Bosch vs Magic Mill

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 11:47 am

I love baking and I love kitchen gadgets, big and small. When I got married I got a Kitchen-Aid mixer for baking. After several years, I invested in a Magic Mill for challah. It definitely makes delicious challah but is very messy. I also purchased a separate electric flour sifter, which I detest. It is ridiculously slow, horrifically noisy, and breaks down regularly. I have heard that the Bosch is much less messy and also has an attached flour sifter. I would like some insight from anyone who can tell me whether it would be worthwhile for me to "trade in" my Magic Mill and flour sifter for the Bosch. Is it really neater? Is the flour sifter easy to use? Would it also perhaps replace my Kitchen-Aid, thereby saving me a lot of valuable closet space? Does anyone have any other ideas for flour sifting? We do hold that all flour has to be well-sifted for kashrus reasons.
I have each one of these items for many, many years, so I feel it's worthwhile to invest but I don't want to eliminate each of these things and then find that I hate the Bosch or it breaks or I miss my Kitchen-Aid...
Any insight would be truly appreciated. I'd like to have enough info to approach Black Friday well-armed. Wink

ETA I know there have been posts before on this topic but they are old a few years old at least and no one touches upon the flour sifting issue.

Raisin

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 11:53 am

how do you find the magic mill messy? I use it for challa, cakes, and cookies and it only makes a mess if I overfill it or have too high. I love that it is so big. I can make triple batches of most cake recipes.

But I don't sift flour and I use the dough hook for everything, even cakes. Make the cake attachment is messier.

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 12:06 pm

Raisin wrote:

No, I mostly use it for challah, I hardly ever use the cake bowl. So interesting that you use the dough bowl and hook for cakes and cookies. I use a 6 lb bag of flour for challah and I have flour flying all over the place. I've taken to placing a plastic shopping bag over the top, which helps a bit, but it's not perfect.

Raisin

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 12:52 pm

my recipe is 5lbs of flour. It fits perfectly. Sounds like 6 lbs is just too much.

I use the metal bowl for mixing regular cakes, brownies, cookies with the dough hook. The white bowl for cream and eggwhites. I never use the roller for cakes (which is meant to be used with the metal bowl) - I used it a couple of times and it wasn't that effective.

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 12:57 pm

Raisin wrote:

I basically use my kitchen aid for baking, though I like the idea of tripling batches. I never liked the white roller either.
Do you sift?

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 1:39 pm

Hm. I'm getting the impression that it is not worth it to spend money on a Bosch when I have the Magic Mill, and just deal with the mess. If I put in the flour bit by bit it's neater, but I don't always exercise enough patience...
Does anyone have any insights on the flour sifting dilemma? That's one of the main reasons I thought it would be worthwhile to switch to the Bosch.

Raisin

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 3:34 pm

I don't sift. So can't help you there. Unless you can sell your magic mill I wouldn't think it necessary to have both a bosch and a magic mill and a kitchen aid!

Definitely look into some 5lb challa recipes.

I also put in the flour gradually, true.

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 3:50 pm

Raisin wrote:

I'm certainly not going to keep both. The question is replacing MM for Bosch. Sounds like there's really no point.
My challah actually started out as a 5lb recipe but I tweaked and tweaked and it's awesome, I'm not changing a thing. I have never tasted anyone's I like better. It's worth the mess. Very Happy

The sifting is troubling me though.

Shoelover

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 5:03 pm

I have a magic mill that I use for challah. I sift 5lb of flour by hand into a big bowl which takes me less than two minutes prob. I use the groove attachment and first do all the liquid and then slowly add the flour and make sure to move the arm as necessary.

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 5:05 pm

Shoelover wrote:

I do it exactly as you are describing, moving the arm periodically as well. What do you use for sifting? The electric sifter is awful but from what I understand the hand-crank ones aren't fine enough?

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 8:45 pm

ray family wrote:

is the sifter kosher for bug checking or just for the sake of sifting?

Oh! Good question. I just assumed that was the point. The turning handle type of sifters are primarily for baking purposes, but this seems to be finer. Shoelover?

Fave

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 9:25 pm

kenz wrote:

My challah actually started out as a 5lb recipe but I tweaked and tweaked and it's awesome, I'm not changing a thing. I have never tasted anyone's I like better. It's worth the mess. Very Happy

The sifting is troubling me though.

I'd love the recipe

kenz

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 9:45 pm

Fave wrote:

I'd love the recipe

Absolutely. It started out as the Kosher by Design challah recipe but it evolved and always gets rave reviews, if I do say so myself.

Mix 4 tablespoons dry yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water and let stand till it bubbles.
Beat 6 eggs, add 2 cups sugar (Rosh Hashanah time I use 1.5 cups sugar and 1/2 cup honey) and mix, then add 1.5 cups oil (I use extra light olive oil), 7 tsp. salt, 4 cups boiling water, and mix; then add yeast mixture and mix again.
add 6 lb bag of challah flour slowly
knead for ten minutes on medium-high speed
remove from mixer and place in greased bowl, cover with saran wrap and a towel, and let rise at least 1.5 hrs, preferably more
take challah, then shape and place in greased pans
let rise another 45 min to 1 hr (the more it rises the fluffier it gets), brush with egg wash (beaten egg mixed with a little water) and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and sugar. Heaven!
Bake on 350 approx 1/2 hr, until golden brown. All ovens are different and I have had some people tell me they didn't turn out quite like mine, so just keep an eye on them!
Hope you enjoy!