I'm a new member to the list and am delighted to have found it. In
reply to Don's question about heavy-duty mixers. . .
After I burnt out 2 Kitchen-Aids trying to knead whole-wheat dough, I
got a Bosch mixer in 1981 that I used several times weekly until 1992.
I loaded it all the way up--my everyday 2/3 whole wheat, 1/3 white flour
recipe calls for 7 1/2 cups of liquid, and the Bosch did a wonderful
job. I bought a new and apparently identical Bosch in 1996. However, I
had trouble with dough working its way up into the central column of the
bowl, where some inner machinery is. (The way we found this was a very
bad smell which we traced to the mixer bowl.) I had never had this
trouble with my first Bosch. After several conversations with the Bosch
people and King Arthur (where I had gotten the new Bosch) it turned out
Bosch had modified the machine in some way so that it was possible that
the dough could get up inside the center. The Bosch person I spoke with
admitted they were aware of the problem but said that fixing it wasn't a
priority. Remember, this conversation was in 1996 and maybe by now it
has been fixed.
So then I got a Magic Mill DLX-2000 which I have been using at least
weekly and very happily since 1996. It does beautifully with my basic
whole wheat-white recipe that uses 7 1/2 cups of liquid, producing 5
large loaves. It is great for other typical mixer duties including my
husband's double or triple recipes of chocolate chip cookies for the
field hockey team. The whisk works well for egg whites. It comes with
a blender that also functions well, although you have to tip over the
mixer to attach the blender, unlike the Bosch which accepts the mixer
right side up.
I also have been using the Magic Mill grain mill since 1981 and wouldn't
be without it. Hate the high-pitched jet engine whine, but it doesn't
last but a few seconds.
Good luck, Don!
--Jane Helwig, Franktown, VA