A £1,000 mixer that cooks too!

Last week, Kenwood launched their all-singing, all-dancing Cooking Chef, a food mixer that cooks as it stirs. It prepares everything from stews to choux pastries - at the press of a button. But at just shy of £1,000, is the Cooking Chef worth the money? To find out, we put seven of the most versatile and popular food mixers, from the very cheap to top of the range, to the test...

The major problem with this is that the box it came in was almost too big to fit through my front door.

But once I'd unwrapped the multitude of extras - I counted 45 including a demonstration DVD - the actual mixer is no bigger than a standard Magimix.

There's a multi-food grinder including a sausage maker, a grain mill to produce my own natural flour and a die-cast metal pasta maker so that I can produce my own home-made fresh pasta (in 13 different shapes, no less!).

There's also the 'usual' accoutrements such as a food processor, a slicer and shredder, a liquidiser, a juicer and a citrus press. But, of course, the real gimmick here is the fact that this silver robo-cook actually heats and cooks.

The thing is, for the price, you'd expect it to cook everything. But it's only really good for pastries and main dishes that can be slow-cooked, such as risotto and stew.

The delicate pastries and puddings I tried emerged beautifully light and creamy. I was impressed, but it's a huge price tag for an everyday cook.

This is the kitchen equivalent of a Ferrari - a luxury.

PERFECT FOR: Anything that needs slow cooking and a gentle stir. Sit back and sip a glass of wine while those onions are softening!

VERDICT: 7/10. Serious piece of kit for serious chefs, but too pricey.