Kenwood Chef Excel KW210

[Dottie]

Today I picked up a very old and grubby Kenwood Chef Excel KW210, via good old freecycle (seems it done the rounds many a time, but no one has got around to tarting it up or giving a good clean, so it just keeps getting passed on again).

So I have a couple of questions.

1. What is the best solution/product that will easily remove built-in years-old grease/dirt/food? Which is caught in all the plastic bits that lift off for adding attachments.

2. How/dare I wipe off old lube grease from attachment/motor parts (as these seem to also be grubby)? Then what kind of lube (I think it's called) do I buy, to re-grease the part that operate the mixer bits? Or should I just leave the lube alone?

3. The base (metal) and an inch or so up the sides of the chef, the paint has fallen/come off and other bits now need removing. The chef has 2 metal sections and the 1 remaining top section, is made of plastic. What's the best way to remove this paint, probably only going an inch and a bit around the base, rather than taking it all off? And what's the right metal paint I'll need to buy, if I decide to re-paint the base?

4. Anyone got the same machine and have the manual or know how to download? I have done a manual search and looked on Kenwoods site, but my model is not listed. I have sent Kenwood a message, but if anyone can give me a download link I'd be happy.

That's my questions for now, maybe more will come up from comments. Feel free to suggest ideas that I've not thought of yet and just general comments about your experience of using a kenwood chef. Thanks.

[JanieB]

I've owned one of these for 40 (ahem) years. I've never needed to clean any lube out of it and have only occasionally sprayed some WD40 in as a lubricant. The liquidizer gave up in the first 5 years and I've never replaced it as, to be honest, it was cr@p. A modern food processor is far more efficient. Actually that is true for a lot of the jobs.

What the Kenwood does best is heavy duty work, large fruit cakes, royal icing, mincing, sausages, dough kneading when you don't have a bread maker, slicing beans for the freezer, I use mine in the autumn for chopping up apples to make apple wine etc.

I don't know what has been shoved in yours to require it to be seriously cleaned. Mine has had a wipe over every time it's used. Paint has disappeared over the years and what was once dark blue is now light blue. Thinking about your question, you can't put the whole machine in water so I would recommend spraying the outside with something like Flash and wiping off and repeating until clean.

[Dottie]

Was it the exact same model? We had a kenwood chef when I was growing up, so yep they have been going for some years.

I've only want it really for the powerful mixer, as I have various smoothie and blenders. I do have a small food processor (gave my larger one away on freecycle, but I should have kept the old large machine, as the smaller processor is not great for chopping and slicing roots and stuff. I do have a bread maker, but I like idea of doing bread in the kenwood and then baking it in the oven. I just like to have options I guess, asv well lots of gadgets!

Really dirty machine. Well that's the thing about freecycle, you never know what condition it will be in. Sometimes I think folk get rid of stuff just because it needs a really good clean, as they have just left the dirt to build up. But then you'll meet another freecycler and they will have cleaned it while they had it and also wipe it over before passing it on. However, this machine is so grubby that it makes me think it's just been passed around, or lived in a very dirty and greasy kitchen. The woman who handed it over today received it from another freecycler, but if she used it as is, then I'd not want to eat anything she'd cooked. She hadn't mentioned it was it such a state or that the paint was peeling.

I'd not thought of WD40, which is much easier than me having to add lube. As I'm not intending on using the attachments like the blender, then maybe I'll just wipe off the grubby dirty bits that are stuck to the lube, and maybe spray a little WD49 over all the motor bits? It's just so grubby, that I have to feel I've removed all the hidden filth, as well as cleaning the outside. A bit of Detol might be in order?

Spray cleaners sound like a good idea, as they'll get into all the bits. I don't know if Cillit Bang would shift it quickly or if it's just good marketing?

So has all your paint come off? And if so, have you left it as bare metal? Even the metal is grubby and kitchen greasy, so not able to see yet how it will look when it's clean metal.

[Hilary B]

I have had Kenwood Chefs, not sure of the model. I got on fine with the blender, for liquid stuff or breadcrumbs (and converting granulated sugar into castor sugar), it isn't meant to do other stuff like a processor will (but then I've never owned a processor, just seen them used on TV).
The latest one has been in storage for 10 years now as this kitchen is too small..... I used to make bread, mash potatoes, mix cakes and loads of other things, wish I had it available now!

[Dottie]

Food processors are great for chopping up loads of root veg and stuff if your batch cooking, but you do need a strong motor and blades. In fact I think I'll put my small food processor on freecycle, as it's just not up to the chopping I need. But would be great for someone who just wants it for mixing and a bit of grating? As I can now use my kenwood for mixing.

I'm not sure about a couple of whisk and beater attatchments I have, because there is 2 of each, but both slightly different.

Whisks: 1 larger than the other, so which is better for whisking what?

K beaters: 1 normal, but then a 2nd where it is mis-shaped, but clearly made that way. So what is the funny shaped K beater for?

I did look at the kenwood spares site, but couldn't see them on there. Mind you my model is not coming up either, so it's either very old or was not a model they decided to keep? However attachments are for all machines, so don't know.

I only have a small kitchen, but I don't keep many kitchen gadgets out on the worktop. Don't you have a cupboard somewhere you could put your machine when not in use, even a cupboard outside of the kitchen?

I've decided the cleaning of my grubby kenwood is going to be done outside, as it will stink when any liquid hits the old flour, butter and stuff that is stuck to everything. A patio job on a lovely sunny spring day sounds good, enjoy the outdoors and no worries about the smell and spraying cleaning products.

[Hilary B]

All our kitchen cupboards (of which we have few) are FULL. The only gadgets 'out' are the kettle, toaster, microwave and breadmaker, the small 'hand mixer' lives in a cupboard, along with the blender attachment, but there is certainly no room for a Chef!
The 2 K beaters are of different ages, the 'bent' one is the later version. Same with the whisks, the 'pointy' one is the newer type. There isn't much difference in how they work. The K beater will mash spuds extremely well, just put the freshly cooked spuds in and turn the mixer on to slow until all is smooth, adding anything you want (butter, milk, seasoning etc) as soon as it has got started.

[Dottie]

Whisks and beaters, looks like I've got a spare set then, thanks for clearing that up. I'll have a look and try once I've cleaned them up, and if all work ok, I'll offer up the spares on freecycle. Seems odd that there are spares of these basic items, but not a few useful extra's?

I only have a breadmaker and kettle out on the worktop, as I like cleat worktops. Microwave is at the same level as wall cupboards. I only have 1 corner unit base cupboard, which contains all the pipes for sink and washing machine. No draws and only 2 double wall units. However I've converted a slim tall store cupboard outside of the kitchen, with loads of shelves to take all dry goods, tins and where the kenwood will live (on the floor). My corner base units has lots of my gadgets in, but I also put things like slower cookers and wicker baskets on top of the wall cupboards. It's a bit of a pain sometimes, when I have to get my step ladder out to lift them up or down, but it's just wasted space if not used and I'd have to give up too many gadgets. That's not really an option!