Stand mixer

[mmasc]

I know this has been discussed, but the google search isn’t taking me to any recent (ish) thread and the search function on the board is failing. So, can anyone link me to the most recent stand mixer recommendation thread?

Or, feel free to take off with this one. 🙂 

my main questions are 1) which one to buy (current one from online somewhere) and 2) if it’s for occasional bread-making, can my big Cuisinart food processor do the job? I’m a bread-making novice. 😁

[Amethyst]

Regarding your second question, I have been using my Cuisinart food processor to make bread for years. I make one good-sized loaf at a time. 

[mmasc]

9 minutes ago, Amethyst said:

Regarding your second question, I have been using my Cuisinart food processor to make bread for years. I make one good-sized loaf at a time. 

Thanks! Do you know if it works when a recipe states ‘in a stand mixer with dough blade’ blah blah blah?

I read on Cooks Illustrated that you need to adjust the water to a cooler temperature since the food processor mixes faster and heats more. Have you found that to be true? 

[Katy]

I bought a kitchenaid stand mixer from kitchenaid's website in March.  It seems fine.

I have a breadmaker so I haven't used it for that.

[KungFuPanda]

43 minutes ago, mmasc said:

I know this has been discussed, but the google search isn’t taking me to any recent (ish) thread and the search function on the board is failing. So, can anyone link me to the most recent stand mixer recommendation thread?

Or, feel free to take off with this one. 🙂 

my main questions are 1) which one to buy (current one from online somewhere) and 2) if it’s for occasional bread-making, can my big Cuisinart food processor do the job? I’m a bread-making novice. 😁

For occasional bread making for a novice baker, I’d use what you have until the bread novelty wears off.  Then, if bread making is a thing you’re actually going to do often, you can start shopping. 
 

My cuisinart has a dough hook that’s fine for pizza dough and single-loaf breads. You can also look at no-knead artisan breads that are very satisfying and easy for beginners. I’ve been baking bread regularly for years, and I own a Kitchenaid, but THIS is my go-to recipe for a rustic sourdough loaf. 

[Amethyst]

I do know that temp matters. I use a recipe from a book called The Best Bread Ever. The author uses Cuisinart and he has me taking the temp of the flour, and then adjust the temp of the water that I plan to pour into the flour (the combined temp must add up to 130 degrees). 

My husband makes his pizza dough in the stand mixer and he no longer worries about temp. 

But we both agree that food processor would make the dough hotter. 
 

[sheryl]

I started a thread maybe 3-4 years ago.

Don't know if this answers your question but I settled on a KA lift (stand) mixer.  So happy with my decision!

[mmasc]

57 minutes ago, sheryl said:

I started a thread maybe 3-4 years ago.

Don't know if this answers your question but I settled on a KA lift (stand) mixer.  So happy with my decision!

Which model did you go with? I remember several different models and people commenting on liking one a bit more than the other (maybe?).

Edited October 6, 2020 by mmasc
Typo

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, Amethyst said:

I do know that temp matters. I use a recipe from a book called The Best Bread Ever. The author uses Cuisinart and he has me taking the temp of the flour, and then adjust the temp of the water that I plan to pour into the flour (the combined temp must add up to 130 degrees). 

My husband makes his pizza dough in the stand mixer and he no longer worries about temp. 

But we both agree that food processor would make the dough hotter. 
 

Yes! This is what Cooks Illustrated was talking about. They said that exactly...130 degrees and therefore the water will normally be cooler than what the recipe states for it to be. 

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

For occasional bread making for a novice baker, I’d use what you have until the bread novelty wears off.  Then, if bread making is a thing you’re actually going to do often, you can start shopping. 
 

My cuisinart has a dough hook that’s fine for pizza dough and single-loaf breads. You can also look at no-knead artisan breads that are very satisfying and easy for beginners. I’ve been baking bread regularly for years, and I own a Kitchenaid, but THIS is my go-to recipe for a rustic sourdough loaf. 

