Kenwood KMC560
The Kenwood KMC560 Chef Premier is one step up the range of Kenwood Chef mixers from the KM336 Chef Classic. Sharper and sleeker in design, the KMC560 is finished in smart brushed satin silver. With its stainless steel bowl, it’s pretty eye-catching to be sure. Does it perform though?
As to the design of the mixer, the Good Housekeeping Institute judged it to be the Must Have Electrical Cooks Gadget. They called it “An iconic product that has stood the test of time due to the designer’s focus on function, versatility and ease of use. People never tire of designs that work well.”
I guess that most people buy a stand mixer to take the heavy work out of the kneading, beating and whisking that can take much of the pleasure out of baking and breadmaking. Fine control over consistency and texture is achieved much more easily as well. And a stand mixer has the ability to cope with much larger quantities than a hand-held device.
The Kenwood KMC560 is equipped with a 4.6 litre brushed stainless steel bowl, with the capacity for 2.7 kg of cake mix, 2.2 kg of bread dough or a dozen eggs. The motor is a more powerful unit than in the KM336, with 1000W output. This should be plenty for any domestic task, although one user actually reports how he uses his Premier in his commercial cake-making business; testament indeed.
The motor speed is controlled electronically – the mixing speed is maintained regardless of the load – and includes a pulse function.
Four mixer tools are supplied as standard equipment– a general-purpose K beater, a balloon whisk, a dough hook and a very useful flexible beater. The tools are changed easily by tipping the mixer head back, and the head locks back down in position afterwards to prevent lifting.
An frequent comment from users is about how some Kenwood mixers require initial adjustment to the height of the tools, so that they just clear the sides of the bowl and so do not leave a layer of unmixed ingredients. However nobody reports any great difficulty in following the instructions supplied.
The splashguard is generally regarded as a great idea – it cuts down on flour or icing sugar, for example, escaping from the bowl when added to the mixer whilst it is running.
A valuable addition is the 1.5 litre glass liquidiser/blender attachment supplied with the mixer. It fits on top of the unit and is ideal for soups and smoothies. A range of other attachments, such as a mincer, juicer, ice-cream maker, spice mill or pasta maker is available to be added later if you want (have a look at the video below).
Some users complain that the extra tools and attachments are not cheap – and they do have a point. However, they are built to last the lifetime of the mixer (and don’t forget that some people are still using their Chefs after more than 30 years).
The mixer comes with a recipe book and a CD/DVD containing full instructions. There’s a 12 month guarantee as well.
Are there any negative points? Not really. The sound level is sometimes remarked upon as being a bit high, but it’s not a common complaint in all honesty. A cover is probably a worthwhile investment at £10-£12 to keep your Chef looking pristine.
Apart than that, the opinions of users are pretty overwhelmingly positive. The Kenwood KMC560is fairly universally seen as an extremely high quality mixer that will give years of service.
So many stress how they have re-discovered their love of cooking and baking – bread and cakes in particular. It seems that once in the habit of using a mixer like this, it’s quite difficult to stop!
You can get great deals on the Kenwood KMC560 Chef Premier from our partner stores – just click on the links below:-
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