No-one has yet mentioned the Kenwood Major with the 1500 w
motor. I've had one for five years, and until a few months ago it
was perfect, but now the safety shutoff has become overactive because
stiff dough lifts up the beater head - the 'smooth action' headlift
has been damaged. It still works fine if I lean on it!
However, the motor is still going and has mixed many a double batch
of bagel dough.
It's much better than my Kitchen Aid, which is a useless fashion
item. It's been back to the shop six times. Smokes whenever it
mixes anything tougher than cake.
Do bread machines actually mix stiff doughs any better?
Oh, and merry Christmas, joyeux noel, froliches weinachten etc. I
just made a big batch of stollen for all my relations. I use Daniel
Boulud's recipe in east of Paris nowadays - it starts with a
spongecake mix, beating eggs and sugar till they form the
ribbon. Tomorrow, the brioches and pandoros...