So true, so true. 😆 I want to be a bread baker, but my results usually fail and the recipes seem SO complicated! Temperatures, and kneading, and proofing...😱

I’ve tried that super popular No Knead Dutch Over Bread before and it was terrible and got trashed. I do make a decent pizza dough that is actually designed as a food processor recipe (America’s Test Kitchen). 
 

basically, I JUST bought a new $20 cookbook mostly for the bread recipes and every single one of them say ‘in your stand mixer’. *sigh* My DH and I love bread, so I thought maybe the right equipment would give me better results. Not that I can afford a KA mixer right now, but Christmas is around the corner so I’m just pondering. The $20 cookbook is kind of a “if you give a mouse a cookie’ situation right now with the mixer. 😂

[Bambam]

We researched a while back and ended up with a Cuisinart stand mixer. Mine is the brushed chrome (cheaper and I really don't care about color). It's been a good mixer. Sometimes I make a lot of bread, sometimes I don't. I've made a lot of pizza crust in it. My daughter has used it for a lot of cookies.

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-SM-55-2-Quart-12-Speed-Stand/dp/B000ON4B3U/

ETA: We got the blender attachment too, because it seemed like a good idea. We've had this thing 4? 5? years now, and we still haven't used that blender. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Bambam

[KungFuPanda]

59 minutes ago, mmasc said:

So true, so true. 😆 I want to be a bread baker, but my results usually fail and the recipes seem SO complicated! Temperatures, and kneading, and proofing...😱

I’ve tried that super popular No Knead Dutch Over Bread before and it was terrible and got trashed. I do make a decent pizza dough that is actually designed as a food processor recipe (America’s Test Kitchen). 
 

basically, I JUST bought a new $20 cookbook mostly for the bread recipes and every single one of them say ‘in your stand mixer’. *sigh* My DH and I love bread, so I thought maybe the right equipment would give me better results. Not that I can afford a KA mixer right now, but Christmas is around the corner so I’m just pondering. The $20 cookbook is kind of a “if you give a mouse a cookie’ situation right now with the mixer. 😂

We call that a “mouse-a-cookie” in my house and use it as a verb. 🤣

[bethben]

I’ve had a Bosch mixer for almost 20 years.  It’s still going strong.  It can knead four loaves of whole wheat bread at a time.  My mom’s professional KitchenAid struggled with two.  It doesn’t do as well with smaller batches of baking that you may need to do though.  

[mmasc]

2 hours ago, bethben said:

I’ve had a Bosch mixer for almost 20 years.  It’s still going strong.  It can knead four loaves of whole wheat bread at a time.  My mom’s professional KitchenAid struggled with two.  It doesn’t do as well with smaller batches of baking that you may need to do though.  

I think I’d be doing smaller batches, so this is helpful. Most of the recipes I’m interested in are less than 4 cups of flour, so I’d assume that’s on the smaller smaller side. 🤔

[Ellie]

I have a Bosch Universal and have been very happy with it. I use it to knead bread, as well as all the other stand-mixer uses; and I bought the food processor attachment, which has also been a good buy.

A friend who used to make all her bread from scratch (including milling her own wheat) had both a Bosch and a KA; she said there was a noticeable difference between bread made in each one, and she preferred the Bosch. I have forgotten what the difference was, though. I just remember that she preferred the Bosch for bread.

[KungFuPanda]

59 minutes ago, mmasc said:

I think I’d be doing smaller batches, so this is helpful. Most of the recipes I’m interested in are less than 4 cups of flour, so I’d assume that’s on the smaller smaller side. 🤔

How you plan to use it is important.  I can't even relate to making 4 loaves of whole wheat at once.  There are only 4 of us, and we love bread but we don't eat it very quickly.  I usually make one or two loaves and my KA Artisan is fine for that and has been for over a decade.  I also use it to shred meat or mix up a cake mix.  I use the veggie puree attachment when I'm canning tomatoes.  I also really prefer the tilt head.

For my sister, making one or two loaves at a time is a big joke.  Her family is larger and they inhale the bread.  She's never made a single batch of cookies in her life.  I'm guessing she'd probably kill a mixer like mine in less than a year.  She has the much bigger Kitchenaid and says that my mixer is "tiny and cute." I think it's big and heavy! She could probably really use the Bosch and will likely get one when she kills her Kitchenaid.  It seems to be holding up and her kids are mostly raised now, so maybe she won't destroy it after all.

