I have owned a Kenwood chef since 1959..ha ha. Of course I have had more than one.
I currently have a Kenwood Major which is a little bigger.
Truthfully I would have to say that in the beginning they were work horses which just went on and on,I replaced my 59 one in the 70s.I was so impressed that I took it to Canada with me when I first went to live there, I replaced it with another UK one in the 90s. Still very impressed. When I returned to the UK in 2000 I gave my Chef to a Canadian friend who still uses it. In the UK I bought a new one...very different, the quality had gone down, it was not as heavy or strong in fact I was so sad I gave it to my son and bought the heavier Major.This is still not as strong as the original Major but it is more robust than the Chef. I brought that back to Canada with me. I was unsure about doing so but frankly as I had all the accessories which amounted to a lot of money I went with it. It is OK but not nearly as good as the original Chefs.
I guess it really depends on what you want. If you are a cook who would need a heavy machine perhaps you would do better to find a Pro Kitchen Aid or Hobart, if you need it for basic needs it will probably be fine. I test mine on the ability to handle a good amount of bread dough. The older ones had no probs, the newer ones struggle.
I would suggest that you check out the whole range though as there are various weights, even different Chefs!!
The other point is that there used to be a very good Kenwood back up on the net which is not there in the same way. I suspect that the machines are not UK anymore.
Overall I think the Chef is a bit like the Singer sewing machine. In the beginning they were fab, after the company changed hands what was made was much cheaper quality.
Not much help..sorry, but you may want to do a bit of investigating. I would have carried a banner for the Chef years ago but not now.
XX Jeannine
