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Re: Mixers

Mike Avery <mavery@mail.otherwhen.com>
Sun, 28 Oct 2007 09:52:04 -0600
v107.n031.6
Ann Greenberg <greenberg323@yahoo.com> Asked:
>I have been using a KitchenAid Classic mixer for about 5 years.  It 
>works well, but sometimes overheats and/or stalls when it is mixing 
>6 cups of flour.  I thought of buying a stronger Kitchen Aid, but I 
>don't like the ones where the bowl moves up and down (too little 
>room for adding ingredients).  I had been considering getting a 
>Bosch or Electrolux, but then I noticed that Cuisinart came out this 
>year with a stand mixer that looks quite good.
>
>I would like to know if anyone has tried the new Cuisinart and what 
>their experience has been.

I have owned and used all but two of the mixers you mentioned.  I 
have an original KitchenAid K45SS mixer I bought in 1978.  It still 
gets regular use and I love it.  My only regret is that I didn't the 
larger 5 quart model with the bowl that goes up and down.  Since I 
use the plastic shield to add ingredients, the clearance is the 
same.  On the other hand, I was never sure 1/2 a quart more capacity 
would have been enough.  But the K45, now sold as the Classic, has 
been a workhorse. Almost every time I've heard about someone having 
trouble with a KitchenAid I also hear that they made a number of huge 
batches of whole wheat bread in a row, ignoring KitchenAid's load 
limits, the decrease in capacity when using whole wheat flour and 
their "make two batches of bread and then let the mixer cool off for 
45 minutes" guideline.  If you can live within the KitchenAid's load 
limits, it's a great machine.

When I opened a commercial bakery I bought a 55 quart spiral mixer 
and a 30 quart Hobart.  I needed something to mix small amounts of 
frostings and to do test bakes with.  A friend sold me her Bosch 
Universal because, as she said, "Everyone tells me they are great, 
but I HATE it!"  So I tried it.  And my staff tried it.  And we ALL 
hated it.  I sold it on eBay for more than I paid for it.  It tends 
to overheat and overwork dough and its beaters are very 
fragile.  With the KitchenAid, I'll take bread out of the freezer and 
put it in the KA's bowl to beat the butter.  It's noisy, but the KA 
makes short work of the butter. Bosch warns you not to use butter 
that is cooler than room temperature. And even that warning was 
inadequate.  We went through several sets of beaters.

I still needed more capacity than the KitchenAid, so I bought an 
Electrolux DLX.  It is one of the newer ones with the upgraded motor. 
It was sold for years and years as the MagicMill, and I am not at all 
sure it needed a larger, or stronger, motor.  But I love it!  I can 
mix 11 pounds of starters, and have  encountered no load limits - it 
if fits into the bowl, the machine handles it.  I haven't used the 
plastic bowl and the beaters yet, but I have been very happy with the 
dough hook as well as the roller/scraper.  The machine has an awful 
manual, but the mixer really, really works.  The timer is very 
nice.  A few weeks ago I made two large batches of bagels back to 
back and the DLX never faltered or overheated.  They've been made for 
a long time, and there are stories about 50 year old DLX's still 
going strong.  Highly recommended, despite the price and the negative 
review in Cooks Illustrated.  The bowls are wide open, so they are 
easy to add ingredients to, and to scrape down. I really like the 
mixer, and it is displacing my long time favorite KitchenAid K45SS.

I haven't used the Cuisinart, but did some searching on line.  People 
who buy them seem to love them.  They seem to be what was sold in 
England as the Kenwood mixer for many years. DeLonghi bought the 
Kenwood mixers, and the current Cuisinart seems to be a re-branded 
DeLonghi.  Kenwood mixers enjoyed a reputation for extreme ruggedness 
and durability, so chances are good the Cuisinart would be a 
workhorse.  The number of name changes gives me a bit of pause.

In your shoes, what would I do?  If I had a lot of KitchenAid 
accessories, I'd lean towards a larger KitchenAid since the 
accessories are costly and can not be used on different brands of 
mixers;  If I didn't have a lot of KitchenAid accessories, I'd lean 
towards the Electrolux DLX.  While the Cuisinart has the potential to 
be a long lasting workhorse, it really is a new mixer and I'd rather 
see someone else determine how reliable the mixer is.

Mike

Mike Avery      mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
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