Eglu Cube Coop For Sale

[BarbaraJ]

and yes it was my idea lol i have just ordered a Classic KM336. I'm hoping it was a good choice, I'm sure someone on here can confirm but the reviews on Amazon were good

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000Q7ZCFK/ref=oss_product

[Snowy]

I've no idea about the new ones, mine is over 30 years old! But they look pretty much the same and mine is wonderful, a real workhorse, I'm sure you will love it!

[sparkysmum]

Mine is at least 20 yrs old & has never failed me. I bought it 2nd hand (£60, i thought it was dear) & is in constant use. Totally love it & I just know you will too. Alli xx

[BarbaraJ]

It's come already i've made 2 lots of cakes, so easy to use but so great!

[majorbloodnock]

In line with others' experiences, I'm a staunch supporter. Ours is about 20 years old, and my mother's is probably closer to 40, and both work flawlessly. Even more surprisingly, we can mix and match each others' Kenwood attachments, and almost all are still available to buy as replacement parts from Kenwood. To be honest, that's fantastic service in a market that's so geared up to disposability, and it's a godsend given how over-engineered the machine is overall (hence the longevity).

 

I can think of absolutely no downside whatsoever, although there are a few attachments I wouldn't bother with.

[purple hen]

We have just bought a 901 from local fast ads. It seems to be working perfectly though it looks well used.It came with a balloon whisk and a K blade and a potato peeling thing, we are definately planning to get a dough hook and possibly a mincer attachment. As the Major mentioned that some attachments are not as useful as others I would be grateful if anyone would share their opinions about which bits are good or not so good. Can't wait to try it out

[Snowy]

Mine is a 901. I have the two 'normal' mixer attachments, no dough hook. They both get used a lot - normal mixer for cakes, whisk for, well, whisking! I also have a mincer - it doesn't get used much, but is great when I do need it. Oh, and I have a blender jug that sits on top. Again, not over used, but often enough that I wouldn't be without it.

[majorbloodnock]

As the Major mentioned that some attachments are not as useful as others I would be grateful if anyone would share their opinions about which bits are good or not so good.

The dough hook is an absolute essential. Bread made from first principles, but mixed in the chef and baked in the oven is, in my opinion, much better than bread made in a bread maker, but not much more effort. Kneadless to say (sorry 'bout that....), it's pretty much unrecognisable from bought bread.

 

The mincer is excellent too; even more so when you realise it allows you to control what goes into your mince in the first place.

 

I have found the ice cream maker is very good and makes lovely smooth ices (blackcurrant being particularly velvety), but if you want to be even vaguely spontaneous in your ice making, you need to keep the bowl ready-frozen and that uses up a lot of freezer space.

 

The pasta attachment is as good as any that shape pasta by forcing dough through holes, but not a patch on a hand-operated pasta mangle thing which gets the surface tension right. In my opinion, this is an attachment best ignored.

 

The citrus juicer works well, but no better in my opinion than a similarly shaped wooden utensil you use by hand over a bowl. You save a little effort, I suppose, but it's far more of a faff to set up and then wash up that you probably need to juice three or four lemons before it even starts to look a sensible option.

 

The spice mill is a hidden gem; it's often forgotten, but as well as grinding spices well for curries and the like (and coffee beans for wonderful coffee), it's really effective at turning normal granulated sugar into caster or icing sugar (depending on how long you leave it).

 

However, the most useful Kenwood gadget I can think of is their spatula. No other I've found yet is quite the same combination of flexibility and stiffness that enables you to s"Ooops, word censored!"e bowls effectively. I've gone back several times to Kenwood and bought replacements.

[purple hen]

Thanks Snowy and Major,this forum is a great source of useful information, just off to search fleabay for a dough hook

[majorbloodnock]

Thanks Snowy and Major,this forum is a great source of useful information, just off to search fleabay for a dough hook

Actually, I'm amazed your chef didn't come with one already. It was a standard included attachment when we bought ours, although admittedly a lot can change in that time....

 

Here's the link to the 4Kenwood accessories and spares site; at under a tenner, I suspect there's little to be gained by trying to get an Ebay deal.

[Jules.]

Cheffies are really

 

I've had my 901 nearly 3 years now, after wanting one after seeing them on this forum. I bought it quite cheaply off eBay.

It's an Omlet must-have

 

I have the top blender which I use quite a bit. It's really good for making smoothies. I also have the whisk, K beater & dough hook, however I'd rather make dough in my bread maker as

1 I don't have to think about it, just wait 1 1/2 hours & its ready to shape & bake

2 The orginal bowl is a glass one, but the little slots where it fits onto the base are broken slightly, so the bowl does a merry dance when its mixing dough

 

I also have the slicer attachment, but don't really use it at all.

 

I would like a splatter guard

 

Enjoy your new chef.

 

edited to say my mum has a slightly newer model than mine. She got hers for free from freecycle

[purple hen]

Thanks for the link Major, I've ordered a dough hook, spatula, new base mat and some new rubber feet I imagine the original dough hook was disappeared by the kitchen drawer fairy at some point over the last 20 years Made a couple of cakes last night, they turned out very well though one of them seems to have been scoffed entirely already

[Clur]

I got a Kenwood Chef for Christmas and it's been used pretty solidly since then for cakes, biscuits and bread dough. It came with the blender (which I've not used yet), the dough hook, K-beater, whisk and splash-guard. The splash-guard is fab.

 

I'm thinking about getting the ice-cream maker - tempted, but worried it might languish in a drawer after the first couple of uses. Anyone else rate them?

[Eggasperated]

Not quite the same but i've got a Kitchenaid with an ice-cream attachment which I believe is similar to the Chef one; i've found that fantastic and use it loads I keep it permanently in my freezer so that I can make some icecream whenever I feel like it. As well as the recipe book that came with it I also use the Ben and Jerrys book (but with some adjustments as they don't cook the eggs and i feel it's best to do so) their recipes use whole eggs so you don't get lots of whites left over but on the other hand if you like meringues and macaroons you can never have too many egg whites .

[majorbloodnock]

To clarify, the Kenwood attachment is not an ice cream maker so much as an ice cream freezer. You still have to make the ice cream yourself, and the attachment just removes the hassle of remembering to take the ice out of the freezer and rewhisk to break up the ice crystals.

 

On the positive side, it performs its given task very well. The ice cream you get is nice and smooth, and takes no effort at all.

 

On the minus side...

 

• You have to freeze the bowl beforehand for several hours, so either you plan a day ahead for your ice cream making or you leave the cleaned bowl in the freezer permanently and lose that much freezer capacity for other uses.
  
• You have to let the bowl warm back up to room temperature before washing it up, so you'll have to leave a dirty bowl lying around in your kitchen for a while. Not a problem with a big kitchen, but can be a problem for those of us in cottages.
  
• Scratching the smooth freezing surface really mucks up the operation, so you need to store the bowl carefully to protect it.

 

In fact, it's not ice cream that is its biggest forte; you get far more benefit from it if you like sorbets, since they're far more dependent on the smooth texture that the ice cream maker is good at. Overall, I'm still glad we have one, but it's not the panacea it seems when you're buying it.