Kenwood A701A or A707a

[Matthew Grant]

Has anybody tried a Kenwood A701A or A707a with a dough hook attachment? Although they are very old machines I've heard that they run forever. I'm interested in buying a mixer that is strong enough to mix bread but at a reasonable cost, One of theses machines second hand seems to be my best option at the moment.

Thoughts?

[K8memphis]

How many quarts is that, Matthew??

[chefpeon]

As long as it's not a freakin' belt drive! Those are worthless.

I used a stupid Blakeslee for a while and it would blow our circuit breaker when

I was whipping CREAM.......and as we all know, cream doesn't put a load on the machine!

[Matthew Grant]

How many quarts is that, Matthew??

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Not sure, apparently enough to do 2 1/2lbs of dough with the 701a I think it may be bigger on the 707a. 450w motor on the 701a but i think it may be larger on the 707a.

[chromedome]

We have a couple of old Kenwoods at my night job. I've never made bread in them (we buy in our bread) but they get used constantly. The resto's been open for 24 years, and they were bought used, so they were probably new around the time the ark landed on Ararat.

I'd have no qualms about buying one. And their oddball two-arm dough hook has always struck me as being more logical for a small mixer than the one on the KA.

[Tepee]

I've been wanting to get a KitchenAid for the past year, but have no great excuse for it because my Kenwood Chef is still going strong after 13 years of beating up cake batter and making fondant. I use it to make bread too. Quite a work-horse it is.

[andiesenji]

20 some years ago one of my clients had a Kenwood which got little use (had been a housewarming gift). I used it for all kinds of things, including bread dough with nary a problem.

I don't think the newer ones are all that good since they have been taken over by another company.

I stand by the AEG or Electrolux, AKA Magic Mill DLX-2000. It is the toughest mixer for its size that I have ever used. I like the way it handles dough with the roller/scraper combination. I have a dough hook for it but have never used it. It will even work very dense dough such as Struan bread dough.

[Matthew Grant]

I've been wanting to get a KitchenAid for the past year, but have no great excuse for it because my Kenwood Chef is still going strong after 13 years of beating up cake batter and making fondant. I use it to make bread too. Quite a work-horse it is.

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Tepee is it a 701a/707a or some other model? Also what size motor is it, I believe this is normally written on the base.

[Tepee]

Matthew, mine is this model. It's the smallest (I think) in the range, but at that time, that was what I could afford. I got it as a showroom unit. The great thing is they gave me 2 bowls - a very useful thing if you have to beat egg whites and yolks separately. For its size, it can accomodate twice a cake recipe. However, I would have loved to get the bigger Kenwood Major which would give more room for meringues and chiffon cakes. Like I said, it has no problems with rolled fondant, which is pretty, pretty stiff, even more so than bread. Sigh, it just won't give up its whirrrrrrr!

Edit to add: Oopsie, that link didn't work, but just point to Kenwood chef on the left menu...it's the KM300.

Edited October 28, 2004 by Tepee (log)