There is a learning curve with anything new and the Electrolux is no exception. I was fortunate to have been at the King Arthur test kitchen and they showed me how to use the machine. Let's take the above items one at a time... 1.) I don't know what they are talking about with the height adjustment. I've never adjusted anything to do with height. The bowl sits on top of the motor so there's no motor head above the bowl to get in your way...hence nothing to "adjust". 2.) The assembly arm can't be "stiff". There is a knob on the side of the arm with large groves to make it easy to grasp...you just simply turn it one way to loosen and the other way to tighten. I have arthritis in both hands and can easily grasp the knob. It's large and if it's hard to move it's because you tightened it too much...operator error not the machine. 3.) The pin holding the attachments is solid SS (about 3" long with a little knobby thing at the top). I can't figure out for the life of me what could be hard to clean. It's a solid piece of SS for goodness sake. I've never had to do anything but wipe it down for a little bit of flour dust. There are NO grooves, crannies, etc. to catch any food particles on or in. It looks sorta like a gigantic SS nail. 4.) Assemble and disassemble...too much work? Huh? Preparing the mixer for use consists of the following: a.) put scaper arm in hole (this is again a solid piece of SS and just drops into a hole...how hard can that be?) b.) push the pin into the roller (wow, that's hard!) and that it...assembly complete...time required...maybe, 2 seconds. 5.) Creaming butter/sugar requires knowing how to use the machine. The Owner's Manual is quite good but sometimes folks don't really pay that much attention to Owner's Manual instructions. The roller adjusts from tight against the bowl to completely loose and floating. If the butter was getting caught on the scraper then the roller was not adjusted property...too loose...the roller should have been tighter against the bowl. If you go into using this machine expecting it to be a KA then you'll be frustrated. It works on a completely different design. It is, IMO, much superior for all mixing but it is extraordinarily superior for kneading bread dough. The roller acts like the palm of your hand in the kneading process. With each rotation of the bowl, the roller pushes the dough against the side of the bowl the same way in hand kneading you push the dough down against the table. You end up with a thoroughly kneaded dough that is silky smooth. My machine came with a separate mixing bowl and wire whip for doing egg whites. I've never used it. The Owner's Manual tells you that the roller does a better job but since most American's are used to the whip attachment they included one. I find the roller does a beautiful job on anything from a single egg to a couple dozen for angel food cakes. I especially think it does a great job with meatloaves. The roller is more gently than a hook and so you end up with a more tender meatloaf, meatballs, etc. Cookies...the Electrolux is so much better here it's almost funny. The roller does not beat so much air into the cookie dough so your cookies will not have that awful commercial texture even doing a triple batch loaded with chocolate and nuts. The speed control is excellent...it using a sliding knob that gives infinite control of the speed rather than separate speed zones. I've never needed a timer with more than 12 minutes. Six to eight minutes will perfectly knead even the heaviest of rye doughs. Capacity is huge at 22 cups. I'm not sure what else to address...if you have more questions, I'll try to answer...wish I could have you over for a slice of fresh, warm bread and show you how the machine works. I was so fortunate to live within driving distance of King Arthur.

There is so much information out there and some of it contradictory so it does get confusing. It is really going to depend on what type of bread you are making. Almost all the bread I make is the more "artisan" style, including sourdough versions. So my comments are based on my own experience. The more hydrated the dough, the more open the crumb. I like the 68% to 72% for the crumb which gives me just the right amount of holes. The bread is still good for sandwiches and for toasting. On the other hand, I also like to go up to 80 - 82% sometimes. 68% to 72% is perfect for same day baking as well as going into the fridge for a longer cold fermentation. If I go with the higher hydration of 78% and up, then I always let the dough rise in the fridge at least overnight if not longer. And I'm using substantially less yeast than I use to. As an example Julia Child's baguette recipe calls for 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast in 3 1/2 cups of flour. I use less 4 to 5 g of yeast in 1000 g of flour, (more than six cups) and 7g in 1500 g of flour (over 10 cups). I haven't found that my bread rises faster with more water, but that might be because of the reduced yeast. ~Ann Edited to add link. Here is a link that might be useful: Crumb This post was edited by ann_t on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 11:18

The food charts I have for how long you can keep bananas in the freezer gave no amounts of time, and one said "extended freezer time" - whatever that means (LOL). I guess the goal should be to use the frozen bananas in a timely manner (few months), but I was moving some things around in my refrigerator freezer and I found several ripe bargain bananas that were quick-frozen then placed in a FoodSaver bag, vacuum-sealed shut -- early last summer and promptly forgotten about. I made them into banana bread the other day for yet one more offering to the "throngs" for breakfast during their Christmas visit. When you vacuum-seal peeled bananas (or most food destined for freezer storage), they will last longer than in a typical storage bag because they are stored oxygen-free. Oxygen-free storage prevents the moisture inside the food from migrating from the surface of the food into the bag, drying out or creating ice crystals in the bag. A food science tidbit about using overly-ripe bananas for banana bread. When a banana bread recipe only calls for baking soda as the only chemical leavening, overly-ripe bananas are not as acid (6.5-7.0 pH) as a regular banana (4.6 pH) in order to react in partnership with the baking soda. The reaction may be a weak one resulting in a heavy banana bread. A good banana bread recipe, one that ensures adequate leavening, will use both baking powder and baking soda. If the recipe only has baking soda, make sure a portion of the bananas aren't overly-ripe, or there is another ingredient in the recipe that provides an acid ingredient. That could be some lemon juice added to the bananas to keep them from oxidizing and turning dark, orange juice, honey used as the sweetener, or yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk, which are all acid foods that will react with the baking soda. -Grainlady

I agree. The first to go would be the butter and the fat in the nuts going rancid. How long can you keep butter? Being mixed up it probably wouldn't last as long as a block of butter, but if it's airtight it should last at least a week, probably longer. Because you don't know what bacteria might be in it just from mixing and packing, it's important not to sample it raw. Bake it up when you can, and freeze the extra cookies if you can find the space.