Mixers & Bread makers.

Elcarajillo

Mrs. El c makes exceedingly good cak/. bread. Unfortunately yesterday she decided to take a ‘dive’ for the tarmac.

In addition to chin, nose ,jaw she also did for her wrist/ thumb. As bread kneading is (at least for now ) out of the question, we are pondering mixers and bread makers.

Do any members have any suggestions, recommendations or other comments regarding the above?

Bread makers seem to have gone out of fashion and there appears to be dissatisfaction with results.

Any bread makers please chip in.

@ Pompeyexile like to chip in ?

dfk41

Elcarajillo I think the dividing line is the amount of use. Can you get away with a domestic modelor do you need the extra grunt a commercial machine gives. I have used the dough hooks on mine a few times and find them quite acceptable. I would have a look on Ebay or Facebook Marketplace since like a grinder, a mixer is a motor and a case and providing it has been cleaned. and looked after you can make a fair saving on new. A few years ago I switched from Kenwod to a Dualit mixer and for me, I think it is better performing. My local Marketplace has loads for sale close to me with every make under the sun available.

LMSC

Elcarajillo Very sorry to hear. Best wishes for her quick recovery.

Kitchenaid Artisan is going strong for 10+ years.

Cuprajake

No idea on the mixer but fingers crossed for a quick recovery

HarveyMushman

Sorry to hear about the injury and hope it’s a swift recovery!

I’m a KitchenAid Artisan fan and plenty of family/friends also have one. Rock solid, still made in the US, powerful. It’s one of those products you feel will last forever and just go on mixing.

We use ours for bread (focaccia, regular loaves and sourdough), pasta/pizza dough and cake mixes.

There’s also a large selection of attachments that are pricey but good (like the pasta roller).

I don’t even knead bread by hand anymore. Just whack all the ingredients in the KitchenAid on a slow speed with the dough hook.

I’ve been tempted by the Italian spiral mixers but they’re massive and I like how the KitchenAid looks left out on the counter.

DavecUK

I have a bread maker, they can do a great job of baking and making bread in a one part operation.You don’t have to touch anything, you just press the button.And a number of hours later, you got a fresh loaf pops out.But of course, you always got that hole in the bottom where the mixer paddle was. I think some modern ones retract them, but the other way you can use them is to just make the dough. As what really lets them down is the shaping and the tensioning of the bread. So you could use them just to make the dough and then just bake the bread as normal after shaping and tensioning it up yourself.

This post has actually made me think.I should get the bread maker out again.I don’t know why I put it away?

dfk41

DavecUK I must admit that I also tend to make bread in my breadmaker. It is just so convenient. The kneading obviously plays its part but the recipe and ingredients is just as important. I do not buy bread mixes but prefer to make up my own which is rial and tribulation but ever so convenient

Amberale

I recently bought a Sunbeam Mixmaster for this exact purpose.
I didn’t fall over but was tired of the kneading.
I really wanted an Ankarsrum mixer but it was $1000aud more expensive.

RickO88

I use a Kenwood Chef with dough hook to mix 2.2kg of sourdough. Have had it for 6 years or so.

No problems. Would not use a breadmaker for sourdough.

dfk41

I used to collect vintage Kenwood mixers

scwheeler

Best wishes to Mrs El for a speedy recover!

For purely bread baking I wouldn’t buy either - I had a bread maker years ago and so they may have improved but always found the results pretty average.

My best bread recipes (and pizza) are no-knead anyway (happy to share!) and I use this pullman tin to make a loaf which has been amazing:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pullman-Cover-Corrugated-Alluminum-21-5×12-3×11-4cm/dp/B087R4F3BQ/?th=1

Otherwise I make a no-knead boule in a dutch oven style pan.

I you go for a stand mixer which I do use for other things, we have a Kitchenaid Artisan which has worked well and has become more useful over the years as we added the pasta maker, meat grinder, & grater attachments as it has allowed us to get rid of all the separate kitchen gadgets. However if it is within your budget I would recommend springing for the heavy duty version.

Dusk

I have a cheap stand mixer, it does the job and has lasted for over 5 years but it’s very noisy and feels cheap. If you’re going to use it a lot then I’d be getting a more premium version if only so it’s quieter!

Jony

its a minefield, what’s your budget Mixer

Platypus

@Elcarajillo Very sorry to hear about your wife’s accident, that sounds nasty, I hope she’s not too shaken and recovers quickly .

kenwood user here too . It’s a vintage one and rock solid the motor seems to cope with anything .

I replaced the aluminium dough hook with a stainless steel one . It does a brilliant job.

RickO88

Why is the stainless steel hook better than the aluminium one? Thanks

Platypus

RickO88 Why is the stainless steel hook better than the aluminium one?

The stainless steel is no better functionality wise than the old aluminium one . It was replaced purely for aesthetic and dare I say ,rightly or wrongly , for safety reasons.

The old aluminium one was quite badly tarnished , I was raised in the generation where uncoated aluminium cookware was demonised and even if unproven, you can never look at it in quite the same way again 🤣

dfk41

Platypus I found that the performance of the vintage Kenwood’s was quite a bit below that of the latest ones (10 years ago now). In turn, I found someone selling a little used Dualit food mixer for £50 so I bought that about 5 years ago and I find it just as good as my newer Kenwood for making cakes. I think if you want to buy new then you pays your money and makes your choice but if you use Facebook Marketplace, the advantage is you can refine your search to within say 10 miles of where you are (as you can do on Ebay) and find a choice close by. You look at the state of some mixers that are manky whilst others seem clean and little used.

This is on Facebook near to me. I am not really familiar with the brand but it looks clean and for £100 a canny buy.

https://shorturl.at/JdXwz

JammyDodger

I echo everyone’s sentiments above for a speedy recovery of Mrs El c.

Bread-wise, I agree with @scwheeler in that no-knead bread recipes would be perfect whilst your wife is convalescing. I really like Jim Lahey’s original no-knead bread recipe that started it all - video below!

scwheeler

I’ve used Ken Forkish’s books for bread, pizza, and now sourdough. What I really like is the fact that for each book he’s written he’s also made a YouTube playlist breaking down the techniques for a dummy like me!

You may have to google for the actual recipe (or pick up one of his books) but I’ve struggled to turn out a bad loaf or pizza and find myself always going back to them after experimenting with the latest and greatest recipe.

Similar to Jim Lahey above while there is no kneading he does use several folds during making the dough, hopefully Mrs El’s poor wrist is okay with that as I found that to be the secret sauce for making boules that are more rounded with a light and fluffy crumb.

Pompeyexile

Well here is my mixer, built like a tank and perfect for dough making as you can see…

Elcarajillo

Pompeyexile Thank’s for the photo’s. What make is it ? Is it only for bread or are there other attachments for it / with it?