The issue here is that John's older model (DLX9000) fit under my unusually low cabinets and this model can't, so it has to be either there where it is in the pic or else just to the right of the sink where there's no cabinet overhead. My concern is that the motor could get splashed or the rubber feet could get worn down being only a foot or so from the sink (if a puddle of water forms, which it sometimes does). There's no room in the cabinets either!

You can see why I picked the unobtrusive "light creme" color...because it goes so well with the small kitchen (which doesn't usually look so colorless by the way - thanks camera!). There's also a white fruit bowl that goes on that countertop and there's usually splashes of color from flowers, towels, etc. I think a real color - cheerful as they are - would be too much for that room and might get old for me (much as I was tempted by pink!).

Oh and I forgot to mention: it's a nice feature that the cord is now removable and can be fully stored inside the bowl. I think that's the difference between the Assistents and the Ankarsrums.

This post was edited by theresse on Sun, Nov 24, 13 at 7:11

Congratulations! You do know, of course, that we will be expecting future reports and visual aids? The machine looks great on your counter top--it belongs there!

I went over to check out theresse's new machine. It does look great in her kitchen, the color is perfect.

The current model is meaningfully improved over my 30+ year old version. The rotational speed is more stable at low speeds (rpm), the high speed is higher than mine can do, the motor is quieter and more powerful. On the new machine, you can use the dough hook and the bowl scraper at the same time. I got to play with the beater/whisk setup and now I want those accessories as well. The new case is more compact, while the new machine is a little bit taller (the arm is taller). Very nice!

Good little mini review there John! :)

Another thing I discovered after you left - which now makes me wonder if in fact it is actually taller (still may be) - is that if you keep the roller attached while storing it under the cabinet, it will actually fit! And that's because the roller pushes the arm forward enough to hold the tallest part of the arm further from the cabinet door, thus allowing it to fully open. Before, it could sit under there but the door wouldn't be able to open far. Before realizing this I thought I could screw the spring arm into position so that the cupboard door will open wide, and leave it held there in the center indefinitely, but I wasn't sure if that was good to keep the spring that way. Don't get me wrong - it's a SUPER sturdy spring - but the thing is if you keep the roller on, it pushes the arm in a better position for this purpose without having to tighten the spring. It's a small detail but regardless the mixer can now face either direction and go further under the cabinet which is nice in a small kitchen!

Sorry for all the crazy posting but I wanted to show the mixer in the daylight. Then I'll stop with all the pics!!

truer color

Even truer color here I think

John, you can use the dough hook with the scraper, I have the Magic Mill with just the one hole for the scraper, but the dough hook has a welded bracket on the end that has a hole it in, the scraper fits in that hole. If you check pleasant hill grain they show the 2 different hooks, and say that the old style is for machines prior to 2007.

Here is a link that might be useful: pleasant hill grain

Theresse, The electrical outlets should be GFP outlets if they are not already. The stainless steel counter may be electrically ground to the plumbing, which can be dangerous if any appliance has a ground leak.

Are those under-cabinet lights halogen lights? 20 watts each? some of them can get very hot for wood cabinets.

The mixer looks very good in your kitchen. No need to store it away.

dcarch

Barryv - that's good to know!

Dcarch - yes the outlets are GFP I believe (kitchen was updated a few years ago and they put an all new electrical panel beneath it in the basement and all new outlets which are up to code). I don't know about ground leaks (?) - you'd have to go into more detail there (sorry)!

No, the under-cab lights aren't halogen - they don't get quite as hot. They're dimmable Xenon 10-watt bulbs on a track with thinner-profile holders/clip thingies that direct the light/heat downward and which snap into the track. So there's not much heat getting to the wood, in theory anyway. But yes they do get quite warm. They're a very reputable company as was the electrician who installs them regularly so I'm not too concerned, knock on wood. The actual lighting system (?) is called Seagull Ambiance linear track lighting. 12 volts, low voltage and connected to a transformer kept under the kitchen in our basement. Mine are similar to a woman's who posted hers here on gardenweb:

http://s305.photobucket.com/user/LMALM53/media/UCTRANSFORMER.jpg.html

I LOVE having the warmth of those bulbs - wouldn't change them. No matter how many fluorescents I looked at when we bought these - and how much I wanted to like the fluroescents and how much they claimed to give off a warm glow, it didn't feel right to me at all. The xenons are wonderfully warm to look at (and they use less energy and last much longer than halogens too). But all that said, I never leave them on for super long periods of time. I use them more for ambience than task lighting, e.g. after the kitchen's mostly shut down for the evening but before bed. I'm all about kitchens being dim and glowy when not actually prepping food. :)

I agree - it's too purdy to store away!

