KitchenAid vs. Kenwood Chef

I grew up alongside the Kenwood Chef. I remember my mom using her ancient chef, baking cakes after cakes, loaves after loaves and all her other goodies. It works like a tank, tireless, effortless, efficient and always reliable. When I arrived here in Australia a little more than a decade ago, I dream of owning the Kenwood Chef. Just because I know her so well! I know which button to push and which knob to turn, with my eyes closed. Heart.

Anyways, I did. I got my chef on my twentieth birthday. The BEST ever birthday present. (Since Lachy was born 2 days after my 27th birthday, he didn't count as a birthday present!) That was 10 years ago. My chef has served me for a decade. WOW. It was the Classic Series, stainless steel bowl and body. At that time, it still cost about $700 (me thinks).

One Christmas not so long ago, my husband surprised me with yet another stand mixer, the KitchenAid Artisan Series. *gasp* Surely I don't NEED another mixer, since the chef has been ever so faithful and trusted. A girl can look can't she? Well, I do rant about the KitchenAid quite a lot only cos it looked ohh so snazzy, ultra handsome. Every time I walk past one at the shops, I have to STOP for at least 5 minutes to have an ogle. Although I am very MUCH married, I still LOOK at hot guys. That doesn't mean I MUST have other guys in my life! Same deal.

Anyways, I'm not complaining. I love my husband. He knows his way to food my heart. Now I've used both, here are the good and bad points of each machine:

Kenwood Chef

PROS: SO easy to use. I can do a tango with it! I like the pop-up spring head lift. It has a powerful 700 watt motor. It is so hardy.

CONS: It works like a tank, it sounds like one too. Every time I use it, I can hardly hear myself think. The bowl is quite large, so not so suitable for smaller quantities. I find that there's always a small amount stuck at the bottom of the bowl.

KitchenAid

PROS: Ultra sleek, it just screams out "look at moi". It makes me feel like a celebrity chef. It's a lot quieter than the chef. The bowl comes up narrower, so better for smaller quantities, say creaming 125g of butter. If I were to use the chef, they will ALL end up at the bottom of the bowl.

CONS: Huh? Oh OK, one. The motor head is quite heavy and not spring loaded. So every time I need to scrape down the bowl or lift up the head, it's like uuugggghhhh! That's it!

Generally, I think they both work the same. Both come with a K-beater, balloon whisk, dough hook and a splatter shield. And there's like a million attachments you can add, like a meat mincer, food processor, nail file, foot spa...etc.

So, if you had to buy one... Which one will you choose?