Bosch mixer - whats the steel bowl good for? whats the cost?

AppleCrisp

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 5:12 am

I know that people use the stainless steel bowl for doughs, but is it really necessary, or just an extra? whats the real difference between using the steel or plastic bowl?
Can dough be made in the plastic bowl, or cake batters in the steel?
I'd like to get a bosch, but dont want to spend extra if I dont have to.. I was thinking maybe I'd get ONLY the steel bowl, does that make sense?

Also, does anyone know what a good price for the bosch mixer is? Ive looked around a bit, but want to know what's considered a good price for it.

Marion

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 5:39 am

Metal is better "all around". It's stronger. It's hardier. Whipped cream (even pareve) whips better in a chilled bowl...and you can't chill a plastic bowl. Dough is better in a metal bowl. (Especially a yeast dough, in the winter, when you can sit it over a pot with hot water to help it rise.)

Liba

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 7:19 am

Marion wrote:

Marion is there a way to whip anything in the Bosh metal bowl? Mine only came with a dough hook and is huge. I can't see how one could use it for anything other than dough.

Marion

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 7:22 am

I'm not familiar specifically with the Bosch. I said GENERALLY metal is much better than plastic. You can't use a dough hook for anything besides dough (except maybe fondant...which is also dough in a manner of speaking). I don't understand when you say the bowl only came with a certain attachment?

Liba

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 7:29 am

Marion wrote:

My bosch metal bowl has a dough hook that attaches to the middle of the BOTTOM of the bowl. The bowl is a different shape than the Bosch plastic bowl and the attachments are not interchangeable. The plastic bowl is shaped more like a bunt pan and the attachments go onto the part in the middle which is about the height of the top rim of the bowl.

As far as I know you can only make dough in the Bosch metal bowl, because of the shape of the bowl and the fact that there is only a dough hook, but you can make smaller batches of dough or other things in the Bosch plastic bowls.

Marion

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 7:30 am

That sounds more like a food processor bowl than a mixer bowl. It would drive me nuts! It also sounds impractical...how much of the ingredients get wasted because they don't mix well upside down? (I'm picturing gaps between wherever the attachment "plugs in" and the bowl sides/bottom.)

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 2:45 pm

There are a few different Bosch mixer models. I have the Universal Kitchen Machine (now discontinued, the new one is the Universal Plus). Mine came with a plastic bowl with center post (donut shaped bowl), dough hook and metal whisks. The attachments (hook, whisks, etc) attach to the top of the center post. I use the plastic bowl to make bread all the time - no problem! I don't make cake batter frequently, but when I do I use the metal whisks. If you make cookies, the cookie paddles will work better than the whisks - the whisks are too flexible.

I just looked at a vendor's website (I got mine from Pleasant Hill Grain) and it seems that the new stainless steel bowl has the center post, and uses the standard attachments. The bowl without the center post appears to have been discontinued. The new stainess steel bowls are sold without dough hook/whisks (at least from this vendor). I received excellent customer service from Pleasant Hill Grain (no affiliation, etc). They quickly answered all my questions about selecting and using the products.

BinahYeteirah

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 7:37 pm

cm wrote:

This is the same as my experience, but I have the Universal Plus. From Pleasant Hill Grain, the metal bowl is extra, and I've never had any issues using the plastic bowl for dough.

poelmamosh

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 7:55 pm

BinahYeteirah wrote:

I've never had any issues using the plastic bowl for dough.

Me, neither. But, admittedly, my machine is more than 40 yrs old (belonged to my grandmother). I make up to 14 cups of flour in the plastic bowl (if I need more, I divide the recipe and do it twice).

Mine came with the silver bowl, but there is some special attachment, a small turning nodule specifically for the silver bowl, which I once threw out by mistake Sad

...this was before my challah-making days.

Liba

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 8:05 pm

I used the plastic bowl for four years and blew out the motor. I was told by the repair person, once he opened up my machine, without me telling him what bowl I had been using, that this happened because I was using the plastic bowl.

At that point I only had the plastic bowl, and the repair was twice the cost of the metal bowl. I bought the metal bowl and it holds a lot more, mixes better and works really well for dough, but nothing else.

ra_mom

Mon, Mar 22 2010, 9:20 pm

sky wrote:

I bought my bosch from a frum store in NY. The metal bowl was included free.

(I also bought the blender and food processor attachments. The blender is great. The food processor is not.)

Same here.
I bought it at the Buzz. If you are not in Brooklyn, I believe it's available on their website.

realeez

Wed, Nov 03 2010, 10:39 am

I think I want to order from Pleasant Hill Grain -

Is this the one that would be good for 5 lbs of Challah?

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.c......aspx

and which stainless steel bowl?

Stainless Steel Bowl (MUZ6ER2)

or

The Original Style Stainless Steel Bowl

Thank you!!!

ra_mom

Wed, Nov 03 2010, 11:37 am

realeez wrote:

I think I want to order from Pleasant Hill Grain -

Is this the one that would be good for 5 lbs of Challah?

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.c......aspx

and which stainless steel bowl?

Stainless Steel Bowl (MUZ6ER2)
or

The Original Style Stainless Steel Bowl

Thank you!!!

This is the one I got along with my mixer. ER2.

realeez

Wed, Nov 03 2010, 11:40 am

ra_mom wrote:

realeez wrote:

I think I want to order from Pleasant Hill Grain -

Is this the one that would be good for 5 lbs of Challah?

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.c......aspx

and which stainless steel bowl?

Stainless Steel Bowl (MUZ6ER2)
or

The Original Style Stainless Steel Bowl

Thank you!!!

This is the one I got along with my mixer. ER2.

Does the shaft in the centre mean that you can work with less dough? Do you make 5 lbs of challah with it?

ra_mom

Wed, Nov 03 2010, 11:49 am

realeez wrote:

ra_mom wrote:

realeez wrote:

I think I want to order from Pleasant Hill Grain -

Is this the one that would be good for 5 lbs of Challah?

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.c......aspx

and which stainless steel bowl?

Stainless Steel Bowl (MUZ6ER2)
or

The Original Style Stainless Steel Bowl

Thank you!!!

This is the one I got along with my mixer. ER2.

Does the shaft in the centre mean that you can work with less dough? Do you make 5 lbs of challah with it?

It's the same bowl as the plastic one, just in stainless.
I'm sorry I don't know the answer to that. I make my challah by hand and hardly use my mixer embarrassed

But ask the some other women here. Most other women I know have this stainless bowl too which comes as a bonus along with the with mixer, and use it with 5 lbs. of flour.