Kenwood kMix Stand Mixer Review

*Runs in* “I have a Kenwood kMix stand mixer!” *Runs out…*

A few weeks ago, I received an email from AO.com, telling me my lovely friend Reneé, who blogs at ‘Mummy Tries,’ had nominated me for a Christmas gifting challenge. Oooh, exciting! Once I’d accepted the challenge (obviously!), Reneé and I were sent a list of 10 products that are forecast to be really popular this Christmas, and we were asked to pick our top 3 gifts for each other. AO then took care of the final decision and our surprises were delivered.

I have no idea what three products Reneé picked for me, but what arrived at my door 2 weeks ago was perfection in a box: the Kenwood kMix stand mixer. I might have squealed a little (OK, a lot) at the delivery man when he put it in my front room.

I cook and bake a lot, but my kitchen is absolutely tiny, impractical and has a very limited amount of storage space, so despite swooning over the idea of a stand mixer on a regular basis, it is not something I had considered using in my less-than-perfect kitchen.

Until 2 weeks ago, what I was using when making cakes, meringues, mayonnaise or macarons was a handheld whisk my mum brought back from France about 10 years ago. It was doing its job, but the whisks kept breaking and after replacing them twice, I was working with a single whisk (should have been two). Now if I have to compare my old whisk and the Kenwood kMix stand mixer, I would say it was just like moving from my first car, a battered and unreliable Ford Escort to a shiny new Range Rover. Happy, moi?

When Crevette and I first opened the humongous box (it was a very large box!), I was surprised by the box contents: it wasn’t full of fiddly bits and bobs. Instead, all it contained was the mixer stand, a large glass bowl, a whisk, a beater tool, a dough hook, a spatula and splash guard. That is it.

It is all made to a high standard and incredibly sturdy. This baby was built to last! In the disposable age we live in, I love having a few bits and bobs I know will stand the test of time, like my Vitamix blender, my good old le Creuset casserole dish or my shiny new stand mixer. Although it is a large item, it slots in beautifully on my tiny kitchen counter.

It is an investment, with a price tag currently just under £400, but it is an item that will be used all the time, and will probably never have to be replaced. It’s also a multipurpose buy, as in the future, we could get extra attachments to grate (veg, cheese), make pasta or mince meat. Crevette was overexcited at the range of accessories we could add to our collection (he’s worse than me!).

To give us an idea of its performance, Crevette and I made one of our favourite cakes using it, our lemon drizzle cake. It took no time at all to put the dough together, and the finished cake was light, fluffy and quite frankly delicious.

In short,
Pros:
1000 Watt power output
simple to operate
well built
stylish, timeless style
whisk: perfect for lighter mixtures
dough hook for breads and pastries
variable speed settings for complete control over your mix
2.7kg cake mix capacity
1.3kg dough capacity

Cons:
Price tag
Heavy

Check out our little video and lemon drizzle cake recipe:

Disclosure: AO sent me the Kenwood kMix stand mixer free of charge, but I was not compensated in any other way for this review. As always, all opinions and photos are my own. Find out more about Black Friday with AO here.