KitchenAid or Spars (from Taiwan) Cake/Bread Dough Mixer

[Trekkie]

Hi Cooking Experts,

Has anyone any experience with the above mixers? Can you give your comments? I am considering to purchase either one for home use to make cakes, breads and pizza doughs and would prefer the machine to be heavy duty and robust due to the different types of stress in the mixing of bread doughs. I have no issues with the price as long as the machine does not break down easily. Thank you.

[athena]

I have a friend who uses this but she is in US and she bought hers there. She is also an avid fan of bread making :) so far her KitchenAid serves her very well!

[kaytee]

Hi Trekkie,

I would suggest you get a bread making machine. It is very convenient and also you can have freshly baked bread ready in the morning.

Plus there is not much of washing up to do after the baking, you just need to wash the non stick bread pan only.

The one I have is Kenwood and it cost 499RM a couple of months back.

I also have a kitchen aid, but its very bulky and heavy, takes up quite a bit of space in the kitchen.

[Harmony]

I have used Kenwood Chef more than 12 years without problem. What prompted me to buy it was, the one that my siter bought for my mother some 15 years earlier was working very well without a problem.

Only set back is, the bowl is rather small if you want to mix 3 or more cake recipes at one go. But then again, how often do you need to do that...? :cool:

[aRwEn]

i had d opportunity 2 try out d spars mixer at d cake bakin class (http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=15231) which i attended last yr.

it iz veri hardy/robust.... n a veri good commercial mixer, esp if bakin in large quantitiez.... but it iz oso quite large n takez up a lotta space, whc iz y i did not purchase 1.... (unless i decide 2 store it in my livin room or bedroom (!) cuz d kitchen iz full of stuff adee!!) moreoever, it iz oso veri expensive....

im usin a faber mixer now.... similar type 2 kenwood....

[zkawi]

i know Kitchen Aid is really good coz when i was in the US, i had friends who have been using it. and on the TV cooking programs, they tend to use Kitchen Aid too. yeah, it is bulky though.

Do you know where i can get either of these two mixers? How much would they cost here?

Thanks.

[lady-o-leisure]

I vote Kitchen Aid. No other hsehold brand mixer comes close. I bought mine from Canada some years back when i was living in Twn, and used it a lot for my bread dough, cakes, cookies and even grinding meat. Yup! I bought the meat grinder/mincer attachment for it from the US, and used to mince meats of my choice. That way i knew i could trim off all excess fats before mincing.

The mixing bowl was large enough to accomodate enough dough to make roughly 26 cinnamon rolls, or 2 large loaves of bread. Also bought the cloth cover for it which had side pockets for recipe books.
Most unfortunately, i couldnt bring it back here to use since it was 110V. All my beloved appliances were 110V there.
Currently, i hv a new KitchenAid mixer waiting for me in the US once again. :) Cant wait to use it.

Zkawi, it is bulky but that is what keeps it stable when mixing large quantities of dough. U wont regret buying it. I've seen it in some shopping mall but at the moment, i dont remember which. Sorry. Lousy memory, plus i get confused over which country's mall i saw it in. hehehe...

[zkawi]

Thanks for the advice, lady-o-leisure.

[Harmony]

Most unfortunately, i couldnt bring it back here to use since it was 110V. All my beloved appliances were 110V there.


Some appliances with 110V can be used here by using step-up transformer. Do check it out with the manufacturer or perhaps in the instruction manual.

[lady-o-leisure]

U're welcome zkawi.

Harmony, i did use the stepdown for a while for smaller items, but kept forgetting to use it , thus blown items. Siiighh. Decided not to use them after a while. I still hv my stereo system but decided to lend it to a friend, and that uses the stepdown. Blew a Zojirushi rice cooker and hair trimmer already. Blew a stepdown too. hahaha...

[lmk_123]

Hi Cooking Experts,

Has anyone any experience with the above mixers? Can you give your comments? I am considering to purchase either one for home use to make cakes, breads and pizza doughs and would prefer the machine to be heavy duty and robust due to the different types of stress in the mixing of bread doughs. I have no issues with the price as long as the machine does not break down easily. Thank you.

I Just bought SPAR 800 (Taiwan made) mixer 4 weeks ago.
But when open the box is hopeless on the quality, the stainlees steel bow full of scatche and dirty finger print on the machince body.
I made a compliant to to Taiwan directly, replied by asking for serial number, I sent a serial number together with fews photo taken on serious scatche areas.... but no reply at until now.

SPAR just a small company, the stainless steel bow just like over night job. machine body full of finger print.
I believe this machine body been repaired before out from factory.

