efurb KA Mixer on Amazon

[foodpump]

I've bought a refurbished K.A. mixer direct from the Whirlpool appliance repair center (K.A. is made by Whirlpool). Most of the appliances "refurbished" are Costco rejects--someone didn't like the colour. I've also got my extras cheap there too: Shredder attachment and extra bowls and whips.
Mine's a 5 qt " Pro" series, been in use in a commercial kitchen for over 5 yrs now.

[Mrs.Butterworth]

Also, a buyer beware on the Amazon offer on KArefurbs. In looking over their return policy I noticed something interesting:

If you return an order that was placed using a promotional certificate or discount, you will not be refunded for the amount of the promotional offer, as these discounts were deducted from the original purchase amount.

Now I am not sure if this means that they only refund the discounted purchase price, or if they subtract the ammount of the discount from the discounted purchase price to get the refund ammount. If it is the latter, that means you get ZERO dollars back if you try to return this thing for ANY REASON. Unfortunately, the help page seems to be geared so you can't call or email anyone unless you are actually making a return so there is no way to just ask someone

In any case as I sat here considering how I am making two lemon merengue pies today and I don't relish the idea of beating 8-12 eggs worth of merengue by hand I almost caved and bought the 5Q Pro model. That still is a really tempting offer...

[texasflute]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Butterworth

Any of the Kenwood owners around here have any comments on the durability of the dough hook? Most of the spiral ones I have seen look flimsy compared to the heavier C-shaped ones.

I have the large (7qt. size) and the small Kenwood (5qt. size) stand mixers. I used the small one for about 6 or 7 years, but I was doing so many cakes that the capacity was too small to keep up with my production. About 3 years ago I bought the large Chef Major. I love it! I can mix up huge amounts of buttercream icing and knead quite a bit of bread dough. The dough hook is very sturdy-no problems with it at all.

As far as attachments, I have the pasta maker and the grain mill. I've not had a lot of luck with the pasta maker, but I will admit it is probably the operator, and not the machine. I've just gotten the grain mill, but the handfull of times I've used it, I've been very pleased with it.

The Kenwood is one great machine with one drawback-that thing is LOUD. Both of mine are loud. Reviews refer to the noise it makes. You couldn't use one on a cooking show-you'd be hard pressed to talk over it. I'm not doing a cooking show, so I really don't mind. It causes my kids to come running to see what I am making.

I got my Major on eBay. I think it was a returned item. I got it for $249. My smaller stand mixer was a floor model I picked up in a mall store a few years back for $69. The shields are interchangable on them, and I can use the smaller 5qt. bowls (I have two) on the Chef Major if I wish.

I think the Kenwood (or Delonghi as it is now sold in the USA) is highly under-rated.