Kitchen mixer reviews

[John S.]

Hello all from a new member.

I am confused about the features/benfits of the Bosch Universal mixers (or the Concept ones) versus the Electrolux Magic Mill DLX 2000 Mixer. The main private sites vary in their recommendations.

I will use it for bread (fairly large amounts of dough), but it would be nice to use it as a food processor also. Additionally I make a lot of thick chile sauces, which my Ham Beach commercial has blown up on a couple times. One confusion point is that the Bosch has 700 watts, the Electrolux only 450, while a VitaMix had more that 1600 watts.

Thanks in advance for any help yopu can give.

John S.

San Jose, CA

[andiesenji]

I have had the Electrolux for a long time and love it for making bread. It will handle even the stiffest of doughs. I rarely use the dough hook, the roller/scraper combination works dough much as hand kneading does.

I also mix cake batters or quick breads in big batches with the roller/scraper and it does a fine job of blending but does not beat air into the batter which you want with some.

With the auxillary bowl and beaters, it does a bang up job on egg whites, whipping cream, and the types of cakes that require a lot of air in the batter, etc.

Mine does not function as a food processor as I have several Cuisinarts, I don't need it to do so.

Because of the type of drive, the DLX actually makes more efficient use of its power than the Bosch, at least in my opinion and I have tried them both.

However if you need a multi-tasking unit then the Bosch is okay.

I have a Vita-Mix for tough blending jobs.

I also have a Kitchenaid mixer which I use for some lighter mixing duties. The capacity is much less than the DLX but it comes in handy some times.

Whichever you decide, do check out this vendor. I have purchased several items from them besides my DLX and they have the best deals I have found. They include several "extras" with the DLX which are added costs with other vendors.

Pleasant Hill Grain

DLX mixer

Edited June 30, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[John S.]

Thanks Andie, I had been to Pleasant Grains' web site just before posting. They have a lot going on there. So I just purchased the Electrolux with the extra package. It really does look better for bread thanks to the unique kneading capabilities.

John S.

[John S.]

Mine does not function as a food processor as I have several Cuisinarts, I don't need it to do so.

Pleasant Hill Grain

Andie, one more question: w/respect to heavy-duty food processing, Cuisinart has been mentioned as the gold standard. But while I was looking at grain mills and dough mixers, I ran across the Bosch 5000 at

Bread Beckers

any recommendations? I am interested in longevity of the unit, versatility in types of output and ease of use/cleaning. Thanks again.

John S.

[andiesenji]

I haven't used the Bosch as a food processor. I used it only as a mixer and returned it when it didn't perform as I wished.

[John S.]

Whichever you decide, do check out this vendor.  I have purchased several items from them besides my DLX and they have the best deals I have found.  They include several "extras" with the DLX which are added costs with other vendors. 

Pleasant Hill Grain

DLX mixer

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Andie:

I received the Electrolux and have used it four times. I really like it - very powerful. I'm limited by the size of the stainless bowl to about 5 pounds of dough, but for family use that's plenty. I make 4 loaves of whole wheat, fridge it or give friends some. Its a fun machine. Thanks for the link to Pleasant Hill Grains. They shipped the next day.

John S.

[andiesenji]

I have found that it will handle a lot more dough than a KA without the annoyance of the dough crawling up the dough hook - although with the newer machines with the screw-shaped dough hook that hasn't been a problem according to people who use them, however their capacity is still much less.

The other thing is that this machine will handle extremely stiff doughs, such as the Struan bread in Peter Reinhart's book as well as the very sloppy and wet doughs I like to use for foccacia, etc.

And best of all, one never has to scrape down the sides of the bowl. That always seemed like such a waste of time for me, having to stop the mixer, scrape the doug off the paddle or hook and down the sides.

A couple of days ago I creamed together 4 pounds of butter and 4 pounds of cream cheese for an upcoming pastry project and never once had to scrape the sides of the bowl. I specifically wanted it well blended without a lot of air being beaten into it.

The other attraction is that the bowl is completely open at the top for easily adding ingredients while the unit is running (and not having it kicked back in your face) and the timer, which allows me to set the time I want something mixed and be doing other tasks while it is running.