[kinrarateoh]

Hi Trekkie,

I bid for a Kitchen Aid a few years back from eBay, and it has served me well. No regrets. You just need a step-down transformer to go with it. They have a wide variety of models and colours to choose from.

If a robust and heavy duty mixer is what you are looking for, Kitchen Aid it is then! You can also purchase quite a variety of other attachments such as mincer, slicer, etc to go with it. So, it is quite an all in one machine.

You can purhcase this mixer from Baking Ingredients Suppliers, some of them are agents for Kitchen Aid. I do recommend this brand.

I have friends who use SPAR, one issue I have heard of from them is parts replacement problem.


Regards,
kinrarateoh

[TanWW]

Hi Cooking Experts,

Has anyone any experience with the above mixers? Can you give your comments? I am considering to purchase either one for home use to make cakes, breads and pizza doughs and would prefer the machine to be heavy duty and robust due to the different types of stress in the mixing of bread doughs. I have no issues with the price as long as the machine does not break down easily. Thank you.
Have you thought of getting a3-in-1 breadmaker, which can make bread and continue into baking, fuss-free? I tried one and it works very well. From Noxxa

[chooihan]

get the Kenwood chef. Cheaper, than Kitchen Aid which cost more than RM2K for 300 watt model compare to RM1.8K for 700 watt model for Kenwood. have the Kenwood 410 & it is great. Now I can churn out wonderful bread, whipped cream & sponge cakes, which were not possible with a normal hand held mixer

[cpe]

get the Kenwood chef. Cheaper, than Kitchen Aid which cost more than RM2K for 300 watt model compare to RM1.8K for 700 watt model for Kenwood. have the Kenwood 410 & it is great. Now I can churn out wonderful bread, whipped cream & sponge cakes, which were not possible with a normal hand held mixer

First time posting, hope no mistake.
Can anyone give me some advise, tq.
I know KitchenAid is very noisy, Kenwood mixer is quieter.
But when I viewed the Kenwoods I saw it comes in different watts and model.
Is the 1200 or 1000 too noisy? Or is the 700 or 800 watt good enough to make bread. I do not prefer the one that comes with lots of attachments, blenders etc. I would prefer one which just make cake and bread.
Help, I have no idea which is more suitable and which to buy. Appreciate some help reply.

[chooihan]

If money no problem, get the 1000 watt. According to the Kenwood people, the newer models are quite quiet. I am using the 700 watt model. Quite Ok, but I think mine quite noisy. Can churn out bread and cakes. I have yet to attempt big quantities. Maximum quantity I tried is 500 gm flour. I even made noodles, but i think egg noodles tend to strain the machine. Once you get the hang of it, you can turn out plenty of stuff. I make pau, breads, sponge mixes, creams etc on it.

[cpe]

If money no problem, get the 1000 watt. According to the Kenwood people, the newer models are quite quiet. I am using the 700 watt model. Quite Ok, but I think mine quite noisy. Can churn out bread and cakes. I have yet to attempt big quantities. Maximum quantity I tried is 500 gm flour. I even made noodles, but i think egg noodles tend to strain the machine. Once you get the hang of it, you can turn out plenty of stuff. I make pau, breads, sponge mixes, creams etc on it.

Oh, thanks so much for the tips.
I no money type, but can still afford to buy the 1000 watt right now at this moment. So that is why I am trying to be careful and make sure I get a good mixer to last good.
I look into the website of the 410 5 liter bowl you mentioned, its looks good. The other one I forgot what model its a 7 liter bowl but I read that either one of this one is no good for minimum mixture like two eggs.
Any idea the 410 or the 1000 watts you mentioned can make a 5 eggs cakes with 250 flour?
I would go for the 1000 too if its less noisy, but I will faint if it does not make a 250 gm flour cake. Sometimes I do make small cake only.
The reason I want to buy Kenwood is because I want to learn bake bread also and I went for classes too, but I do not like breadmaker. I prefer hands on with kenwood..grin.

[chooihan]

The 410 can make 5 eggs with 250 gm flour, I think usual recipe combination is about that. But cant do 2 eggs. For 2 eggs, I use a hand held mixer. If for noodles say about 375 g flour and 3 eggs, the 410 dont handle too well. Machine groaning. But for normal cakes, bread etc, it works quite well. I like to whisk sponge mixes/whipped creams with it, which I wasnt able to do with a normal hand held mixers. Bread doughs knead quite well too.

