Buying Kitchen Appliances in Switzerland

[Amy Eber]

I teach cooking and baking classes in the states and will be moving from the states to Zurich in several months. Needless to say, my appliances will not work in our new home. I cannot imagine life without my KitchenAid Pro mixer. Can anyone tell me if this brand is available in Europe and where I might find it or if you know of a brand of equal quality? I would also appreciate the names of any kitchenware and appliance stores. Thanks.

[dougal]

... I cannot imagine life without my KitchenAid Pro mixer.  Can anyone tell me if this brand is available in Europe and where I might find it or if you know of a brand of equal quality?  I would also appreciate the names of any kitchenware and appliance stores.  Thanks.

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KitchenAid stuff is sold in Europe.

However it is sold as a premium brand, at rather higher prices than in the domestic US market. And with lots of marketing emphasis on colour.

In the UK, Kenwood (now de Longhi in the US?) sell for rather less than the prices that seem to be asked in the US... ! The Kenwood Major (and its descendants like the KM005) are a common domestic/semi-pro choice.

If you go to http://www.google.ch (swiss) and click for 'Seiten aus der Schweiz' you'll get a good number of hits from a search for KitchenAid ...

You may want to check detail model specifications.

Of course any attachments you have should still fit a same-size 240 volt KitchenAid...

'Fraid I have no specific Zurich local knowledge. Just a brother in Geneva.

[Rehovot]

The Moulinex brand is probably available in Switzerland. They make small but powerful mixers and food processors. In Central Europe, at least, they are about half the price of a Kitchen Aid mixer.

Also, consider how much counter space your new kitchen will have. Kitchen Aid mixers have a huge footprint.

[dougal]

Should have also said that, actually, your existing stuff could probably be persuaded to work via a transformer.

Here in the UK, building site tools (for pro use) are commonly 110v rather than 240v - this has to do with the risk of what happens after you electrocute yourself! Anyway, that means that chunky (small suitcase sized and incidentally waterproof) transformers are available for purchase, (but not in kitchenware shops ), and it seems the 50 versus 60 cycles ("hertz") efficiency hit is commonly fairly minor.

See for example http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/content/view/89/45/ about successfully using a special US-bought power tool in the UK.

The swiss are regulation mad, and likely wouldn't take too kindly to your doing a bit of domestic re-wiring, hiding the transformer, and giving yourself some properly built-in US wallsockets! So, it would probably best be an ad hoc sort of solution...

[SWISS_CHEF]

Not to worry,

Get a good transformer about half the size of a shoebox and cook away. I came to Switzerland 8 years ago with my Kitchenaid and it has been working just fine. One word of warning: don't get one of those cheap plastic travel transformers you get at Walmart. They are worthless.

[Amy Eber]

Thanks for all the tips. I have to admit I have only seen the cheap, little transformers. I will begin hunting for the larger one.

Not to worry,

Get a good transformer about half the size of a shoebox and cook away. I came to Switzerland 8 years ago with my Kitchenaid and it has been working just fine. One word of warning: don't get one of those cheap plastic travel transformers you get at Walmart. They are worthless.

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[prasantrin]

Thanks for all  the tips. I have to admit I have only seen the cheap, little transformers. I will begin hunting for the larger one.

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Make sure you get a transformer that will handle the wattage of your appliance. The higher the wattage, the more expensive the transformer (and the heavier it is, as well).

Some examples--note the first one only handles up to 100W, where the second one up to 1000W.