Customer Reviews

Kenwood Prospero KM283 Stand Mixer - Silver

This is my first mixer, previously I made cakes by hand so it was always going to be an improvement. I purchased Kenwood as it is a well known brand and my mum has a Kenwood Chef that's lasted her 20 years, but sadly I didn't have the money or space for one of those.
The mixer is smaller than I imagined, it's sort of the size of a home cappuccino machine, smaller than my sewing machine, and takes up only a tiny bit more space than my mason cash mixing bowl. So it's nicely compact which if you have a small kitchen like me is a brilliant thing.
The mixing bowl holds enough for one large cake. Since having it about 6 weeks ago I've made cupcakes, sponge cake, cherry & almond cake, lemon drizzle cake and chocolate cake, each being enough to fill two shallow 20cm tins, a deep one or a loaf tin. The mixer was fine for all except when I added the cherries to the almond cake mix it seemed to struggle a tad but didn't have any actual problems - was just noisier.
Compared to a classic, bigger Kenwood Chef all the parts did seem a bit smaller and flimsier. The K beater is solid metal but is smaller than my hand and you clip it in and out like you would with a hand whisk, but the mixer itself is sturdier. It does move quite a bit when in use, the head gear bobs up and down a little but there are suckers on the base to keep it from walking off the counter.
It has lots of attachments, a plastic blender, a plastic food processor with lots of blades and a juicer. It is great value to get all these with it but must admit I haven't used any yet! The only thing I didn't get which it said on the summary is a spatula, but I can live without that.
For me as an occasional one of cake baker it has been brilliant. If you do lots of cakes in one go you'll probably need something bigger as it will only hold enough for one cake in the bowl. It is pretty, fits up the corner nicely and is easy to clean. The only annoying thing is that the switch to unlock the head and so raise the beater from the bowl is at the back which can be awkward when you have cake mess on your hands. I've also found with drier mixes you do have to stop it and spatula the mix of the sides and beaters before going again to ensure it all gets mixed in, but not a problem all the time.
I was pleased with my purchase as it has speeded up my baking and I now do lots more. Hoping to try out the food processor for home made coleslaw next!
Oh and finally, it arrives in a HUGE box, to fit in all the parts which is deceptive to how big the mixer is.

Kenwood created the Prospero range as a compact and "affordable" budget version of the classic Chef Food Processor, a giant in both the literal and performance stakes used by both the novice and professional cook in 1000's of homes. So when the far from compact box arrived on our doorstep containing the KM283 we were keen to test drive this little brother version, the key question being, could she still cut the dough and compete with her much larger sibling?

Well, first impressions were good, firstly, there is no appearance of cheapness here whatsoever, Kenwood have cleverly given the entire machine a brushed steel look, despite the fact that the bowl aside (which oozes quality), the main hub of the KM283 is plastic. Secondly the KM283 is most definitely compact, a clever ergonomic design ensures that functionality hasn't been cut to save space, the 283 could easily be perched on a medium work surface and left there, bearing little more volume than a large 4 slot toaster. This undoubtedly will be a key selling point as for many the thought of storing a large cumbersome machine where space is at a premium will greatly detract from its use!

With the already established and popular KM265 on the market, why would one chose the 283? Firstly (and surprisingly) it is cheaper but secondly the newer version boasts a 900 watt motor, rather than the 650 watts offered by the 265. Bearing in mind that usually the more power to the motor the greater the longevity (not to mention greater mixing capability), at a good �30 cheaper, the 283 already wins in the comparative stakes. The 283 also has variable speed which can be gradually increased as opposed to offering fixed speed settings, thus providing total control over mixing tasks whilst avoiding jerks and mess. Add 2 attachment points that can operate at different speeds and for specific tasks and I'd say that if it is a compact, versatile all rounder that is sought, you can't go too far wrong with the 283!