[mmasc]

Well, my use right now is currently wanting to make all of the recipes in my new cookbook. 😂 But if I have one, I envision it being for a variety of doughs...monkey bread, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, etc for when I feel like making them. I do not picture making sandwich bread or whatever twice a week, or fresh loaves every other night, or etc. I guess I could start with trying a few recipes in my food processor and see where that gets me. I do like the looks and size of that KA Artisan @KungFuPanda  There are way too many choices in KA—it’s hard to tell what’s what. The Bosch seems like a great workhorse but I’m not sure if I need that size and price (!) for my novice baking. 

[Forget-Me-Not]

My 11-cup Cuisinart food processor actually came with a dough blade.  I don't think I've ever used it because I've always had a Kitchen-Aid.  But I can't imagine being able to make more than one loaf that way.  It says 11-cup, but it really can't handle anything more than about 7-8 cups.  

You might try any of the number of recipes out there for English Muffin bread.  It can be mixed by hand, no kneading, and super easy.  

[Emba]

I have a Bosch compact mixer, which I love. 
 

i also have a cookbook of bread recipes by Bernard Clayton (The Nee Complete Book of Breads) where every recipe has instruction variations for hand kneading, food processor, and mixer. Might be worth checking your library, and I know you can find secondhand copies fairly cheap on eBay. My copy has cream colored background and blue lettering on the title.

[catz]

We had to replace a 20 year old kitchen aid stand mixer (basic model) this year.  We did repair it once on our own a couple years ago with a cheap part.  But other than that it worked great and it got heavy use (double batches, bread hook all the time, etc).  Our new one is the Artisan model and it does have a bigger bowl which is nice.  The old bowls and attachments still work on the new one though which is great as well.  I make bread with it weekly.  

[mmasc]

3 hours ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

My 11-cup Cuisinart food processor actually came with a dough blade.  I don't think I've ever used it because I've always had a Kitchen-Aid.  But I can't imagine being able to make more than one loaf that way.  It says 11-cup, but it really can't handle anything more than about 7-8 cups.  

You might try any of the number of recipes out there for English Muffin bread.  It can be mixed by hand, no kneading, and super easy.  

Mine is the 11-cup also. I looked in the manual and it claims no more than 5 cups of flour, not sure about liquid or even how much bread that yields (again-novice here). 
 

Thanks for the recipe idea! I’ll look into that one. 

[Emba]

3 hours ago, Emba said:

I have a Bosch compact mixer, which I love. 
 

i also have a cookbook of bread recipes by Bernard Clayton (The Nee Complete Book of Breads) where every recipe has instruction variations for hand kneading, food processor, and mixer. Might be worth checking your library, and I know you can find secondhand copies fairly cheap on eBay. My copy has cream colored background and blue lettering on the title.

Quoting myself to correct : it is the NEW Complete Book of Breads

[mmasc]

@FuzzyCatz

@KungFuPanda

do you have the artisan mini (3.5 qt) or the artisan (5 qt)? 
I’m wondering if the 5 qt is too big for say, one loaf of bread recipes. Our family’s eating habits sound similar to your family’s kung fu panda...I’ll never need to make more than 1-2 loaves at a time, or double batches of recipes, etc.

 

the Bosch compact seems to be a good size for me (4 qt) but it’s out of stock. Maybe they don’t make this version anymore?

[bluemongoose]

If you decide on a KA, I have a suggestion before you choose which model. If you at all interested in using attachments (pasta maker, flour grinder, food processor) watch YouTube videos of people using the attachments and pay attention to the model of KitchenAid they have. The little ones with the heads that tilt up are almost always bogging down with the use of attachments in videos. I think KitchenAid should be more honest about the attachment use on their smaller motor machines. They really don't handle most of the attachments well. 

I have had the 5qt professional, which died after 15 years of very hard use. It would struggle on a batch of 2 loaf bread dough and a double batch of cookies (larger family). I considered the Bosch when my KA died....but I already had attachments for the KA and didn't want to start over again. I ended up getting the KA commercial. That thing doesn't struggle. It was a good buy for a larger family. 

I am not saying you need the commercial, especially if you have a smaller family, but do consider what you think you might use it for and get the right motor strength for that job. 

