A true UFO in its category, the Cooking Chef Experience belongs to the new generation of the half-pastry-maker, half-cooker from Kenwood. Complete, versatile and imposing, it presents itself as a good all-round robot.
Presentation
Both food processor and robot cooker, the latest generations of Cooking Chef from Kenwood have no competition on the market. The Cooking Chef Experience succeeds the Gourmet released in 2018. This new generation gains a weighing system and a touch screen.
Delivered with a fleet of accessories, the Cooking Chef Experience is presented as the most complete food processor on the market. This hyper-sophistication, Kenwood offers it at 1299 €. It is always cheaper than the Thermomix TM6 from Vorwerk and Cook Expert Premium XL from Magimix.
Convenience of employment
With its seductive look and meticulous finishes, the Cooking Chef Experience looks like its predecessor in every way, which is far from displeasing us. The flattering and unique lines of this device have earned it great visibility in the Top Chef program, on M6. The robot is adorned with a coating combining stainless steel and brushed metal, elegant and not very sensitive to fingerprints.
A true monster of technology, the Cooking Chef is much larger than most robot pastry chefs on the market. And it's not only on the worktop that it takes up space, it's also in the cupboards. Before purchasing, it is important to take your measurements into account and free up at least one kitchen cupboard to accommodate all the accessories provided.
On the worktop are displayed a grater / slicer, a grater / slicer, a balloon whisk, a mixer, a mixer, a blender, a multifunction bowl, a splash-proof cover, a splash-proof cover, a steamer basket, grating discs, slicing discs, a kneader, a flexible mixer, a knife and a spatula.
The robot is divided into two parts: mixing and cooking on one side and cutting on the other. In addition to the space allocated for the bowl - which is installed on the induction hob and in which we will cook or mix - the upper plate is designed to accommodate the multifunction bowl or the blender - in plain English, all accessories that need speed.
At the end of the same block, at the end of the arm, but downwards, are housed the accessories that require force, such as the dough sheeter for making pasta or the screw chopper for making minced meat. It is important to specify that these two very distinct parts are united. Therefore, when a gear is activated, the two devices start up. It does not affect when a preparation is in progress, but if by chance the user gets busy mixing vegetables while simmering a beef bourguignon, he will undoubtedly be very surprised to see the mixer shaking in all of them. the senses.
The design of the robot is such that its arm is raised and lowered to accommodate the whisk, kneader, mixer, etc. To raise or lower it, simply activate the small latch provided for this purpose. We quickly get the hang of it.
The bowl still benefits from a generous capacity of 6,7 liters (3 l useful). This is one of the highest in our comparison. It is more than enough to prepare a meal for 6 people. Contrary to the first impression, the tank is quite light (1,5 kg) and is easily handled, well helped by the two handles; the weight is thus better distributed when the tank is full. It gets complicated, however, when the preparations stick to the wall.
No more LCD display, the Cooking Chef Experience introduces a color touch screen that acts as a control panel. From the interface, you can modify the temperature (between 20 ° C and 180 ° C) in steps of 1 ° C, the cooking time (from 5 seconds to 8 hours) and the speed of rotation of the accessories (on 8 levels - 4 intermittent simmering speeds). In addition, if the screen does not (still) serve guided cooking, it gives access to 13 automatic cooking programs (including Genoise, Italian meringue, Kneading, Sprout, but also One pot, Steam cooking or Soup with l. 'Ancient). This screen is identical to that of the CookEasy + robot cooker from the same manufacturer and it is easy to understand. It is fluid, responsive, ergonomic. Cleverly, he tilts when the Cooking Chef's arm is raised; it is not really essential, but it has its small effect.
Unfortunately, Kenwood continues to miss out on the guided cooking that would have completed the user experience. In response to this, the manufacturer brings Wi-Fi connectivity to its robot, which can therefore be connected to a smartphone. From the Kenwood World app, you can access a large catalog of recipes free of charge and send cooking instructions directly to the robot. Of course, it works well, but it is a shame to have to multiply the equipment in the kitchen to make a recipe from A to Z. It is neither very practical nor really hygienic to take out your phone when cooking.
The Cooking Chef Experience also introduces a scale accurate to the gram (up to 6 kg), which is essential for making the most demanding desserts. We compared its measurements to those of our precision balance which confirms exemplary reliability.
