This article is based on the experiences of 25 PhD students at a New Zealand university who came to do research and soon found themselves taking on substantial teaching loads. Teaching was highly valued and it helped students develop their professional identity as they broadened their subject knowledge and practised a disciplinary research discourse in the relatively safe environment of the classroom. However, in contrast to experiences of research, they had less autonomy and less support when they taught. Teaching interfered with research when the PhD came nearer to completion and was less attractive when courses were taught for a second time or when assessment loads were burdensome. We propose that disenchantment was partly attributed to the overwhelming emphasis on research as 'knowledge production' and teaching as 'knowledge transfer', and the lack of opportunity for students to move beyond such conceptions. It is suggested that learning about teaching and research simultaneously could be a valuable way of organizing doctoral education.