What a wonderful position you are in! "My budget is pretty open..." I love it. I'll be watching this thread with interest, because as much as I love my KA it does sometimes struggle with larger batches of dough. Maybe I'll be in line to upgrade here soon.

Bri

Did you see the other recent thread that discussed mostly Bosch and Electrolux mixers?

Here is a link that might be useful: Mixer thread

Well, if it is an open budget...

Here is a link that might be useful: Hobart

Wow, bumblebeez, I said my budget was open, not unlimited:) I hope that Hobart comes with a chef, because otherwise I can't imagine paying that much for a mixer. I was really thinking more in the $500.00 to $600.00 range, or thereabouts. The thread linked above was interesting. It seems like everyone who has an Electrolux really likes it. I think that is the way I'm leaning, at this point, since the bit about the Bosch being a bit difficult to clean scares me off a bit.

I've been using a KA pro (6 qt. model) since Christmas for a sort of weekly big batch of bread and although they aren't supposed to be all that great anymore, mine is so far doing good...

If you do alot of dough kneading, you'd want a mixer with a strong motor. There aren't many out there.

After some research and bad reviews on KA knead capability, I bought a Cuisineart 7qt. (link below). It's very powerful and I just love it!

Linen 'n Things had a 25% family & friends discount and I took advange of the coupon to get this mixer. The price was even better than online vendors. Mine is the silver color. Looks very sleek on the countertop too!

I believe, it's made by DeLonghi for Cuisineart. The models looked very similar.

I mostly use it to knead dough for making steam buns such as these below. It's also easy to use and clean.

{{gwi:1553815}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Cuisineart 7 qt. stand mixer

I'm another big time Bosch lover. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. There's nothing at all hard to clean about it. In fact when making bread it's almost and sometimes 100 percent self cleaning, just wipe the bowl with a paper towel. Any dough bits that may sometimes get stuck to the dough hook come off and you wipe that with a paper towel.

One of the big pluses with the Bosch is that the dough only requires the one intial mixing, kneading and rising, there is no need for a second rising other than right in the bread pans.

Here she is

pkguy - can you explain your comment about bread dough needing only one rising with the Bosch mixer?

I'm having trouble deciding between the Electrolux and the Bosch. I wish I could actually use each of them to see which suits me better. I have to say that I do have a Bosch dishwasher, washer, and dryer and I love all of them.

Bosch has a good name. Only tool company I'll buy from besides Milwaukee. I assume it's the same company. It would be funny if Bosch was to Germany, what Smith is to America.

I have not used my Bosch mixer yet. Everyone is having fun with the slicer/shredder. So far it's just a very expensive food processor.

I know what you mean about wanting to use them first, or at the very least see them in person.
Have you seen the videos of the Bosch?

Here is a link that might be useful: Bosch mixer

I watched the bosch video in the link - isn't that part about no flour on the counter a little weird? And don't measure your flour, some strange tips there.
I have seen countless bread experts on tv put flour on the counter......
anyway
I like the idea that you have full access to the top,
don't like the idea of a plastic bowl

and I found this comment on Amazon - I'm not really a very good cook, so far I like the bosch but I don't want to have to think about ways to modify a recipe technique to suit the mixer, I know I won't get it right.
What say you Boschi'es?

the mixing action is a little different, so you have to make sure your dry ingredents are moisened before you snap the mixing bowl in place,