In use we were equally impressed, OK, it is not the quietest of machines, but has a sturdy, robust feel and perhaps best of all it is easy to interchange the various attachments at speed and that all important splash guard works wonders! Gripes, all but a few, would have been nice to have a glass as opposed to plastic blender attachment, ditto, even if the price was slightly more a proper juicer (as opposed to citrus press) attachment would have transformed the 283 into a total all rounder (although I believe the juicer attachment can be purchased separately). End of the day though the greatest feature of the 283 is that you can literally dispose of all those superfluous mini gadgets that clutter your drawers and carry out all the bending, kneading, whisking, and processing tasks most average cooks will ever face in a life time and all within a reasonably small space. Add to this the price tag and at under �150 the 283 must be one of the best designed budget all rounders on the market today, perfectly designed for the smaller kitchen yet perfectly capable of delivering top quality, mess and hassle free results. For these reasons (and small gripes aside) anything less than 5 stars would simply equate to penny pinching!

I spent about six months looking for a stand mixer, as I was terrified to let my 5 year old daughter loose with a hand mixer, and found that when "we" baked cakes..... it was "me" baking and her watching. I looked at the kitchen aid artisan, the Kmix stand mixer, and the chef titanium (as im a gadget freak). All of the above are probably better products than the prospero, but are between double and four times as expensive. That, coupled with justifying to the wife why I had spent �400+ on a mixer, led me to go for the prospero with a view to replacing it next year with a more expensive one.

I recieved the mixer and was suprised at how good it looked. It is not as solid as the Kmix or chef titanium, but for someone who doesnt use it day in and day out it is a great quality product. The fact that you get a food processor, juicer and blender are a bonus too, and i have found all three to be effective and of a decent quality.

The big bonus with this is that me and my daughter have now made a cake, a fougasse and pizza bases using the mixers beater, whisk and dough hooks........ and she was all hands on!! I was very impressed at the dough hook. It looks like there will be more bread making in our house from now on, and more importantly, my daughter can SAFELY get more hands on!! At the start of this review, i said i bought it with a view to replacing it once i have proven to the wife it will get used....... but this is all we need and a bit more..... so it looks like i saved myself a few bob!

After many years of wanting a food processor/mixer and not buying one because they are always so big and bulky, and ridiculously expensive, I found this little gem. Let's put this in perspective, because personally, I think some of the negative reviews are a little unfair. This machine retails at �199.99. As I write this review Amazon are offering it at �149.99. At that lower price this machine offers phenomenal value for money. Take a look at the competition. A KitchenAid, or even a Kenwood KMix is going to set you back �300. This little Prospero machine can keep up with that competition in my opinion, and at half the cost. And when you compare this machine to a brand name hand held mixer, say �45-50? and it will only be able to mix things, not knead, or process or blend (regardless of the dough hooks it comes with - read the reviews!)....it's a no brainer for me. Prospero all the way.

Firstly it looks stylish, it comes with a stainless steel mixing bowl, and attachments that will knead your bread dough, mix your cake batters, whisk your meringues. Then you get the food processor, ok it's not huge, but I haven't found anything it's too small for yet, (and if I did I'd do it in batches). The food processor slots onto one of the outlets on the top of the machine. It chops, and comes with lots of attachments to grate and slice, each with fine or thick options. THEN you get a blender. No it isn't made of glass, it's plastic. But it's a good size and it does the job. And on top of that, there's a citrus juicer attachment to work with the food processor. No it's not a centrifugal juicer, it's purely for citrus fruit, but that's in the box too. Oh, and there's a silicone spatula in there too.

In addition to this, if you WANT a centrifugal juicer attachment, Kenwood make that. You can buy it separately for around �40-50 I believe. And there's a meat grinder attachment too if you fancy making your own mince. (Which I guess wasn't a big seller before the horse meat scandal, but is probably selling well now!!)

