What is the best mixer for challah ????

granolamom

Sun, Mar 26 2006, 6:28 pm

I have a kitchenaid, the one with the most powerful motor, forgot the W, and it cannot handle more than 6 cups of flour.
I've used breadmachines in the past with two problems. one is it doesn't make enough and if I'm going to double it, I'd rather do it all at once
and two, because I was using it weekly (and more around the yomim tovim) it would burn out in a year or so. we went through three breadmachines and finally I bought my magic mill, which gave me some trouble in the beginning. I would make SURE when purchasing any expensive mixer that you have RELIABLE customer service to deal with. also, I was told by the person who sold me the machine that it can handle small amounts for cake too, unfortunately, this is not the case. for cakes I still use the kitchenaid.

ChavieK

Sun, Mar 26 2006, 9:26 pm

I've had a bosch for 13 years.I make 5 lbs of challah(almost) every week. The plastic bowl is big enough. I also had bread machine, dh bought it cause he was going to make bread for breakast ,lol.Needed too many batches,& in order to take challah (Iwas told by my Rav but ask for yourself) the dough has to all be in the same form. So I couldn't do 1st batch & Bake it while another batch was still being mixed.Also to bake it the machine, you can only do on the last loaf b/c the mixer piece got baked into it.

queen

Mon, Mar 27 2006, 8:10 am

MOM222 wrote:

queen wrote:

mom232why do you say specifically w/ metal bowl? I have both but didn't know what the diff was.

Sorry I just noticed this.

The metal bowl has a dough hook that kneads dough very well and it is a bigger bowl than the white bowl.
The white bowl I use for small doughs like a pie dough, but for any yeast dough I use the silver one.

thanks mom222!
will try making challah w/ silver bowl next time and see how it compares.
always make 5 lbs- and find some flour escaped through the lid when using the white bowl. THE SILVER BOWL WILL BE UP NEXT! Smile

Tzippy

Mon, May 01 2006, 8:52 am

I have owned a Bosch, a Kitchen-Aid and a Magic Mill. I have a large family, BA"H, and therefore need to make a lot of challah. I like the Magic Mill the best because: it is very easy to clean, the motor is very strong, and I have never had to replace its parts.
The Bosch broke down and had to be repaired several times, the Kitchen Aid's motor broke (and it now comes with a huge sized bowl available in Jewish owned appliance stores), and the Magic Mill just keeps on working.

chen

Mon, May 01 2006, 5:47 pm

FWIW, devorah heller "the challah maven" who travels around the country teaching women to make and be mafrish challah, uses, recommends and sells the magic mill.

amother

Mon, May 01 2006, 8:48 pm

Quote:

FWIW, devorah heller "the challah maven" who travels around the country teaching women to make and be mafrish challah, uses, recommends and sells the magic mill.

would like to point out that she RECOMMENDS and SELLS the magic mill.
I prefer recommendations from those who have nothing to gain. I believe she uses both the bosch and the magic mill, but brings the magic mill along with her to her classes.
If you want the recommendations of a dealer, ask one who sells both. and ask how often he repairs machines, and what he will do for you if it should break and is not fixed to your satisfaction.
I speak from experience.

rosehill

Thu, May 04 2006, 11:18 am

I just got the Bosch this week. My mil bought it for my anniversary. I agonised b/w this and the Magic Mill. It seemed that there were lots of different opinions. For me, it came down to the fact that the Bosch is smaller and lighter, and since I will have to store it in my basement, that was an important factor.
BUT, I felt I had to get permission from my mother, grandmother, and grandmother-in-law, all holocaust survivors, to spend $$$ on a German machine.
They all said if I thought I would really use it, and thought it would be better for me than the Magic Mill, they were OK with it.
Anyone else struggle with the German issue?

mimsy7420

Thu, May 04 2006, 12:11 pm

I do not make 5lbs of Challah erev shabbos - because my breadmaker isnt big enough. Do I still take Challah? I usually take challah and burn it but don't make a bracha. Is that right?

Raisin

Sat, May 06 2006, 6:23 pm

I have a panasonic sd 253 breadmaker. I highly recommend it for making challa. I use the challa recipe from kosher by design, with some modifications (a little more flour, 2 whole eggs instead of 5 yolks) and it works great. To take challa with a bracha I need to make 3 batches. (9 challos) I store the first two batches in an oiled bag in the fridge (it will groWWW but you can keep for up to two days like this) and then take challa on all 3 together. As far as I know you do not need to take challa on just one batch. I get compliments on the challa the whole time. (You do not bake the challa in the bread machine, just use the dough cycle)

A really quick yummy bread to make is make a batch of pizza dough (45 mins) and turn it into ciabatta.

Tefila

Sun, May 07 2006, 5:36 am

For yummy delicious Challah the easiest, maintenance free weell almost. Is doing it by hand Exclamation

you get way more then any mixer can give you. Saves you the hassles of washing the mixer etc. And developes those arm muscles as you knead.

Just make sure it isn't left in the oven too long as I once/twice have been guilty of embarrassed