"Sandy Krause" <sandykrause@verizon.net> said:
>I second the recommendation for the Bosch mixer. I can make recipes
>using 12 cups of flour and it doesn't strain one tiny bit.
When I was running our bakery, we needed a smaller mixer for test
batches, icings, frostings and so on. I didn't want to burn out my
ancient KitchenAid, so I picked up a used Bosch. It was more solidly
built than a current KitchenAids and I had high hopes for it. The
German woman I bought it from said she just couldn't get used to it
and wanted it out of her kitchen. Shortly thereafter, my staff
begged me to get it out of the bakery. After using it, I agreed with
them. I feel it overworks and over heats dough, and that the wire
whisks are far too fragile.
After using for about 2 months, we sold it on eBay. I splurged and
got an Electrolux. It is also much better built than current
KitchenAids. It handled around 5,000 grams (almost 11 pounds) of
dough. And it keeps on going and going and going. I kept it after
we shut down the bakery for my home baking and I really like it a lot.
Overall, I'd suggest the Electrolux over the Bosch. There are a
number of threads about this on The Fresh Loaf. I suggest reading
the threads all the way through - the common thread in all of them is
the conversion experience.
However, more often than not, I just make bread by hand. It's really
NOT that hard, especially with the stretch and fold technique. I
talk about it at <http://www.sourdoughhome.com/stretchandfold.html>.
It is useful for all wheat breads and many rye breads. If you get
past about 30 to 40% rye flour, you need the energy a mixer provides.
-Mike
*Bake With Mike <http://www.bakewithmike.com>*
Mike Avery
A Randomly Selected Bread Saying Of The Day:
Make do with bread and butter till God brings the jam.
- Berber Saying