This post was edited by theresse on Tue, Nov 26, 13 at 4:49

Hey, I want to thank theresse for getting my DLX out of the basement. I hadn't used it for a long time, but now I'm making pizza dough and thinking about making bread again.

Sorry, didn't get back to this thread.

Re: Ground fault

Electric ground is an important part of electricity and electronics. In electronics, all audio cables are ground shielded to prevent interferences. In circuit design, ground is always the negative terminal.

In power electric system, the ground wire of household power is connected to the power company’s generator. There are many paths to the ground, water pipes are very good electrical grounds. Wet earth is also electrically conductive to the power company’s ground terminal. If you connect one wire to the hot wire and then one wire to the water pipe, you can light up a light bulb (don’t do it. Dangerous!).

In your kitchen, the stainless counter is probably connected to the water pipes, therefore it is acting as a very good connector to the ground. If there is any kind of electric leakage from an appliance, and you happen to touch the appliance and the counter, there will be a danger of electrocution, unless the appliance is plugged into a GFP outlet, which will instantaneously trip and cut off the power to keep you safe.

BTW, a 10 watt xenon bulb uses just as much electric power as a 10 watt halogen bulb. Although a 10 watt xenon bulb will produce more light in the visible spectrum and a halogen will produce more in the infrared spectrum.

BTW, if your lights are on a dimmer, you can very significantly increase the bulb’s life by slightly lower the dimmer. A 5% drop in voltage can double the life of the bulbs. A 5% drop in voltage will not appear to your eyes much dimmer.

dcarch

Dcarch - that was interesting - thanks for sharing all that info! I loved what you shared about dimmers (and think of that all the time now when using them)!

Johnliu - hi there! Hope you had a nice Xmas/New Year! Thanks for the kind words. :) So have you used it since...made anything yummy? I haven't made anything beyond what I last wrote about I think (sandwich bread, kolache, cinnamon rolls, mashed potatoes as you know, cookies, pizza dough, dinner rolls, whipped cream and eggs in the plastic bowl...can't think what else if anything).

I'm trying to grow homemade sourdough yeast now in a canning jar!! Such serious business eh?! I thought I'd attempt to make sourdough bread or french bread or some sort of rustic bread. The yeast can be used in any kind of bread. And in the process you're supposed to discard some of it regularly during the process of feeding the yeast, so that - so I've read - will be very good in pancakes or waffles.

I think I told you I got a small electric countertop grain mill off Craigslist - a Nutrimill - and I just put in an order to Azure Standard (local farm/distributor of organic foods/co-op/delivery) and next week I pick up my first order of a variety of wheat berries. Crazy huh?! I've lost my mind. I even bought food-grade storage pails and gamma seal lids to keep the wheat berries in long term in case I flake out or lose interest in all this, haha. Someone call the Geek police. But meanwhile I'll never have to buy flour in the store again - I can just mill however much I need for each recipe. I don't think I overdid it with how many wheat berries I got and the pails are only 2 gallons each which makes something like 16 loaves or less for the red wheat berries (whole wheat) and the bread dough berries (hard white) and then I got 8 loaves or less worth of soft white berries (pastry flour) and einkorn which will be a fun experience cause it's an ancient wheat (not over-hybridized like modern wheat) - the oldest in fact. Again, call the GEEK POLICE. But most people it appears buy 25 lbs of wheat berries per type of wheat and buy the 5-lb storage pails) so you see, I'm not so bad compared to them!!! ;) ;) ;)

I'm now seriously considering getting the meat grinder attachment package, though only because you have to get it in order to use their pasta press disks as well as the grater (for nuts, harder cheeses, chocolate, potatoes, things like that). But for $30 more - to get the entire meat grinder package - you also get more meat/food grinder disks (might be good for something like cranberry relish), the cookie press and the strainer/berry press. None of those sound too important so we'll see if I decide the $30 is worth it. You can make jams, jellies, apple sauce, purees etc. with the strainer but most jams and apple sauces don't require having to press anything first (seems unnecessary) and most of the cookies we like to make are either the drop kind or the rolled cookie cutter kind. In either case, it also comes with a sausage-stuffer which seems bizarre but could be interesting, should I somewhere down the line decide to make healthy chicken apple sausage or something like that. Hmmm...not likely.

