Advice needed - buying a food mixer

Haunt the charity shops - particularly now, when they are getting lots of clear-out donations. They often get mixers etc from houses where the owner has gone into care or downsized. People who used to cook and bake when their family was at home, still kept the equipment when the birds have flown. Those charity shops which check over electrical gadgets will have weeded out the ones that don't work. If you tell them what you are looking for and call back at intervals, they will put by any that would suit you.

If it’s only the expense that stops you buying Kenwood, they do a smaller hand/ stand mixer. This one.

I thought the price was on it, £59 direct from Kenwood.

My dad has the kenwood chef mixer that my mum used for decades and it is still going so although it may seem an expensive purchase a good mixer should last forever.
Maybe look on a local “free cycle” type of website and ask if anyone has one that they want to pass on. We have a “lend a hand” Facebook site just for our small town and all sorts of items are requested and passed on.

I think it depends on what jobs you expect it to do.
Also storage space and ease of cleaning.
I have a Kenwood ?? only for kneading bread. I think it has an attachment for whipping egg whites, but I prefer my small electric hand held mixer for everything else.
Except one that I use for grinding/grating/slicing vegetables and is easy to clean. Moulinex.
I'm not keen on food machines and hate cleaning them. I expect your grandson feels the same about cleaning gangy5.

How about buying your grandson his own simple electric mixer - something like this: www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-400510-Mixer-White/dp/B01MV028B3/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&s=kitchen-appliances&keywords=hand+mixer+morphy+richards&tag=gransnetforum-21&qid=1620765511&sr=1-4

You could ask him to bring it with him when he comes to visit so you can cook together, and it’s not bulky to store at home.

I’ve been using my trust Morphy Richards hand mixer for about 30 years, and it still makes me a couple of Swiss rolls a week.

You don't tell us how old he is - there is a difference between a twenty-year-old handling an expensive food mixer and a five-year-old doing the same. That affects what you buy for him.

I have a Kenwood Chef stand mixer which is marvelous, and so powerful, but also a hand held Kenwood mixer which I use for the small tasks - mashing potatoes or quickly whipping up some sponge mixture. It wasn't expensive and works very well indeed when you need some instant assistance. I don't think it was much more than twenty pounds or so, and from my experience and that of several friends, you just cannot beat Kenwood.

Many thanks to you all for your suggestions. It is confirmed from your comments that Kenwood is best and from my own purchases I have to agree with that. I also like Elegrans suggestions of looking in charity shops. I am now thinking also that my local paper is a good possibility as I live in an 'oldies' area !! - sorry, that was rather naughty !!
Thanks Geekesse for taking the trouble to send links.
Jamie is 12 years old. He arrived a good many years after my other 4 grandchildren - so missed the first cookery sessions.
Thanks all !!

A small food processor is quite reasonably priced

Have you considered a food processor which may be better for him.

He probably could do with a food processor also but as he wants to do mainly baking I thought a mixer would be handier. He also wants to do my recipe for homemade icecream which involves alot of whisking so the mixer seemed more useful, I looked in charity shops this morning without luck and am going to check the local paper tomorrow, As there has been a surge in baking recently there could be a shortage of suitable 2nd hand ones

Still using my Krups one 46 years old