Kitchen appliances chat

Has anyone played with enough different ice cream makers to have useful opinions?
My wife has dropped hints and I'm wondering whether to get the pre-freeze bowl for our Kenwood, or to get a self-chilling one. Obvs there's a price difference, but I'm wondering about the quality of the ice cream more than anything else.

@dancing james I can see you've played with a pre-freeze in your KitchenAid, what was your reasoning for not getting a self-chill?

Cost and amount of use. If I end up making lots of ice cream I will get a self freezing one. However I have a large cabinet freezer so it’s not a problem to just leave the bowl in there.

Also I managed to find the kitchen aid one at half price so it really wasn’t a relatively big outlay.

I bought a self-chill version and if space allows I would recommend it. Most of the time I make 2/3 x a recipe which wouldn't really be possible in a pre-freeze bowl.

Why when there is never enough ice cream would you make even less? Straight to ignore for being an aberrant heretic weirdo.

the quality of the ice cream more than anything else.

Getting enough air into it is one of the biggest things that impacts the quality imo.

I'd assume @rj is making 2x or 3x the recipe! Whether they're an aberrant heretic weirdo though...

A useful point - is that about churn speed/duration or a factor of the machine itself?

Idk I'm afraid.

I watched a This Morning review of them when I was kid and off ill. The best was the most expensive one that did something in particular, and 2nd was the cheapest manual one which was a bit like a tonk salad spinner and so the speed off the spinner whipped it up more.

My folks is just a slow paddle that pops up when the mix is too thick. You can mitigate it by putting it in the fridge a hour or two before serving.

But hopefully you can find a review or ice cream forum that references that as a feature.

Ha, yes this 2L or 3L at a time! We have this which I bought on FB market place for £125 and I hadn't quite appreciated how big it would be from the photos. I don't think I can find fault in the ice creams we've made with it.

Oh wow that's a proper beast! Maybe that's the best route, find something pro that's going second hand.

2L or 3L at a time!

Hello my new best friend…

I bought a self-chill version and if space allows I would recommend it.

Agreed. We've got the Sage one - works well. We use it more than we would (than I ever have) use a pre-chill one, but that's down to laziness and lack of preplanning.

Does anyone else do a slide and hide oven door that's worth considering other than NEFF?

I think slide and hide is the neff usp

Another vote for Kenwood Chef.

Way more steps on the speed on the dial, light over the bowl is useful - for everything else the kitchenaid and kenwood aren't really different, you'll find more Kenwoods in professional kitchens but that's as much to do with suppliers than pros and cons of one over the other. I prefer the aesthetics of the Kenwood as the thing is sat on the kitchen side and visible all the time.

If you need a pre-freeze kitchenaid, I have one for sells. We just don't use it.

Another vote for Kenwood Chef. I got a 1200W monster off FB Marketplace. Tons of examples on there if you can stomach the place.

Managed to get a full refund for the KitchenAid in the end :)

Seems like a used Kenwood is the answer - thanks all

PM incoming

Also another vote for a Kenwood chef.
Bought one, knowing that my wife's parents have been using theirs for about 25 years without issue.

Doesn't get used as often as I would like, and I believe it is a bit more compact and easier to pack away than a Kitchenaid.

One day I’d like to grow up and get a Hobart

Kenwood all the way, I'm currently using my grandmothers, from the late 70s, only ever had to replace the bowl!

Has anyone got any ceramic pan/wok recommendations

I have a stainless steel one. It seasoning it all the time is becoming a faff

This is something I purchased thinking it would be useful for a few things like stir fry, fried rice, etc... https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/p/3-ply-stainless-steel-non-stick-chef-s-pan-with-lid-and-helper-handle/SS53109a.html?dwvar_SS53109a_color=silver&dwvar_SS53109a_size=24cm-l3-3

It's a deep chef's pan with lid, works brilliantly on induction. I purchased a slightly different one one than the one shown here, this one: https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/p/signature-stainless-steel-non-stick-chef-s-pan-with-lid-and-helper-handle/ES54104a.html but truly that was just to match the rest of the pots I had purchased and the one above is essentially the same and cheaper.

Along with a single large saucepan, the chef's pan has become my most used pan/pot... it can be used for pretty much anything. Woks always felt too big to use for other things, and this one hits the sweet spot on size.

I'd agree it's expensive... but the amount I use it makes this one worth it. I wasted money on the other pans I barely use.

I’m trying to avoid Teflon/non stick wherever possible.