Let me know how goes it!

Oh and P.S. - they raised the price of the mixers by $100.00!!! So they're now $800.00! I can't imagine why they had to raise it so much - do you have any idea?!! Still probably worth it but sheesh...

This post was edited by theresse on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 4:35

Hi, I am new here but so thrilled I found you! I have been researching a new mixer and my head was spinning! Well for a long time read about the mixers here. Umm, a few hours ago, because of all the fabulous info and pics, I ordered a Ankarsrum in crème! It comes 2/5/14. SO excited but a bit nervous. I started using the Tangzhong method for bread 2 months ago. Learning curve there! But now have my own recipe for oatmeal wholemeal bread. It has taken off! Have 10 loafs ordered for Sunday, and 4 loafs for my family. Ok, the knead time using a KA45SS 1980 and my Mom's KA Classic...don't like the Classic as they down sized the head of the hook so dough crawls up over it...what a mess and is to light weight. One batch will make this hot while the old KA just warm but the knead time is 20-30 mins. Anyway, does anyone here use the Tangzhong method with the DXL or a wet dough? I have 10 loaves to do Sat. Nervous about the learning curve let alone with wet dough. I really need to know, does bread dough knead faster than a KA? Would love to hear from anyone who does work with the tangzhong method. I do not do the four rolls in a Pullman but use regular shaping in 9x5 bread pan.

Thank you much!

I usually make my bread about 90% hydration, only making 2 loaves at a time though. I knead in the DLX for about 10 minutes. It will handle more dough than that, of course. I don't know if I could knead for less time, and I'm not doing tangzhong.

I have baked bread for 35 years but have had nothing but failure with those high hydration doughs (aka Tartine bread!). I just can't handle those sticky doughs- everything they touch, hands, bowls, rising basket - instant glue! I greatly admire you bakers that handle these difficult doughs easily!

Just found this.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/32997/hokkaido-milk-bread-tangzhong

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/34076/tangzhong-bread-machine

Here is a link that might be useful: The Fresh Loaf: Tangzhong and Ankarsrum

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Mon, Mar 3, 14 at 13:45

Because of Theresse, the expensive mixer enabler, I have an Ankarsrum. This mixer is one of the best things that has ever happened to my kitchen and my family would hug her if they could! DH is even ok with the $$$ after getting all kinds of tasty treats that I never wanted to make by hand.

I regularly make Tangzhong-style bread because my kids love the texture. However, I usually only mix 1-2 loaves at a time because we only use it for their school lunches. DH and I don't eat a lot of wheat/gluten products because we love them TOO much. I knead it for around 18-20 minutes, no problem.

I've also done a double batch of baguette dough using AnnT's method (a riff on Julia Child's) which is fairly hydrated. Kneading is no problem.

High hydration is no problem for the Ankarsrum. Low hydration makes a lot of noise but it powers through just fine. You need to watch it and adjust the arm to accommodate the dough. High hydration could climb out and low hydration causes the roller to bang against the rim of the bowl. I routinely tighten it about an inch away for the kneading.

I've used it for tangzhong, cake, frosting, meatloaf, potatoes, baguette (pizza) dough. She's my kitchen goddess.

I had to laugh when I read Theresse the enabler! It worked on me! It comes today!! (I must get to bed soon though! It is almost 1am and I am an early riser!).

Wow you folks are wonderful! All the quick response, finding links for me and the input has REALLY put me more at ease. I do NOT feel at all like I am going it alone on the new venture for a stand mixer after over 33+ years with my old KA! Thank each of you and Alex bless you for sharing your experience with Tangzhong.. I came up with my recipe for Tangzhong oatmeal wheat as I had stated before. The crumb is so moist, light and stays that way! I made last week buns from the dough for sloppy Josephs (ahem, we were being formal for guests! LOL) and EVERYONE loved them and still were moist to make sandwiches for my hubby's lunch box last one use 4 daus later . This Tangzhong makes all my different recipes for bread, buns and more so easy and slick! Ok, my first batch will be my regular 2 loaf for trial, and Alex I think understand about the arm. since at first the dough starts so dry but then changes to wet. Hmm, mine pulls away some but I still have dough mass down at the bottom of the KA bowl after 20-25 mins, but I can tell by touching when it is ready. It will be wonderful for the first 15 mins NOT to have to keep using a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl down specially when the soft butter has slowly been added after all the dry is hydrated but not much kneaded. Glad I read at the link from The Fresh Loaf, most make the mistake of to high of a speed.

