I wonder how much of that is cheapening the parts and design, because
so many of us have decades-old models that are still doing the
job. I never made more than two loaves at once in mine, but it
nothing ever snapped on it. And it's never seen a repair shop.
My father had good luck for many years with a large Kenwood machine,
but a quite different alternative is to use a food processor. You
need a sturdy one with a large mixing bowl. I make virtually all my
breads in my 14-cup Cuisinart, but it will only do one loaf at a
time. I adapt the various recipes to the basic procedure outlined
very clearly in "The Best Bread Ever" by Charles Van Over.
The quick versions is to put all the dry ingredients in the bowl
together, with the metal blade (not the plastic dough blade!), using
instant yeast with the dry ingredients, then with the motor running,
add all the liquid ingredients at once. Let a dough form, turn off
the processor and let the dough rest for 5-15 minutes while the flour
takes up the liquid (the "hydrolyse"). Turn the processor back on
and mix about 45 seconds. Pause and adjust the flour/water if needed
during this 45 seconds, and add any butter or solid fats towards the
end. Wait until the last 10-15 seconds to mix in any solids like nuts
or fruits. Turn out onto a floured board and shape & let rise as you
normally do.
The keys to this are to use COLD liquids--water from the refrigerator
or ice water--so the intense fast mix won't overheat the final dough
and kill the yeast; to use instant yeast with the dry ingredients
although I've also had good results using sourdough starters if they
were dissolved first into the cold liquid ingredients); and to be
careful about the timing until you're comfortable with the technique,
because it is very easy to overknead.
Diane Brown in St. Louis
http://www.well.com/user/debunix/recipes/FoodPages.html