lynnalexandra, I really do like the KA 12-cup, it seems very powerful and fast. I've used it for a lot of grating, and I was able to make a Julia Child bread recipe in it (posted on cooking by lindac's son) with no trouble. However, it could not handle the stickier dough in Ann T's italian rustic bread (that's the same dough that killed the cuisinart)--altho it didn't choke, i just felt it overheating and decided it was better to stop, rather than kill again! For that dough, i'd say i definitely need a stand mixer like the ones you mentioned. Most other bread recipes i've been making, i've kneaded by hand b/c they seem to only call for 5 minutes or so at a time. However, for all the chores i've always used a food processor for--pureeing, grating/shredding, chopping--it does it much faster than my old one. In terms of Cuisinart vs KA, both seem to have their die-hard fans! I find this one very easy to assemble and disassemble and somehow easier to clean (fewer small crevices on the parts that come in contact with the food, maybe). I also like the minibowl for chopping small amounts (i used it to chop ice and to do a cup of onions). The only thing I think I can fault with it, so far, is that when using the grating disk, a small amount of the item will remain ungrated and sitting on top of the disk, b/c of the gap between the feeder tube and the top of the disk, if that makes any sense. I'm not sure this would be different in any other large capacity machine and , in any case, it hasn't been an issue. I think I had the same issue w/my old one, but i didn't pay as much attention to it... I bought an Oxo food chopper at the same time, which I thought i'd use on small quantities, but i haven't used it all that much yet b/c the minibowl is so handy. If you're particularly interested in doing bread in the food processor, rather than a stand mixer, another CF member directed me to a book that was written for just that purpose. It's out of print, but several places are selling it used, and it has excellent reviews. Of course i can't recall the title now, but I can look it up, if you're interested. Good luck with your decision!

Lora, I make all my bread in the bread machine. French bread, Italian bread, foccaccia, rye, honey wheat, cherry yogurt, chocolate cherry, multi-grain, sourdough. It all goes into the bread machine. I don't bake it in the machine, only because I don't like the crust, it gets softer than I like it, kind of steamed. I put my bread machine on "dough", let it run though the cycle, then form it into loaves or dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls or whatever, let it rise and bake it in the oven. First, AP flour is fine, I used it for years. The bread flour sometimes makes a lighter loaf, especially if whole grain flours are also used, but I successfully use King Arthur AP all the time. It's a higher protein flour than Gold Medal/Pillsbury/etc., but it's still just AP flour. In addition, King Arthur Flour Company (I think it was them) did a study and found that bread machine bread actually rose higher and had a better texture than even bread made by hand, the machine was made for exactly that purpose. Rye bread? Sure, I do it in the bread machine. I like the darker pumpkernickel, the molasses and cocoa makes it dark, but I make the lighter caraway rye too. Here's a recipe for the dark stuff: Bread Machine Pumpernickel For a 1-1/2 to 2-pound bread machine: 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water 1/4 cup vegetable oil, room temperature 5 Tablespoons molasses 2 Tablespoons wheat gluten 1 teaspoon salt 2 Tablespoons caraway seeds 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder 2 3/4 cups rye flour 2 3/4 cups bread flour 1 teaspoon sugar 2 teaspoons yeast for bread machines Place all of the ingredients in a bread maker in the order given. Set machine for regular cycle and light color, and press the start button. When the bread is finished, remove from the pan and transfer to a board or work surface. Cover bread with a sheet of plastic film, then cover plastic with a lightly moistened kitchen or tea towel. Set aside to cool. This is wonderful with unsalted butter while still warm. Or refrigerate bread to firm it up, then cut into thin even slices for pumpernickel sandwiches. I don't have any trouble with grains on the outside of the loaf, I just brush with egg white or an egg wash, then sprinkle with the grains or seeds and bake in the oven. I'm not sure how you could do that in the machine other than brush the top and sprinkle. I've also found that almost any bread recipe will work in the bread machine. I've used Ann T's Italian bread recipe, Julia Child's French Bread recipe, Grandma's bread recipe that's at least two, maybe three generations old. They all work, I just put liquids in first, then dry ingredients, set to dough and let it go. All these loaves are bread machine bread, including the rye: Well, you get the idea. Do anything you like in the machine, what's the worst that could happen? It's just flour, water and a bit of yeast. It's not expensive (too much) so if a loaf doesn't happen to turn out just like you want it, it's not a big loss and it can always be bread crumbs or croutons! Then, when you get really confident, you can start on sourdough. (grin) Annie

pfmastin - Bread machine recipes yield approximately 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-pounds of dough, and are printed as such in the bread machine cookbooks and recipes. The bread machine only bakes one loaf at a time. I use the bread machine for making the dough only and I bake the bread in my regular oven or convection/microwave oven. By doing so, I utilize the large 2-pound recipes and divide the dough into more than one loaf. I can get 3 small loaves (under 1-pound of dough each), or 2 regular size loaves from most 2-pound recipes. I generally make recipes that contain 5-6 cups of flour and well over 2-pounds of dough. With that much dough I make a 1-pound pullman loaf. This makes a crustless, square loaf of sandwich bread (hubby takes sandwiches to work 2-3 days). The remainder of the dough may be used any number of ways - another regular loaf, pecan or cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, hamburger/sandwich buns, hot dog buns... The Zo has a flour capacity of 5 cups - this is important to know if you are going to bake in the machine. If you make a recipe with more than 5-6 cups of flour, you will want to use the bread machine for mixing/kneading ONLY. Take the dough out as soon as the kneading in done and put the dough in a dough rising bucket (or bowl) to rise. You need to scale the dough (weigh it on a kitchen scale), divide it, and scale it again for the proper size pan you want to use. You'll often find a recipe that says it's 2-pounds is 2-pounds 8-ounces. General guideline for loaf sizes. Farm Loaves - 10x4-1/2" pan - 4-5 cups flour = 2-3-pounds dough 9x5" (are designed for quick breads) - 4 cups flour = 2-pounds Standard - 8-1/2x4-1/2" - 3 cups flour - 1-1/2-pound Medium - 7-1/2x3-1/2" - 2-1/2 cups flour - 1-pound You can also make consecutive recipes of dough in the bread machine. I do this by making the recipe on the Quick Dough Cycle. As soon as the dough is done kneading, I unplug the machine, remove the dough and put it in a dough rising bucket. I add the ingredients to the bread machine pan for another recipe to the bread machine. On a marathon baking day, I've made 4 consecutive recipes. -Grainlady

FOAS: Way to go !!! I knew all along, you could do it. When you got a Round Too It. LOL! Now you can try different things with the Sauce, to your liking. You might want to throw in a Chicken Thigh. Very good in Sauce. Take it out when cooked, before it comes apart. That's the first thing they look for here. Next we will be hearing about the Wooden Spoon you carved ? Have fun !!! LOU