which mixer to buy for making challah

yikes!

Sun, Oct 12 2008, 2:36 am

I have the Bosch machine - Thanks MIL for the fabulous gift! My recipe calls for 6 lbs and I heard that it's more ideal for 5 lbs but I'll take that risk not to have to stray from my mom's a recipe a tiny bit.

sunshine!

Sun, Oct 12 2008, 2:45 pm

Bosch is a winner here too, although my mom uses the dimension 2000 (american version of Bosch and loves it-for those particular about German brands, I know it might be discontinued, but the frum stores might still stock it)

mummiedearest

Sun, Oct 12 2008, 3:39 pm

I do it by hand. I always thought it would be a long process, but I find it really isn't. now I wonder why people bother with the machines, you need storage space for it and you have to clean it afterwards. anyone care to enlighten me?

Nomad

Sun, Oct 12 2008, 4:00 pm

maybe I had a dud, but when I baught a bosch about 5 years ago, I tried to make challah with a 5 lb bag of floor and the engine totally died. I like the Magic Mill. it feels heftier and is sturdier

Raisin

Sun, Oct 12 2008, 4:33 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

I was serious. is there really a difference between machine mixed and hand mixed? does it come out lighter and fluffier from the machine?

the challa from my bread machine comes out much much lighter. When you (well, I) mix by hand, one tends to add to much flour, so the challa can end up too dense. But maybe you are good at not adding too much flour.

mummiedearest

Sun, Oct 12 2008, 6:15 pm

Raisin wrote:

mummiedearest wrote:

I was serious. is there really a difference between machine mixed and hand mixed? does it come out lighter and fluffier from the machine?

actually, I specifically take away too much flour at the beginning and add just enough to make the dough handleable once the ingredients are combined. it took me a while to figure this out, but now I find my challahs come out very fluffy. and this is easy to do. so I was just wondering whether it's really worth spending however much money people spend on these machines. I guess the real advantage is not getting your hands covered in sticky dough, but if I don't feel like scrubbing I wear gloves to knead it. ok, thanks, I will remove "bread maker" from my list of things to think about purchasing should we ever win the lottery and redo our kitchen to have room for more kitchen gadgets Smile