which food processor

[grawrc]

My trusty food processor has finally kicked the bucket and I will need to replace it. I just wondered if anyone had any advice? I need a fairly big, robust one and I've been looking at Kitchen aid and magimix both of which have hefty price tags so I really don't want to get it wrong.

[grawrc]

[Trevor_D]

We got through three Brauns in about six years. We've now got a Magimix. It's pricey, but very sturdy. I think you've got to spend money on something like that - our Kenwood Chef is still going strong after 35 years!

[OllieC]

I bought a Kenwood Multi-pro a while back for about £70. Needed it to be quite small as our kitchen's not very big and it is very neat for the amount of functionality... It does everything fine but I had a bit of smoke coming out of it the other day when making pizza dough! It still works but is only just man enough for the job of bread making (and that's only doing 500g of flour at a time!).

IMHO, as with a lot of (maybe all?) processors, there's too much speed & not enough torque.

Can't say I'd particularly recommend it and will be looking at something else when it dies.

[tomatoada]

I have had my kenwood chef since they started greenshield stamps and I saved them to get it.   It is still going strong.  I hesitate to recommend it because sometimes good makes of the past are not always good years later, but I have not heard anything bad about them.

[tim]

Question 1 - exactly what do you want it to do??

[PurpleHeather]

I have a Bosch. It is a food mixer with blades for chopping, one for bread dough and one for whisking. There is another attachment to do grating and one for slicing. It will queeze lemons and oranges and yet another part which will sieve cooked potatoes into a smooth mash. There is a liquidiser attachment which can be used with it too. Has two speeds and a pulser.

I have had it for about 15 years or more and it works wonderfully in use every day. I only buy Bosch or AEG now.  Having found that despite the slightly higher price they do last.

The only thing it does not have which some do is a coffee grinder although they do say you can do it in the liquidiser attachment I have never tried.

The only thing I suggest you do is look for the size of the motor when you make your purchase.

Most of these 'top' name products are made in China these days, which will make them less expensive because the labour costs are less in Asia than they are in Europe. 

[Froglegs]

I have Mr's Froglegs works a treat self cleaning to  ;D

[grawrc]

Thank you for all the replies.

I have had my kenwood chef since they started greenshield stamps and I saved them to get it.   It is still going strong.  I hesitate to recommend it because sometimes good makes of the past are not always good years later, but I have not heard anything bad about them.

We got through three Brauns in about six years. We've now got a Magimix. It's pricey, but very sturdy. I think you've got to spend money on something like that - our Kenwood Chef is still going strong after 35 years!

Yes I have the brown and orange Kenwood Chef with the stainless steel bowl which was the height of fashion at the time! The liquidiser now jams as soon as it meets any resistance and the whole thing smells like ozone when I use it so I suspect it is also, sadly, nearing the end of its useful life! My FIL had a go at mending the liquidiser a few years back and that, I fear, was the kiss of death. :o

Question 1 - exactly what do you want it to do??

Pastry, cakes and bread, juicing, soups, and dealing with mountains of veg and fruit for freezing, cooking and preserving - so slicing, chopping, shredding etc.I would like the various attachments to be able to go in the dishwasher.

Both Magimix and Kitchenaid FPs do all the things I want. The size(wanting a bigger capacity machine) is for the batch baking and dealing with the annual gluts and also for dinners and parties. I like Kitchenaid design (i.e. it's as pretty as I've seen) but I suspect Magimix does more of what I want and it is French (at least in origin) rather than American, albeit, as PH suggests, they're probably all made in China.

Purple Heather, I googled the Bosch (our utility room is often referred to as the Bosch room). Wow it appears to be even pricier than the ones I'm looking at! ... but pretty too (not that that really matters. Apparently the newer machines with induction motors don't need such a high wattage,

Why is nothing in life ever simple! ::)

[hippydave]

i have a magimix 5200 which does all i want it to do (process onions for chutneys etc,blend soups make bread dough, grating etc etc.) very strong machine but im now finding that the plastic round the blade is starting to crack, maybe processing stuff to hot i dont know. but the machine as far as im concerned is fantastic. quiet and powerful and has plenty of accessories. and it is available in various finishes.

[tim]

We too have the 5200XL & have had Magimixs ever since our 1950 Kenwood Chef popped its clogs.
The centrifugal Juicer (extra) is excellent.

But, also, we have a stick Blender & a 'coffee' mill for herbs & spices.

[tomatoada]

I think you need a commercial one.  Like the heavy stainless steel ones I have used in large nursing homes.  Whether you have room or the inclination to lay out the money is another matter.  
By the way you can get Kenwood Chefs serviced.  Mine starting having a burning smell and I phoned John Lewis who gave me the name of a firm which put in new brushes or something.
Hippydave how do you "process" your onions please..