Humbly and with appreciation! :)

OH MY GOODNESS! Umm, I AM VERY excited to get my new DLX, I posted at 1am this morn it was coming today! Wrong! It is the 5th! I was thinking it was Wed. (the 5th)already!! Wishful thinking?? Brain burp? Feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning! And at my age that feels pretty good actually! LOL!

Mine was on backorder for almost a month. I went crazy waiting, so I know how you feel :)

Oh my gracious! I can't imagine waiting a month! Wow! Anticipation plus!

I need to take my Mom for her blood work early... my DLX should arrive about 10:30-11:00 AM est. I have re-read everything, watched the films of it. It will get a work out! Hopefully bread tomorrow. I did yogurt today & soon to take my apple slices out of the dehydrator. Have a birthday cake do Friday, and need 10 loafs of bread by Sunday. Squeeze in my doc appt. Hmm, my goodness, think I am spinning like the DLX bowl! *;*

You will love it.

The "learning curve" isn't that steep, despite it being mentioned often. You can see what's going on in there, so it's easy to adjust the arm or speed for the job. This is coming from someone who hadn't owned a mixer until now and isn't much of a baker.

The one thing I've noticed is that incorporating ingredients with the roller/scraper (my preferred attachment) isn't as quick as with beaters, especially with something like butter and sugar. BUT, if I leave it alone and quit fussing, it all ends up blended very nicely. I TRY to get my butter out very early so that it isn't cold, at all, when creaming.

Last week I made 3 cake recipes when trying to find the perfect one for my niece's homecoming from the Navy. Also made two different frostings in the plastic bowl with whisks. I loved not having to scrape anything down when using the roller! Sometimes I push the scraper into the bowl to help things along, but that's because I like to fuss with stuff ;)

Let us know how it goes!

OH MY GOSH! UMM, IT CAME AND IS A DINGY YELLOW WITH A DULL TAUPE TRIM! WHAT IN THE WORLD??? I WAS SO DISMAYED. Panic! I so need this mixer NO later than Sat. Yea, I cried. But anyway, I called Amazon and explained. God is so good and so is Amazon! The rep took the charge off my card for that one, and they are going to send me the black chrome one at the next day rate free which means I get it today. Sent me the return label via email to return the yellow within seven days and the rep was so kind. I can't believe it.

And then another post about not much on the learning curve. I really don't believe there will be with ALL the gracious help I have found here. :) I will try to post a picture I took from cell phone of the yellow one then one of the black chrome when it comes. I have to learn how.

Mine is the black chrome. It came the closest to matching a number of other appliances and looks good with my granite. DH chose it. The only other color I considered was mineral white as it usually sits on a white marble slab. Funny, because I have a very colorful kitchen and usually gravitate toward colorful things, but the online colors just weren't great for my kitchen. (Several would have worked, had I decided to leave it in the laundry room, however.) Right after we got ours, DH wanted me to make venison chili for visiting friends, but we had no ground venison. I used the Ankarsrum to grind the venison and it worked spectacularly! I felt like am auto mechanic putting it together. Really cool how everything fits and no way to screw it up. Well, maybe not like automobiles, now that I think about it. I think it's a pretty magnificent piece of engineering. You'll find it was worth the wait. Do report when you use it.

It came half an hour ago, got it unpacked, washed out and dried and ready to do a double cake batch for decorated cake order. Oh my, the black chrome is SO beautiful. Looks wonderful in the kitchen. I have butcher block counters, black and chrome stove and dishwasher. (Both died in Dec in the middle of doing over 3000 cookies for Christmas orders! Stove was 1997, dishwasher was 1993). Kitchendectective I think it will complement any kitchen too! Alex I see you posted you used the roller for making your cake. Mine is from scratch. I am going to assume I add the wet ingredients and then the dry like for bread. Tomorrow, the frosting will be over 6 pounds worth. (Big sheet cake). It takes a pound of butter (very soft) and 1/2 a pound of shortening, heavy cream and 4 pounds of powdered sugar so a little leery of using it for the frosting. I have read where the beaters on the DLX can break easy. Wonder if I should just do the usual 1/2 batch at a time in my old KA using the paddle as 1/2 is a good 3 pounds. Any thoughts there? Ok off to make the cake!

