Kenwood Prospero KM283 (KM280 series) Stand Mixer - Silver

This mixer is just perfect! I'm an amateur baker / cake decorator so I didn't need a large mixer.Having said that this mixer is quite big to me, from one full bowl of batter I managed to make 3 cakes and 24 buns... Not too bad ;)It's a great machine for anyone who loves home baking.I've read loads of reviews slating this mixer, but if you use it with the thought in mind that it isn't a professional chef mixer, then it's just right.I have mixed bread dough and kept to the 500g max that it can take and contrary to many other reviews it coped very well and showed no signs of 'struggling'.I was impressed that it has so many attachments, and they all look and feel good quality. (I haven't had chance to use them all as there are so many!)I read also that others complained that dough was getting stuck in where the attachment 'plugs in'. However there is a little rubber seal provided and it stops any of that happening.It is a little noisy but I've never had another mixer to compare it to, to know for sure.The size of the machine is just right for home use as it sits on my Worktop no problem, although I do have to pull it out from under a cupboard if I want to raise it. And it has a nice little cable today at the back too ;)It is super easy to clean which is always a bonus!All in all a fantastic mixer for any budding bakers out there, and a great price too!

I spent about six months looking for a stand mixer, as I was terrified to let my 5 year old daughter loose with a hand mixer, and found that when "we" baked cakes..... it was "me" baking and her watching. I looked at the kitchen aid artisan, the Kmix stand mixer, and the chef titanium (as im a gadget freak). All of the above are probably better products than the prospero, but are between double and four times as expensive. That, coupled with justifying to the wife why I had spent £400+ on a mixer, led me to go for the prospero with a view to replacing it next year with a more expensive one.I recieved the mixer and was suprised at how good it looked. It is not as solid as the Kmix or chef titanium, but for someone who doesnt use it day in and day out it is a great quality product. The fact that you get a food processor, juicer and blender are a bonus too, and i have found all three to be effective and of a decent quality.The big bonus with this is that me and my daughter have now made a cake, a fougasse and pizza bases using the mixers beater, whisk and dough hooks........ and she was all hands on!! I was very impressed at the dough hook. It looks like there will be more bread making in our house from now on, and more importantly, my daughter can SAFELY get more hands on!! At the start of this review, i said i bought it with a view to replacing it once i have proven to the wife it will get used....... but this is all we need and a bit more..... so it looks like i saved myself a few bob!

I love this. It looks great, firstly. It's well designed, and I love how adaptable it is. My kitchen is not huge, but it has a reasonable footprint for an item of this nature, and is easy to store. I particularly like the way the cable tidy in the back has been designed to keep it tidy.The machine comes with several useful attachments included, which is a good feature. More expensive mixers I have looked at don't include any extras at all, which makes this good value IMO. I have no use for the juicer, but the blender is handy, and the food processor excellent.It has been well thought out and designed. It's perfect for people with small kitchens, or who like to cook for 4 people or fewer at a time.For this kind of kitchen appliance, this represents excellent value for money, and is as compact as you could possibly make it while still retaining a wide range of functions. I live mine, and would recommend this model to anyone.

This is my first mixer, previously I made cakes by hand so it was always going to be an improvement. I purchased Kenwood as it is a well known brand and my mum has a Kenwood Chef that's lasted her 20 years, but sadly I didn't have the money or space for one of those.The mixer is smaller than I imagined, it's sort of the size of a home cappuccino machine, smaller than my sewing machine, and takes up only a tiny bit more space than my mason cash mixing bowl. So it's nicely compact which if you have a small kitchen like me is a brilliant thing.The mixing bowl holds enough for one large cake. Since having it about 6 weeks ago I've made cupcakes, sponge cake, cherry & almond cake, lemon drizzle cake and chocolate cake, each being enough to fill two shallow 20cm tins, a deep one or a loaf tin. The mixer was fine for all except when I added the cherries to the almond cake mix it seemed to struggle a tad but didn't have any actual problems - was just noisier.Compared to a classic, bigger Kenwood Chef all the parts did seem a bit smaller and flimsier. The K beater is solid metal but is smaller than my hand and you clip it in and out like you would with a hand whisk, but the mixer itself is sturdier. It does move quite a bit when in use, the head gear bobs up and down a little but there are suckers on the base to keep it from walking off the counter.It has lots of attachments, a plastic blender, a plastic food processor with lots of blades and a juicer. It is great value to get all these with it but must admit I haven't used any yet! The only thing I didn't get which it said on the summary is a spatula, but I can live without that.For me as an occasional one of cake baker it has been brilliant. If you do lots of cakes in one go you'll probably need something bigger as it will only hold enough for one cake in the bowl. It is pretty, fits up the corner nicely and is easy to clean. The only annoying thing is that the switch to unlock the head and so raise the beater from the bowl is at the back which can be awkward when you have cake mess on your hands. I've also found with drier mixes you do have to stop it and spatula the mix of the sides and beaters before going again to ensure it all gets mixed in, but not a problem all the time.I was pleased with my purchase as it has speeded up my baking and I now do lots more. Hoping to try out the food processor for home made coleslaw next!Oh and finally, it arrives in a HUGE box, to fit in all the parts which is deceptive to how big the mixer is.