To me, this is good value. Bloomin' good value. I've held off reviewing the machine until I'd given it a good test drive. I've had it for over three months now and I love it. I've not found anything the machine isn't capable of. It's small and compact enough that I can sit it on top of the microwave next to the toaster. It's quite noisy on the higher settings. You couldn't knead bread dough or mix cake batter with the mixer on '4' and hold a conversation for example. The weight of the machine is mostly in the top, so it can feel a little unsteady at times, but it does have suction cups on the bottom to sucker onto the worktop and stop it wandering. In hindsight, it would be quite nice to have a handle on the mixing bowl, and I'd probably purchase one if Kenwood offered it as an extra, but it's not essential. So it's not perfect, but it's close. And when you consider the value of the machine and it's capabilities, I think it warrants a five star review, I'd certainly recommend it and wouldn't be without it now.

I loved this mixer whilst it lasted. It did pretty much everything I could have asked for from a machine of its price and I loved the multifunctionality.

However after 13 months it has stopped working, I have had someone look at it and it turns out that there is an issue with the machine detecting the whisk, beater or dough hook. unfortunately I now cannot use any of the functions because the safty cut off kicks in when there is no whisk, beater or dough hook connected.

I really am disappointed. I choose this machine because of the great reviews and because Kenwood is a name I trust, I have family members who have had their Kenwood mixers for years. It seems that their newer products are not up to the same high standard and I wont be buying another. I realise that these mixers are not as expensive as say the kmix but I expect more than 13 months use. Now I have no blender, food processor or mixer.

Hi

The kenwood mixer is my first own mixer. I am 13 years old and a few weeks a go I won the dairy young cook of the year 2012. The mixer is very good. I used a hand mixer before I had this one and my recipes took about 20 mins just to make but I made cupcakes and it took me about 5 mins!!!! I couldn't of expected any more from this mixer! I was looking at the older version but I didnt know this was out so I phoned kenwood and the said it HAS BEEN A BIG HIT in selling the older ones so the decided to improve it! If you are looking at the older version, buy this one!

Stephen

I had a Kenwood Chefette (baby brother of Chef) years ago and loved it mostly due to it's compact size so this is the reason I chose the Prospero. I have only had chance to use it twice but already know I made the correct choice. It looks good, not too big, it comes with all attachments including food processor, liquidiser, juicer and different mixer blades. It is extremely easy to use and clean, electric cord stores away too, I would definitely recommend it.

As others have written before whilst brand new it was great, so good in fact that I bought one for my daughter. Both lasted about 18 months and neither can be repaired. Both have had nothing more to do than pretty standard domestic tasks, its not as if they were in constant use. Interestingly I suffered similar disappointment with a Kenwood kettle. I bought a Kenwood mixer because it was synonymous with reliability and longevity, clearly I am not alone in my dissatisfaction.

I have not owned a stand mixer before only blenders and a juicer, here is a great item with everything incorporated that you would need for all your culinary needs. I have not tried all the variables but I am mightily impressed with its mixing capabilities so far. I find this appliance quite simple to use, which is a big plus, machines have to be easy to use in my opinion. It is wonderful to now be able to make cakes without the arm ache when done by hand. This item also is quite easily cleaned afterwards. This mixer also looks very attractive on my work top and as it doesn't take up too much room I leave it there where it is ready to use. It can sound a little noisy, but it is not as if you have going for hours on end, so it is not a problem. This is a smart looking item that would go with any kitchen decor and would hopefully give many years of use. I recommend it for all busy cooks.

I had looked at many mixers, checking reviews as you do... i decided in the end to buy the Kenwood Prospero... and I have to say, I am delighted with it. Yes it is smaller, but there is only two of us.... I have set it up in the kitchen, and with having all the attachments, I find myself useing it most days' either food preperation, baking, blending.... a fraction of the price for a larger model, or, buying individual items.

Some reviews said it was noisy!!!!... well I do not find it... some reviews said the mixer did not mix around the bowl, I am more than happy with mine...

Yes it is difficult to make your mind up.... some reviews are off putting.... but all I can say, is if you want a good,reliable mixer .. not going to cost hundreds of pounds, then go for the Propsero, you will not be disapointed.