Just found this about the whisks. They came out as standard the heavier ones so now you do not have to buy them as extra for DLX. This was from The Fresh Loaf....post 12/13. :) http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/36042/kitchen-aid-ksm7586psr-or-ankarsrumelectrolux-mixer

I just don't want to do anything wrong.

The roller works great for everything. I whipped cream with it! That's what I used for the cake batter, which were also scratch recipes. Yes, I put in the liquids first then the dry.

I DID use the whisks to make the frosting, I just don't think your whole batch would fit in the plastic bowl. I did a small batch of butter cream and a larger batch of a roux based frosting. The whisks held up just fine, but my frosting wasn't thick.

The newer "cookie whisks" are for thicker batters and seem pretty sturdy. Just make sure you lock those whisks in with a "click".

Update! I LOVE it!! Got it the afternoon of the 5th & immediately made in the big bowl of cake batter for 1/2 sheet cake using the roller. Breeze! Friday I made a double batch (4 loaves) of Tangzhong Oatmeal wheat bread. I did have at first the roller to far away from the bowl. I finally just let it loose then half way through moved to .5 inches away. Wow! Then I made over 8 pounds of my buttercream frosting. Did learn this, the pound & 1/2 of butter & 3/4 pound of shortening, salt, flavorings and cream; the roller did not cream quite well enough so I added 2 cups powdered sugar and then it was well creamed, then the total amount of 4 pounds. NICE! Quick! And the clean up no matter what I did was SO easy. With the KA, flour and powdered sugar dust was every where, had to wash down of course the whole mixer, wall and under the cabinet.) Even with the splatter guard that did not stop the dust from flying as careful as I was. AND so EXCITED! Saw in the book I can make butter! Can't wait for our raw grass fed cow's milk in April! I can do a quart of cream at a time! KA was a mess! Splattered, so had to throw a small bath towel over it or just do it in my blender a pint a time! Did I tell you I LOVE it? Looking forward to more adventures with my Ankarsum Assistant! Like now! Got oats soaking and Tangzhong cooling for 8 loaves of the Oatmeal wheat then 2 loaves white bread. Theressa (the pictures were very helpful to all who posted, I was so on the edge between a Bosch or this. Thank you for helping me to make the right decision for what I really needed. (Not putting down the Bosch and other mixers). It is so far VERY much worth the investment! Must get my yogurt on then the breads. Blessings!

So glad to hear that it's what you needed!

Edited because I can't spell today!

This post was edited by alex9179 on Sat, Mar 8, 14 at 18:14

Hi all, I have a question. I think this is ok but want to be sure. On the blade, I notice that as it is kneading the dough, dough builds up some behind the blade. I just use my small rubber spatula and keep pushing it back into the dough. It can't get any closer. It has done this for the tangzhong oatmeal wheat, wholemeal tangzhong, and the "Back of the Bag, Oatmeal Bread" from King Authur. Does anyone else have this? It really can't get any tighter, I mean it is the right slot and pressed right up against the bowl. Tangzhong is a stickier dough but the King Authur is not. Just wondered? Still LOVE it! Since Thursday the day I got it, I have made 17 loaves of bread, a 1/2 double layer sheet cake with the 8# of frosting. Wish I had had it YEARS ago!

I have the same thing happen with sticky doughs. I haven't figured out the magic fix, yet. Still too much of a novice :)

You might call Pleasant Hill Grain for advice or ask on The Fresh Loaf, if someone here can't answer it.

Nanabaker -

Just found all these more recent responses since the last time I was signed on.

The moment I read that you'd ordered "Cream" (or "creme") I thought UH OH - cause if you were liking the cream I got, I didn't get cream - I got the "light creme" which is a big difference. Not dingy at all. Just a pale, nice cream. And then sure enough, I soon saw your post about hating the cream and ordering the black! I'm glad you like the black though. I'm sure I would have loved that too, in my kitchen.

Haha I'm sorry I was such an enabler!! ;) It's great though isn't it? Still love mine, too. Actually I haven't baked in a while - I need to get back on it before my husband decides I was wasting our money on the mixer! It's harder to bake when the weather's warmer though (for me)!

