Today I bought an old Kenwood Chef exactly like this one at the flea market around the corner for 32 euros. Now 32 euros may sound like a lot for a 30 year old mixer but these things are built like tanks (for the Americans; think Kitchenaid, only more utilitarian) and new ones start at about 350 euros (to over 700 depending on the model!) around here.
The only thing that appears missing is a dough hook. I’m fairly sure they used to come with one, but this one only has a whisk and the K-shaped attachment. The old guy selling it swears it only came with two attachments originally. If anyone knows if I can use the K for mixing dough, please let me know.
Anyway it needs a bit of a clean, but as far as I know these things should be easy to service and even if it didn’t work (which it does) the parts alone should be worth more than what I paid.
Nice! Check eBay for a dough hook. There’s one there now, but I don’t know what model mixer you have. If they don’t have the right one, you can set it up to email you when the right one is posted.
I found one already on another auction site, but I’m not sure if the model needs to match exactly. I’ve got an A-901; the seller seems unsure about the model of the attachments he’s selling.
I bought a pair of size UK6 black, steel toe, 3i Doc Marten shoes at the local flea this weekend. They’re actually Made in England, not China like most nowadays, and look to have been worn maybe once. When you can actually find them, those go for between $50 and $100+ on ebay, and I got them for $7. Don’t fit me, but I couldn’t leave them there - sure enough, they’re the perfect size for a friend of mine.
One time, while digging around through the old Clearance Dillards store in Arlington, TX, I happened upon a sterling silver knife that matched my silver pattern, in a bucket of mismatched stainless flatwear. It was marked $.99, retail was about $55. When I went to pay for it, the saleslady cheerfully informed me that it was 20% off.
And that is why I have an extra knife in my silver chest. It only cost me 80 cents.
My best bargain at a flea market was last year when I spent $10 each on three U.S. silver eagle coins. That doesn’t even cover the value of the raw weight of the silver much less their added value as coinage.
My most enjoyable was $1 for an old but serviceable, hand cranked ice cream maker. Our family turned out three batches that day and years later we pull it down at least once or twice a summer. It’s hard to do better than hand cranked lemon-vanilla custard on a hot July day.
found a double deck of KEM playing cards from 1947 in the original bakelite box with full care instruction booklet for less than 15$. Saw he same exact deck without the book on ebay for almost 50 the next day.
I love finding old, indestructible tools and equipment at flea markets/garage sales. I’m still looking for an old steel chip maker (I can get a new plastic one, but you have to reef on them to get some of the larger potatoes through, and I have a feeling plastic won’t cut it - literally ). I’m open to finding furniture that way, too - older furniture can be indestructible, too.
Speaking of old, indestructible tools, I found an awesome old sewing machine at St. Vinnie’s. Metallic blue, cast iron, smooth-running,it looks exactly like this one. I’m pretty sure I could hook it up to a treadle bench and use it in a post-apocalyptic scenario if I wanted to.
Indestructible tools are awesome: I’m typing this on this. Made 18 years ago and still working fine, and I’m actually looking for older models that are even more sturdy.
My wife just scored a pewter mug for $3 at a flea market. Perfect for my equipment kit out for Revolutionary War reenacting, which we’re just getting in to. $30 online each is what my wife has found to find a matching one for herself (or me, if she decides it’s hers. :D). Yes, it’s new enough to be food safe (first thing we checked when we got it home).
We picked up a pasta machine for $5 once, and it makes fine pasta. I need to pull it out again, I bet my 5yo would love to make “puffy noodles” (ravioli).
). I’m open to finding furniture that way, too - older furniture can be indestructible, too.