for decades.

This is the legendary Kenwood with the 700-watt motor. The regular Kitchenaid has a 300-watt motor-less than half the power. Even the “professional” Kitchenaid has just 525 Watts, and it lacks the Delonghi’s tip-up head–making access to the bowl a nuisance.

If you only use a mixer for beating eggs or mixing cakes, and could really get by with a hand-mixer, but want a stand mixer that comes in pretty colors from a company that has paid lots for celebrity chef endorsements, and don’t mind paying more money for less power, convenience and reliability, get a Kitchenaid.

I received my DSM7 through a website. When it arrived, I was ecstatic… I had previously researched it and had realized that it was actually a Kenwood mixer (from Great Britain) private labeled by Delonghi in a branding deal. I was soon to find out that the Kenwood quality doesn’t hold much sway in the States.

The planetary gear (just inside the moving attachment holder) snapped on my first dough recipe. I was far within the maximum recommended dough weight, and I kept the mixer on the 2 setting as recommended, then I heard an awful “crack” and then a grinding sound. Ends up, the planetary gear is made of plastic so it will fail instead of the gear train, so it failed as engineered, just too far below specifications.

Bosch MUM 6610 Universal Mixer

Our 17-year old Sunbeam stand mixer died in a cloud of smoke just before Christmas, victim of my 13-year old son’s batch of gingerbread dough. I was quite cheerful about this because I like to bake with the kids, and the old Sunbeam didn’t have enough power for heavy mixing, plus I was concerned about little fingers near the twin beaters. I had been admiring Costco’s enormous heavy-duty 450 watt KitchenAid mixer for a couple of years, and now I could justify buying one.

Key Features
Mixer Type
Stand
Speed Settings
7 Speeds

Other Features
Power Output
800 Watts
Bowl Size
7.08 quart (6.7 liter)

Dimensions
Height
15.75 in.
Width
13.78 in.
Depth
9.84 in.

Miscellaneous
20805634

Details

With 650 watts of power, rugged all-metal casing and gears, and a half-century of British engineering and experience behind it, this stand mixer–among the most powerful on the market–has an international reputation for reliability, versatility, and durability. Both it and Kenwood’s 5-quart, 650-watt Chef Classic grace many a household and professional kitchen. All Kenwood mixers feature "planetary" action: tools rotate in one direction, while the tool socket rotates in the other, guaranteeing thorough mixing. In addition to the standard fixture for inserting beater, whisk, and dough hook, Kenwood mixers have three other outlets (concealed when not in use) to accommodate some 25 attachments such as a potato peeler, juicer, slicer/shredder, pasta maker, and sausage maker (the attachments must be purchased separately).

Product

DSM7

Key Features
Mixer Type
Stand
Speed Settings
6 Speeds

Other Features
Bowl Size
7 quart (6.6 liter)

Dimensions
Height
13.5 in.
Width
16 in.
Depth
9.37 in.

Miscellaneous
22903902

Details

The DeLonghi DSM-7 stand mixer (formerly the Kenwood Major Classic) offers legendary power and reliability to discerning home chefs. Since acquiring Kenwood in 2001, DeLonghi has updated the name and added valuable new features to this gourmet stand mixer, while maintaining the legendary power and quality that made the Kenwood mixer so famous.

I believe in purchasing the best quality tool that I can afford, and keeping it for a lifetime. Hopefully that will be true of my new Kitchen Aid Mixer. I’ve had this Cobalt Blue mixer for a year now, and it seems like there’s nothing it can’t do.

PROS

I bought it primarily to bake bread. Every week, I’m making bread by hand. It is such a joy to use this machine to mix and knead the dough. Sure beats kneading by hand. I’ve made about 30 batches of bread and any mistakes are on my part.

This year I purchased a Kenwood mixer for doing my holiday baking. I already have a KitchenAid mixer, but wanted something larger and more powerful. The KitchenAid I have only has a 3.5 quart capacity, and has 325 watts of power. I make a LOT of holiday goodies and the KitchenAid just wasn”t enough.

Product

DSM5

Key Features
Mixer Type
Stand
Speed Settings
6 Speeds

Other Features
Bowl Size
5 quart (4.7 liter)

Dimensions
Height
11.7 in.
Width
15.75 in.
Depth
9 in.

Miscellaneous
22904211

Details

The DeLonghi DSM-5 stand mixer (formerly the Kenwood Chef Classic) sets the standard for home mixers. Since acquiring Kenwood in 2001, DeLonghi has updated the name and added valuable new features to this gourmet stand mixer, while maintaining the legendary power and quality that made the Kenwood mixer so famous.

The price : $340.00