I don't know if I wrote this or not - or if I even had it yet then - but I did finally break down and order the meat grinder package (comes with meat grinder, cookie press, pasta discs, berry press and grater). But I've YET TO USE IT! I really need to get with the program! I didn't need the meat grinder (can't imagine!) but it's necessary in order to be able to use all the other attachments, and it will make my grandma's cranberry relish quick and painless (though so does my food presser). But the main reason I got it was that I thought it would be fun to make homemade pasta, and all the other parts (cookie presses, grater, etc) came with those pasta discs for not much more - if memory serves - than if I'd bought the meat grinder and pasta discs alone. I don't really see the point in a berry press either, although maybe I will someday. Maybe for homemade tomato sauce?

Hi Theresse, thank you for posting to me and yes I LOVE IT!!. There was no light crème offered on Amazon. Just the crème which is really the retro 'harvest gold' of the 70's and the picture did not reflect this. I LOVE the Chrome color!! I have a black & chrome stove and dishwasher and (hope it will be a long time yet) when our refrige goes, it will be the black and chrome and not cream). .

Anyhoo...I make bread at least 2-3 times a week. The learning curve was making sure to add my wet first! For my Tangzhong recipe took me time to develop it for my oatmeal wheat I wanted to create. I soak the oat, add the wheat flour, bread flour and salt mix autolase for 20 mins I leave out 1 cup of the flour to which I add yeast, brown sugar. Then. I add the 1 cup of mixture, when that is mixed I add the melted butter. The softest oatmeal wheat! I also do this for my Tangzhong white bread. The cakes for decorating using the roller as well and for my frosting to decorate them comes out wonderful. But to cream the butter, shortening and flavorings salt, I do add 1 cup powdered sugar to help it cream well. Then I add my cream and the rest of my powdered sugar. Does wonderful job on cookies using the roller and really creamy mashed potatoes. The beaters do wonderful for meringue and whip cream. Haven't used the dough hook yet. I use my DLX for making my butter too! I gave my 1979 Kitchen Aid to my daughter. Yup! Love my Anarskrum! I don't have any other attachments yet. If I want to do raisin filled cookies I can go use my KA as it does have the attachments and daughter lives close by.

I sure wish I had had this mixer YEARS ago!

Time to go make yogurt and bread. Take care!

Hi again Nanabaker!

For the rest of you who are sick of this thread ("oh no - not that weird-named swedish mixer thread again!!"), I'm sorry...

That bread sounds reeeaally good. I've never heard of Tangzhong bread before. I use the white mixer bowl for making cake batter, pancake batter (if too lazy to do by hand), frosting and even for whipping up butter (I use the thicker whips for that). I've never tried using the roller for any of those things as far as I recall. I figured the cost of replacing the whips if need be - were I to break them - would be cheap enough that it would be worth it to really test them hard and see if they'll really hold up.

Tonight I finally brought out the meat grinder package which I'd never used before and made the BEST potato pancakes using one of the meat-grinder discs to 'grate' the potatoes! I wasn't sure it would work but since I didn't have the proper grater that comes with the shredder/slicer package or food-processor package (whatever it's called) I thought I'd see if I could use the meat grinder instead. Now I'm not sure I'll ever feel the need to get the shredder/slicer! ;) I mean slicing would be nice, e.g. if making potatoes au gratin or however it's spelled, but I'm not sure that attachment sliced things thick enough for my liking in the first place. They seemed very thin (?). Or maybe there are more than one and I just didn't notice a thicker option. On the other hand if I wanted a big block of cheese grated (and didn't already have a food processor), the shredder/slider package would be really useful.

I've used the dough hook and don't see why so many people say it's not worth using. It was great when I made an obnoxiously large amount of very thick dense dough. It's also gentle on the dough.

I haven't made bread in a long time and want to get back into it. I have these great bread-making books I've yet to read, and I've been slowly nursing back to life sourdough starter/wild yeast that I threw in the back of the fridge and neglected to "feed" for something like 5 or 6 months! I've only ever used it for making DELICIOUS sourdough pancakes and waffles. So I need to learn how to make proper sourdough or artisan type bread using actual sourdough starter! I even bought a Le Creuset dutch oven to bake it in on a high heat in order to give it a crunchy crust. Today the starter finally really bounced back to life, doubling in size and bubbling like crazy. Smells like bananas (!). I want to learn the basic formula for substituting sourdough starter for packaged dry yeast. Wish me luck!

