Using a Kenwood Chef Mixer For Bread Dough (Honest Review)

I’ve recommended the Kenwood Chef as a stand mixer with a dough hook a few times in this site, but I just wanted to put together a full page to tell you why I love this mixer, how to use it to make bread and a bit about the other attachments you can use for cooking and baking.

As a Kenwood Chef-owner, I’ve adapted an easy way to make bread, where you can stay hands-off throughout the mixing and kneading parts of the bread-making process.

I’ve also put together step-by-step instructions on how you can make delicious homemade bread when you can’t or don’t have time to knead yourself.

If you are interested in checking my favourite Kenwood Chef Stand Mixer click here (Amazon link).

Why I Recommend the Kenwood Chef for Making Bread

Before we start, I know there are some bread purists out there who say you should always make bread by hand and using a machine is cheating.

Where maybe a bread machine is cheating because it does every single step for you, using a dough hook just helps you with certain elements of the bread-making process, which are mixing and kneading.

If you use a bread hook you still have full control over other aspects of the process including rising, proving and baking, so nobody will ever know that you cheated a bit on the kneading front!

I love making bread by hand and most times I do hand knead, but I have arthritis so some days it’s too painful to stand there kneading for a long time. This is when I step back and let the machine do the work when I don’t feel like it.

The image above shows my trusty Kenwood Chef, it’s not the latest model and I think it’s now somewhere between 10-15 years old now (or maybe even older).

I also remember my mum owning the same machine for many years. This is because it’s a sturdy and reliable machine that just keeps on going no matter what you put it through (within reason).

The Kenwood Chef has a strong motor which is capable of kneading bread dough with ease, unlike some other versions and especially hand mixers.

It usually comes with other attachments and others are available to buy if you need them, such as mincers and even sausage-making attachments.

When I got mine it came with a blender attachment which fits on the top, which is really good for making soup and smoothies.

What Attachments You Get as Standard with a Kenwood Stand Mixer

There are sometimes different packages or extra ad on attachments which you could get when you buy a Kenwood Chef stand mixer depending on where you buy it from, but as standard, you will get:

• The Kenwood Chef Stand Mixer
• A metal mixing bowl which fits into the stand
• A dough hook attachment
• The ‘K’ attachment for beating
• A large whisk attachment
• A tool to adjust the attachment height if you need to

For checking latest prices for Kenwood Chef Mixer click here (Amazon link).

What Bread Types Can You Make With a Kenwood Chef Mixer

The Kenwood Chef stand mixer is good for making many types of yeast bread where the dough requires kneading, including:

• Any standard loaf recipe using white or brown flour
• Bread roll dough
• Pizza dough
• Ciabatta
• Baguettes

It’s especially good for doughs with a high water content (hydration) where the dough is quite sticky and difficult to handle, such as ciabatta dough.

I don’t tend to use the dough hook if I’m making sourdough because the method I use is better with with less kneading.

Kenwood Chef Dough Hook Instructions

The elements of bread making which you can use the dough hook for are:

• Weighing the ingredients directly into the mixer bowl
• Mixing the ingredients to form a dough
• Kneading the dough using the dough hook

Once the dough has kneaded, you can cover and leave it to rise in the same mixer bowl and once risen the dough can be shaped, proved and baked as normal – click here for more tips on how to do these final stages.

What Kenwood Chef Speed Should You Use for Bread Dough?

Breaking this down into two stages, mixing ingredients to form a dough and kneading the dough.

For this mixing stage use minimum speed halfway between off and one, to give the ingredients a chance to mix slowly just in case it’s too dry and needs a touch more water. Once the ingredients have formed a dough, turn the speed up to one and leave the hook to knead the dough.

Which other Kenwood Models Can You Use for Making Bread?

Other Kenwood models which are available and can be used along with a dough hook to mix and knead bread dough are:

• The Kenwood kMix
• Kenwood Chef Titanium
• Kenwood Chef Titanium XL
• Kenwood MultiOne
• Kenwood Chef Elite
• Kenwood Chef Elite XL

Read on to see a comparison between the Kenwood Mixers and find out which is the best depending on your requirements.

Which is the Best Kenwood Stand Mixer for Making Bread?

I use the Kenwood Chef which is the basic model, but there are other options for higher power, larger mixers and more attachments.

I’ve put together the table below to show you the differences between the main Kenwood mixers, all of which can be used to mix and knead bread dough.

All models offer the sturdiness of a Kenwood along with the fact the brand is made to last.

Mixer Type / Specific.	Kenwood Chef	Kenwood kMix	Kenwood Chef Titanium / XL	Kenwood MultiOne	Kenwood Chef Elite / XL
Model no.	KVC3100W	0W20011141	KVC7300S	KHH326WH	KVL6100S
Wattage	1000W	1000W	1500W	1000W	140W
Speeds	7 & pulse	6	8	6	8
Bowl size	4.6 L	5L	4.6 or 6.7L	4.3L	4.6 or 6.7L
Bowl type	Metal	Glass	Metal	Metal	Metal
Weight	7.3kg	9.1kg	9.2kg	5.3kg	11.7kg
Dimensions	38 x 28 x 30 cm	38.5 x 24 x 35.5 cm	38 x 28.5 x 30.5 cm	40 x 24.7 x 29 cm	51.5 x 48.2 x 37.1 cm
Colour/s	White with silver detail	Cream, red, white or black with silver detail	Chrome Silver	White with silver detail	Matte Silver
Attachments Included	– Dough hook – K Beater – Whisk	– Dough hook – K Beater – Whisk – Splash guard	– Dough hook – K Beater – Whisk	– Dough hook – K Beater – Whisk -Juicer -Blender	– Dough hook – K Beater – Whisk
Pros	Good for Home baking on a small scale/good all rounder/ Good value	Home baking on a small scale/ modern looking/ Good value	Higher power sturdy mixer	Good value if you want more attachments/ good for general baking & food prep	Sturdy higher power mixer
Cons	Not so good for a large volume of dough	Not so good for a large volume of dough	Pricy for the same size bowl as standard chef alternative	Not so good for dough making & smaller bowl	Pricey mixer when compared to standard chef model for the extra 400W
Dough capacity	1 large loaf/2 small	1 large loaf/2 small	Up to 2 large loaves	1 small loaf	Up to 2 large loaves

The Verdict: Which Kenwood Stand Mixer Type is the Best?

if you’re looking to produce up to one large loaf or two small loaves the basic Kenwood Chef model and the kMix offer good value for money and have enough power to perform well.

The XL versions of the Titanium and Elite mode are good if you’re looking for more power and bowl capacity, but you do pay for these extra features.

Although the Kenwood MultiOne is a good allrounder for cooking and basic baking, I wouldn’t choose it for bread making as the machine is less sturdy and is pricy too.

How to buy a stand mixer

Amazon usually has all models in stock and are competitively priced, click the images below to check the current price for each mixer type from the table above.

Please note, this page contains some affiliate links, for more information, check the privacy policy here.

You might also like…

I hope this article has helped you to find out more about the Kenwood Chef and how to use it. you might also like the following post:

How to make bread using a dough hook