[euronerd]

I'm with purpleheather: find the one with the most powerful motor (biggest number of watts) then work downwards till you find the one that fits your needs. It just means that the motor isn't working at full power all the time and should last longer. Not sure about induction motor powered appliances though. I thought a watt was a watt. I also thought that induction motors were not easily adaptable to run at multiple speeds efficiently. Could be wrong; I'm not really up to date on this type of technology  ::)
Geoff.

[grawrc]

Here's where I got the info:
http://www.magimix.com/index.php?rid=350&lg=502
and from the John Lewis website:
http://www.johnlewis.com/Magazine/Feature.aspx?Id=19

Mind you it has an 1100watt motor which strikes me as being pretty powerful!

Thank you. I was already veering towards the Magimix 5200 and the wider funnel of the XL makes sense too. Now to find the best price!

[hippydave]

depends what im using them for. if i want chopped onions i just add them cut in half and pulse them till they are the chopped size i want if i want sliced i cut them in half and use the slicing attachment if im making curry i chop them in the magimix then cook them in water and then put them through the magimix with chopping blade to get a puree. i tried putting them through the grating attachment but they go too mushy and watery and were quite strong in taste when cooked without water.

[Baccy Man]

Yes I have the brown and orange Kenwood Chef with the stainless steel bowl which was the height of fashion at the time! The liquidiser now jams as soon as it meets any resistance and the whole thing smells like ozone when I use it so I suspect it is also, sadly, nearing the end of its useful life! My FIL had a go at mending the liquidiser a few years back and that, I fear, was the kiss of death. :o

The smell suggests the motor brushes need replacing. The liquidiser jamming could be several things without seeing it it's difficult to accurately diagnose the fault but I'm sure it would be fairly straightforward getting it back in full working order. If you get it serviced it should come back running as well if not slightly better than when it was new & it should continue running for another 30+ years, the newer models don't last anywhere near as long.

This company offers a full service for £25 plus the cost of any parts required it will cost £16.50 for the courier to get it to them & back again obviously if you can find somewhere local to you that services them then you can avoid the courier costs. If any of the attachments are faulty they should be able to service them too.
http://www.kenwoodchefrestore.co.uk

[tomatoada]

depends what im using them for. if i want chopped onions i just add them cut in half and pulse them till they are the chopped size i want if i want sliced i cut them in half and use the slicing attachment if im making curry i chop them in the magimix then cook them in water and then put them through the magimix with chopping blade to get a puree. i tried putting them through the grating attachment but they go too mushy and watery and were quite strong in taste when cooked without water.

Thanks for reply.   I found they went mushy as you say when grated.  I will try the chopper on pulse.

[grawrc]

Yes I have the brown and orange Kenwood Chef with the stainless steel bowl which was the height of fashion at the time! The liquidiser now jams as soon as it meets any resistance and the whole thing smells like ozone when I use it so I suspect it is also, sadly, nearing the end of its useful life! My FIL had a go at mending the liquidiser a few years back and that, I fear, was the kiss of death. :o

The smell suggests the motor brushes need replacing. The liquidiser jamming could be several things without seeing it it's difficult to accurately diagnose the fault but I'm sure it would be fairly straightforward getting it back in full working order. If you get it serviced it should come back running as well if not slightly better than when it was new & it should continue running for another 30+ years, the newer models don't last anywhere near as long.

This company offers a full service for £25 plus the cost of any parts required it will cost £16.50 for the courier to get it to them & back again obviously if you can find somewhere local to you that services them then you can avoid the courier costs. If any of the attachments are faulty they should be able to service them too.
http://www.kenwoodchefrestore.co.uk

Thanks BaccyMan! Funnily enough I have just spent the last hour or enjoying their website. Great music too! And as you suggest, if I can't get it repaired locally that's the place to go. They can also revamp it so it could be stylish silver and black for example!
They also have spare parts and accessories so if the liquidiser is knackered it could be replaced.

[grawrc]

Well the all-singing, all-dancing Magimix 5200XL has arrived. What a piece of kit!! 8) ..and many things have already been chopped, frayed Nd blended just because I can. Thank you for all the advice. Great machine and still many, many functions to explore.

[tim]

Great - I love it!

BUT - I truly believe that no one machine can replicate all the functions of dedicated appliances.

[Paulines7]

Grawrc, I am also thinking of buying a new food processor so thought I would look up your one on the web.  I hope yours continues to work all right as the reviews at Amazon were not very good.  It seems that the newer versions of this machine are nowhere near as good as the older versions that people had for 15 years.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000K771W8/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1