I have only used the meat grinder attachment and the metal dough hook. Your post interested me, since I "skipped stripe and went straight to plaid'" instead of trying the plastic bowl and plastic roller. I'm curious--what do people use to grate large amounts of soft cheese? I have been using a microplane, but the results are too fine and curly, not to mention that the hand processing is very time consuming.

Hi Kitchendetective!

Do you like the dough hook? I really don't get why so many people say they don't use it. The roller's good for initial mixing of wet ingredients (though not necessary as frankly the dough hook still mixes things up just fine thanks to the spinning bowl and dough scraper).

What did you use the meat grinder attachment for? For actually grinding meat?

I think to grate large amounts of soft cheese, you'd have to invest in their slicer/shredder package or food processing package. Even then, you should always put your soft cheese in the freezer for a short while before grating - it makes it sooooo much easier. I may get that package someday though my real food processor (Cuisinart) does a perfectly fine job and very quickly the big bowl fills up. If I'm remembering correctly the Ankarsrum shredder/slicer grating attachment (drum?) shoots it out which might be a bit slower - though I could be wrong about that. I wish I could try it out. I do hate pulling out the big heavy Cuisinart.

DH didn't want to get the Ankarsrum unless it could also grind meat for hamburgers, sausage, and meatballs. Conveniently, there was a package for grinding meat and filling sausage casings, LOL! I used the meat grinder for grinding venison during the winter, as well as for a bit of chuck. In fact, I actually used this attachment before I used the dough hook, because DH wanted to serve venison chili to an out of town guest and all I had was venison steak. It worked superbly. Then, the dough hook was enlisted for all my bread experiments until about a month ago, when I started kneading it all by hand. This change may be attributable to my having read a couple of artisanal bakers' books--they said to do it all by hand to get the feel of the various stages of the starters and bigas and levains and doughs, etc. Result: my cuticles look like hell and I am in desperate need of regular manicures, which I do not get. When I used the steel hook, it worked well. There was an occasional "climb up," but it was never bothersome. I don't even think that I added ingredients in the correct order. (The CD wasn't clear about details. Seemed to be more about the Swedish couple getting ready for work in the morning.) However, I think I did a bit of over mixing. Mea culpa. I'm still not happy with the size of the bread holes--sometimes they are large, sometimes they are not. (Flavor-wise, I like really sour pain de campagne the best, so far, but I've only done that one by hand, not with the Ankarsrum.) I wonder if enlisting the plastic roller would help with the over mixing issue?

So, when you use the Cuisinart, which blade or disc do you use?

I don't use the cuisinart for much - mostly for shredding cheese, in which case I use the shredder disc. I've also used it to make cranberry relish and other things that need to be chopped, and also pie doughs. I should probably get in the habit of using it or chopping onions. I don't know why I don't think of that often enough - I guess cause it's a PITA to take it out since it's not already on the counter. I may break down and get the food processing attachment for the mixer, but first I think I'll try using the meat grinder to chop onions. If that works - and I think it will - that'll be such a time saver! In fact I may just leave the meat-grinder attachment on it permanently since I probably would use that a bit more often than I use the mixer for bread.

I too have been reading the mix-bread-by-hand/no-knead books. I've been experimenting with that but also will try to figure out just the right method to imitate that with the mixer. That said, there's so little to mix, it may not even be worth having to clean the bowl! But at least my hands would be clean! I think if any mixer can be as gentle on dough as real hands, it would be this one, don't you? I assumed the hook would be more gentle (on low speed) than the roller but I could be wrong. I think the mixer with roller would be good for initial incorporating of flour and water for autolysing (as long as slow speed and not too much) and then it could be left in the bowl for the period of time required - with lid on - before adding the yeast and salt. But I think once that's added (re. Ken Forkish method), it should be gently stretched and folded - not mixed in the mixer at all.

UNLESS you did what I did the other day (oops) which was misunderstand the semi-followed youtube recipe by Ken Forkish and add a cup or two of sourdough starter onto the autolysed dough instead of dry yeast as he wanted! So then it wouldn't mix well at all. The dough post-starter became the consistency of long ropes and the fluid just wouldn't mix in! But oddly, after attempting a few times over several hours (and leaving the shaped loaves in the fridge for about 12 hours), the loaves turned out amazingly perfect and with big open crumb holes!