[mmasc]

2 minutes ago, bluemongoose said:

If you decide on a KA, I have a suggestion before you choose which model. If you at all interested in using attachments (pasta maker, flour grinder, food processor) watch YouTube videos of people using the attachments and pay attention to the model of KitchenAid they have. The little ones with the heads that tilt up are almost always bogging down with the use of attachments in videos. I think KitchenAid should be more honest about the attachment use on their smaller motor machines. They really don't handle most of the attachments well. 

I have had the 5qt professional, which died after 15 years of very hard use. It would struggle on a batch of 2 loaf bread dough and a double batch of cookies (larger family). I considered the Bosch when my KA died....but I already had attachments for the KA and didn't want to start over again. I ended up getting the KA commercial. That thing doesn't struggle. It was a good buy for a larger family. 

I am not saying you need the commercial, especially if you have a smaller family, but do consider what you think you might use it for and get the right motor strength for that job. 

I hadn’t thought much about attachments...thanks for bringing that to my attention!

[catz]

@mmasc I have the 5 quart artisan KA. I do not have any of the other attachments for it, I just use it as a mixer/bread machine.   We are a small family.  I have 2 kids, one is at college right now so most of my baking has been single batch.  I do double batch regularly for volunteer gigs or entertaining or sharing, so that is possible too.  And for the most part that was even fine with my smaller KA.  It  did sound tired doing some giant bread things but we had it over 20 years so it muddled through.  🙂  

Edited October 8, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[KungFuPanda]

6 hours ago, mmasc said:

@FuzzyCatz

@KungFuPanda

do you have the artisan mini (3.5 qt) or the artisan (5 qt)? 
I’m wondering if the 5 qt is too big for say, one loaf of bread recipes. Our family’s eating habits sound similar to your family’s kung fu panda...I’ll never need to make more than 1-2 loaves at a time, or double batches of recipes, etc.

 

the Bosch compact seems to be a good size for me (4 qt) but it’s out of stock. Maybe they don’t make this version anymore?

I have the regular 5 qt. I wouldn’t go smaller for a family. I make a single loaf of bread ALL the time. I think it’s a good size for most single recipes and some double recipes. It wouldn’t be good for doing 4 loaves of anything at once. 

[mmasc]

5 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

@mmasc I have the 5 quart artisan KA. I do not have any of the other attachments for it, I just use it as a mixer/bread machine.   We are a small family.  I have 2 kids, one is at college right now so most of my baking has been single batch.  I do double batch regularly for volunteer gigs or entertaining or sharing, so that is possible too.  And for the most part that was even fine with my smaller KA.  It  did sound tired doing some giant bread things but we had it over 20 years so it muddled through.  🙂  

 

15 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I have the regular 5 qt. I wouldn’t go smaller for a family. I make a single loaf of bread ALL the time. I think it’s a good size for most single recipes and some double recipes. It wouldn’t be good for doing 4 loaves of anything at once. 

Perfect! Just the info I was looking for. Thank you both!

[sheryl]

On 10/6/2020 at 4:23 PM, mmasc said:

Which model did you go with? I remember several different models and people commenting on liking one a bit more than the other (maybe?).

Busy week.  Let me see if I can find it for you.  It's in kitchen but I don't feel like turning it over.  It's heavy.  But, that makes it stable and that it is!

https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/stand-mixers/bowl-lift-stand-mixers/p.pro-600-series-6-quart-bowl-lift-stand-mixer.kp26m1xvb.html?

KA has a red 6 Q  bowl-lift for $299. I don't know how it compares to the link above.

Mine is like the link above/red one above.  It's a 6 Q bowl-lift in cobalt blue.  I was going to order the 5 Q for my small family of 3 (dh, dd and me) but they were having a promotion and the sales rep pushed the 6 Q on me.  It's fairly big and I wish I had the 5 Q but the deal was amazing and figured an extra qt is not really that big of a deal.  I looked and researched here on wtm, read reviews and decided a bowl-lift was for me.  So glad.  I've had tilt and I don't like the heavy motor head which is what you tilt.  Plus, the bowl-lift is more professional looking.  LOL!   Surely you'll like whatever you decide on.  

Have fun!  Let us know which one you get! 🙂