With so much versatility, accessories, functions and programs, using the Cooking Chef Experience can impress. A quick glance at the user manual allows you to quickly understand the inner workings of this hybrid robot. Over time, certain manipulations become automatic and the experience becomes more fluid.
Interview
The bowl is easy to clean with a sponge. Since it does not have a cover - apart from the anti-projection base - its cleaning is even easier; the lids of robot cookers are sometimes full of awkward nooks to clean.
On the other hand, it is not rare to see a few drops appear under the arm of the structure, resulting from the condensation. The plastic cover tends to leak water all over the place.
The accessory battery can seem like a pain to clean, but luckily they are all dishwasher safe, which is no big deal considering their number. For those who do not have a dishwasher, on the other hand, the task can be very tedious.
Mixing efficiency
The knives are not integrated in the main bowl of the robot. For cutting, you have to go through the multifunction bowl whose blades are still formidable.
The cutting of the onion is straightforward and regular, the size of the pieces is more or less homogeneous. That's a good point. To these onions, we added a mixture of calibrated frozen vegetables and 250 g of water to make a soup. After 40 min of cooking in the bowl, we inserted the mixture into the cutting bowl. A thick mixture comes out which we eat with a spoon more than we drink. The mixture is perfect, there is no residue of vegetables or celery fibers.
Next, we insert 300 g of calibrated ice cubes then, in the absence of a program dedicated to crushed ice, we use the Pulse button by pressing it 10 times. The result is quite impressive since 4 pressures allowed to spray almost all of the contents of the bowl. There was only 30 g of chunks that were still a bit large. For the rest, the ice provided is of a good consistency to be mixed into a cocktail.
Finally, we wanted to see what the "Snow White" program gave. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the Cooking Chef Experience was able to whip up small quantities of whites (2 egg whites) as well as larger quantities (6 egg whites) without leaving any deposit at the bottom. from the bowl.
Baking
Not swift for a penny, the Cooking Chef Experience takes a long time to heat up. It takes great care not to exceed the temperatures required when it heats up to less than 100 ° C.
We carry out measurements at the minimum temperature, at 40 ° C, at 55 ° C, then at 95 ° C. We usually notice more or less significant temperature oscillations (the measured temperature is sometimes higher, sometimes lower than that requested). But this is not the case with this robot. We noted temperature differences of only 1 ° C in most cases, and sometimes up to 3 ° C maximum. These differences are tiny.
For the browning, we asked the robot to reach 130 ° C. Our probes revealed 132 ° C in its center and on the sides, which remains perfect. History to push the test even further, we wanted to know if it managed to keep its commitment of 180 ° C, and here again, it is precise: 182 ° C at the hottest point, 179 ° C at the most cold. The temperature is perfectly homogeneous and stable. No complaints !
To close the chapter dedicated to cooking, the Cooking Chef Experience is delivered with a steam basket to be installed in the tank, in which we have carried out measurements. We measured 99 ° C, a suitable temperature for steaming food, although a little higher than the 95 ° C ideal temperature for gentle steaming.
Noise
In the simmering phase, this Cooking Chef is as "noisy" as a Thermomix TM5 from Vorwerk. Its sound level reached 57 dB (A). The Kitchenaid Cook Processor has been shown to be much more discreet in this cooking mode, emitting "only" 48 dB (A).
At maximum speed (8 on this robot), this Kenwood emits 75 dB (A) when mixing with its whisk, which is quite low. As you can imagine, the sound emission depends on what you prepare and what you put in the bowl - tossing eggs to snow is necessarily less noisy than crushing ice.
Consumption
After having prepared a soup (40 min of heating and around 30 min of blending), the Cooking Chef Experience gobbles up 0,380 kWh. It is in the high average of what we observe in our comparison.
In the simmering phase (30 min at 80 ° C), its consumption is 0,0118 kWh, which is fairly standard in our comparison.
Highlights
Design and quality of finish.
Versatility of the device (pastry robot and cooker).
Accuracy of the scale.
Big capacity.
Respect of temperatures and homogeneity.
Mixing efficiency.
Weak points
Lots of accessories to store and understand.
No guided recipe.
Conclusion
Note globale
With its Cooking Chef Experience, Kenwood corrects the hiccups encountered on the previous version by offering almost flawless ergonomics which is still lacking in guided cooking. This half-pastry-maker, half-cooker is an excellent appliance that pushes versatility to its paroxysm. Precise in its settings, weighing and cooking, the Cooking Chef Experience is to be put in the hands of an experienced cook.
Sub Notes
