About mixers: Delonghi, Magic Mill, Botch, and KitchenAid. An opinion by
an obviously compulsive mixer buyer--who lives in a studio apartment, with
a not so big kitchen and a very bad 15 inch oven.
The Killer Recipe--my sweet yeast dough recipe (when made called yeast
cake)--flour, milk, butter--a lot of butter--of course yeast.
I just returned the new Delonghi mixer (shea Kenwood, Rival)--It has a very
loud strange noise even at a low setting (like a repaired machine has). It
did not mix my batter thoroughly, when I made Marcie Goldman's delicious
honey cake recipes. I had to hand mix it. Then I gave it the mixer the
ultimate test-- doubling my sweet yeast dough. I kept to the machines
flour limits, but it temporarily died on me after kneading for about six
minutes (it did revive), but I did not know if it would so I through the
dough in my bosch to finish kneading. While kneading in the Delonghi, the
mixer started to move around enough that I would have to be close to it
while it is kneading. (I will say my yeast cake was the best ever, but I
think it is more because of the way I rolled it and made the filling, but I
am not sure. The cake recipe failed (not Marcie's fault--I made it many
times and it is perfect), could be the mixer or because I made my own
baking powder, with cream of tarter and baking soda and it was too
powerful. Remade the recipe that night (bought new baking powder and used
my Kitchenaid and it was perfect). Oh, I do like that the head of the
Delonghi machine back tilts back.
Magic Mill mixer: I have it for about four years. I cannot figure out how
to make bread in it. Mine almost always comes out heavy. Maybe it is
because I usually make small batches. The magic mill mixer is the one I
take out to make my sweat yeast dough. I can triple the recipe and it
handles if fine and it does not move. The yeast cake usually comes out
well, but yeast cake is not known for it's light bready texture. The magic
mill makes does make excellent quick bread (better than Kitchenaid) and
buttercream. To make the above items you use the regular bowl, which is
huge and without a stem in the middle. It is very easy to add ingredients.
You have to use a different bowl to whip egg whites, which does have a
beautiful consistency, but I am not crazy about the hole in the middle and
sometimes I will have about a teaspoon of unbeaten eggwhite (weird). I
compared pound cake with this mixer and Bosch and they both came out great,
which surprised me I actually thought the magic mill would have done a
better job. Easy to clean.
Bosch concept 7: The bowl has a hole in the middle and is sort of saucer
shaped. I thought it wouldn't do as good a job on cake, but it does an
excellent job--you do have to stop and scrape down the middle sides and the
outer sides. Made okay bread--haven't gotten the hang of it on this
machine, but has come out better than the magic mill. I have doubled my
sweat yeast bread recipe and it had handled it with ease. Made great pound
cake--as the magic mill mixer did. What could be an advantage to this
machine is that you don't have to change bowls to make different things,
just beaters: whisk, bread, and cookie dough (the cookie dough head you
have to buy separately--it does a great job on cakes). The concept 7 stays
put when kneading dough--I have heard the universal sometimes moves around.
The base is surprisingly light and can be stored on a shelf. Oh, and the
blender that comes with it is fantastic. Easy to clean
Kitchenaid Five Quart: I love the kitchenaid--I love making food in
it--maybe because I have used it the longest, since the 70's. I do believe
the bread I have made from it has come out better than the bosch and the
magicmill. That being said--my machine had to be repaired twice--and that
is sixty dollars a repair and I have the old hobart made machine. The last
time was when making my sweet yeast dough. I made a single batch and it
handled it fine. I then started to make another single batch and it died
and did not revive. I had to get it repaired. The repairman told me he
repairs these machines all the time. That was when I decided to get another
machine. I did buy a newer kitchenaid with the circuit breaker--thinking I
was safe, but the machine died making regular bread (though it
revived)--and I kept to the limits--and did not raise the speed. I just
feel, if I am buying a machine to make bread, I should not have to be that
cautious. Not so easy to clean. My advice is if you buy a Kitchenaid to
make bread, buy one with the circuit breaker, that way if it dies it might
just might come to live (without having to take it to the hospital).
Oh I used to demonstrate Cuisinarts and got the new one (surprise) which
does make good bread, but only one or two loaves (I don't know if you can
do multiple batches). I also like that the feed tube is in
front. Unfortunately, the feed is annoying to put on.
Okay, I know the MagicMill and the Bosch should be the machine of choice
for people who want to make a lot of bread, but they both have a learning
curve. Most of the time I only make one loaf of bread, it is when I have
to bake for my extended family, that I need the big machines. Of the two,
I like the Magic Mill a bit better, just because I am not comfortable with
the shape of the bosch's bowl. They do make great cakes, etc. BTW large
wattage does not equal more strength--it has something to do with how
efficient your machine is at using the power. The Kitchenaid does have a
reputation of dying when making bread. From the information I got from
mixer lists--some Kitchenaids are totally solid and work forever and others
die very quickly. My advice, if you buy a kitchenaid is to get a new one
and use it a lot during the first year--kitchenaid does have a great return
policy--test it out to see if you have a solid one. Even if you have a
great one, the Kitchenaid does not make as many loaves as the ones
above. So figure out how much capacity you really need and don't go by
bowl size, go by how much flour each machine can handle.