Are you reading Ken Forkish's book, Flour Water Salt Yeast or whatever it's called? I want to ask someone a question. I want to know if it matters how thick or how runny sourdough starter is when using it as his only form of yeast in one of his levain recipes. It seems that would matter but I don't know. I just don't want to make my starter exactly like he makes his because he uses way too much flour compared to everyone else...either that or I'm misunderstanding what I'm reading. Most people use about the same amount of flour as they do starter when they refresh it, or else at the most, about twice the amount of flour per starter, and then less water. He uses 4x as much flour! Anyway, I like his book but it also makes me feel stupid.

I've had a Bosch mixer for about 15 years and got rid of my mix master for making cakes and now I'm not sure the Bosch mixes cakes the way they should be mixed. Does any one have info on that?

I'm not sure what you mean. I didn't have any issues when I was testing the Compact.

Which machine do you have and what, exactly, is your concern?

To bzamp58 Hi, I make and decorate cakes. I have NO trouble at all with my recipes for doing cakes. I always use the roller. Just make sure you do the wet ingredients first. The add the dry. My cakes are light, moist, fluffy. (As with all recipes and the DLX the wet should go in first dry last).

Thanksgiving...Whip Cream! My granddaughter is not too familiar with my DLX...was using white bowl and beaters, she said I can do the whip cream Gram. Huh well we had chunky almost butter whip cream! The look on her face was priceless. How we laughed! Just added a tablespoon of cream to the 2 cups whipped and consistency was fine for the pumpkin pie!

And I am thrilled this year to have my DLX for all my Christmas cookie orders! So much easier! Last year I used my 1980 Kitchen Aid and did 3000 cookies in three weeks. I had been so booked with wedding cookies so got a late start! Still got a late start this year cause we did a total "kitchen make-over"! But now my wonderful DLX and new kitchen...I am so blessed! Time to get Pecan Tassies out of oven. May all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tonight my friend and I made a quadruple recipe of gingerbread cookie dough using the Ankarsrum. Worked really well when occasionally pushing the roller toward the middle. I did have to scrape the butter off the roller once but that's I think typical of any mixer. Best part is that making all that dough was painless and mostly effortless compared to doing it by hand. The motor handled those large quantities well, too.

Hi! I have a chance to buy a new, but opened (with manual, etc...) "Magic Mill Assistent" Mixer for $150. I have never owned even a stand mixer, but have always wanted one because I tend to double and triple recipes for my large family. Doing it all by hand slows me down. After reading these stories/reviews, I am very tempted.

Sounds like a great deal. Mine is still going strong and it must be getting close to 20 years old. Never a problem.

~Ann

Yeah that's a darned good price - I say go for it! If you end up not liking it you won't have a problem selling it yourself I doubt!

I am going after it tonight! :D The man who is selling it says it was offered to him as partial payment for a job he did. ??? Seems to have only the stainless bowl and not the white one, a twisty-looking club-shaped attachment, a wide spatula-shaped and a narrow spatula-shaped attachment. The manual is included, but not the original box. On Richmond, Va craigslist. http://richmond.craigslist.org/app/4832116163.html Will have to come back so you all can give me advice. :)

Darn - the ad's been removed. Would love to see a pic!

I picked it up last evening for $120! :D It is not precisely "new", but seems to be in very good condition. For the price, it looks amazing to me. The base seems to be in very good shape - no fading, scrapes etc... It has the manual and 4 attachments -- a long dough hook, a small scraper, a spatula and a roller. The roller is really the only thing with visible wear. Looks like it is $35 to replace. The only "basic model" thing missing seems to be the "cover for the bowl". Replacement is only $15. I have not seen it in action with dough, but seemed to work strongly and smoothly in the seller's workshop. I was pleased with the quiet operation. (I also have a Vitamix ;) ) I will clean and use it this weekend and report back. I am tentatively optimistic -- what a deal if all is as it appears. :)

...and here's a thread resurrection! I happen to be a Swede living here in lovely Sweden, I just bought an Ankarsrum, and I stumbled upon this thread. The salesperson at the store assured me that there were people coming in with mixers made in the 1940s and 1950s, and there are still spare parts being made(!) for them. Most of the new spare parts and accessories still fit the really old mixers, too. Just for your information. I'm stoked to try it out - have to give it a proper wash first, though.