[cpe]

The 410 can make 5 eggs with 250 gm flour, I think usual recipe combination is about that. But cant do 2 eggs. For 2 eggs, I use a hand held mixer. If for noodles say about 375 g flour and 3 eggs, the 410 dont handle too well. Machine groaning. But for normal cakes, bread etc, it works quite well. I like to whisk sponge mixes/whipped creams with it, which I wasnt able to do with a normal hand held mixers. Bread doughs knead quite well too.

Righto. Thanks for the infos.
Now next step is to go to the shop and see the 410, the 7 liter bowl, and the 1000 watts. And then decide. Thanks again.

[cpe]

So difficult to decide or to understand.

Kenwood mixer km001 1000W with only 4.6 liter bowl, sufficient to withstand beating bread dough? RM$2,599 The bowl looks pretty small.

Kenwood mixer km005 1200W with 6.7 liter bowl, can it make small cake of 5 eggs 300g flour? RM$3,499. Heavy stainless steel. Is this one too noisy? It looks great, heavier than the other two.

Kenwood km750 900W RM2,899 with 6.7 liter bowl, half stainless steel, can this one withstand beating bread dough too?

I would like to get the Km005 for bread dough making, but am worried it could not beat a 5 eggs cake 300g flour.
Can anyone give me some advise which of this three is the better?
:confused:

[chooihan]

Kenwood KM001 4.6l quite ok, I m using a 4.6 l bowl, but KM416 , quite sufficient for 500 g flour, so far the maximum i tried, becos that the average basic recipe in recipe books. I seldom double my recipe, so I m not so sure. If I m not mistaken, Seng Heng quoted me bout RM1.9K+ (member price ) for KM001 but decided to buy to lesser model since I was only doing home baking. Have made 500 g flour for pizza dough in mine mixer, & it was quite alrite. What i understand from the sales people at Kenwood ( I think they are in Subang) is that the newer models are more quiet, unlike the older models. A baker friend advised me to get 1 with more powerful motor, can take more strain, esp with breadmaking.

[cpe]

Kenwood KM001 4.6l quite ok, I m using a 4.6 l bowl, but KM416 , quite sufficient for 500 g flour, so far the maximum i tried, becos that the average basic recipe in recipe books. I seldom double my recipe, so I m not so sure. If I m not mistaken, Seng Heng quoted me bout RM1.9K+ (member price ) for KM001 but decided to buy to lesser model since I was only doing home baking. Have made 500 g flour for pizza dough in mine mixer, & it was quite alrite. What i understand from the sales people at Kenwood ( I think they are in Subang) is that the newer models are more quiet, unlike the older models. A baker friend advised me to get 1 with more powerful motor, can take more strain, esp with breadmaking.

Thanks Chooihan. I did also thought of getting the Km001, cheaper cost mah, it looks nice too.
But I worried the whole mixer will moves and the motor will drag while beating bread, I would make two loaf of bread at one go....went for classes..can't wait to try my hands on breadmaking.
I believe the km001 is excellent for making one butter cake quantity and whipping cream.
But sometimes I need to bake double quantity whip cream to keep in fridge (I learned from classes whipped whip cream can keep in fridge or freezer) and sometimes I may be beating two cakes at one go...so no choice have to buy the km005 which is heavy and bigger bowl.
The Km750 funny steel is a waste of money buying, not much different in cost to km005 which is heavy stainless steel.
orite I will check Sen Heng see whether can get cheaper. Thanks so much again.

[rona11]

hi all,

I am crazy about the kitchenaid mixer but I can't find it anywhere in KL, where can I buy them? I tried ebay but the shipping costs are crazy....

any ideas? please advise asap.

best regards

[bzxiao]

Hi rona11,

I once saw some Kitchenaid appliances in Bake with Yen (Puchong branch). Maybe you can try contacting them.

[RolyPoly]

At SS19, there's a baking shop located same row as McD. You can check with them if they have KitchenAid. Can't remember the shop name. I get my baking ingredients there.

[chooihan]

hi all,

I am crazy about the kitchenaid mixer but I can't find it anywhere in KL, where can I buy them? I tried ebay but the shipping costs are crazy....

any ideas? please advise asap.

best regards

U can get the Kitchen aid from Hoteres Food Equipment Tel :80706635/80767535 (Chef William Tan) email :ucsb@myjaring.net. He quoted me RM2K+ for the mixer. Get it direct from him as he is importing it from the US. I think it is more expensive from the bakery supplier.

[Good Guy]

hi all,

I am crazy about the kitchenaid mixer but I can't find it anywhere in KL, where can I buy them? I tried ebay but the shipping costs are crazy....

any ideas? please advise asap.

best regards

If you haven't got it yet, you can find it in Penang.