originally posted on one of my several now defunct blogs, called On Engineering on 29th Jan 2012
It’s a while ago now, but over Christmas, I was (watch out, this is going to get exciting) doing the washing up after my sister had made the dinner. (Just to write “pork chops” does the meal an injustice, but that’s basically what it was). The item I cleaned last, because it had by then rather unappetising looking bits of wet pastry on it, was the beater from our old Kenwood mixer. As I washed, I remembered how this piece of utilitarian design had always fascinated me through its complexity and simplicity. So I took a photo, which I just rediscovered:
It is designed as a ‘K’, instantly bringing the branding to the forefront. Whether or not this is optimal for mixing pastry I cannot say; but it works very well, generally resulting in great cakes, so its impact on the mixing dynamics of pastry is at least not negative. Its complexity is subtle, but everywhere present. It warps in all three dimensions, combining rigorous straight elements with beautiful curves, tubes with flat and developing blades.
Some of the joins are no longer quite so beautiful on our example, but after over twenty years of use, that can be expected. Doubtlessly the assembly process has improved significantly since then (or has been made ever cheaper), but the K-Beater design remains to this day and, even when mass production using 3D printing becomes commonplace, it will remain in the future…
A classic.
