Bosch Mixer for bread making

[Shericbuck]

Does anyone own a Bosch Mixer and make their own bread dough? I would love to make my own bread. Any thoughts and tips?? Thanks

 

[Shericbuck]

Bread dough with Vitamix machine?

2nd question I own a Vitamix. I have used it for everything but making bread/pizza dough. Has anyone made dough with their Vitamix? Maybe I don't need a Bosch Mixer for making bread dough.

 

[nkhansen1]

Nothing compares to a Bosch for bread making. I have been grinding my own flour and making all our bread since 2005, and I can't live without my Bosch! There's no way you could make dough in the Vitamix. I have one of those too. Bread dough, no matter what grain you use, is much too heavy for the Vitamix to handle. The 10-15 minutes of heavy kneading required to properly develop the gluten would burn your Vitamix up. I also have a professional grade Kitchenaid that cannot take the job of bread dough. I make six loaves at a time in my Bosch which turns out to be about 15 pounds of dough. It kneads it like it weighs nothing! But that's what it's made to do. If you are serious about making your own bread, Bosch is the only way to go. It's a fabulous regular stand mixer as well.

 

[Shericbuck]

THANKS NKHANSEN1

I appreciate the input. I am going to purchase the Universal Bosch. Looking forward to making my own bread.

I love kitchen gadgets.....You may already have one of these if not take a look on line. Electric Pressure cooker. LOVE MINE!!! Use it 1-2 times a week. We eat nothing out of a can. I love black beans and the electric pressure cooks has them ready in 1hr 20mins (no soaking).

Thanks again.
Sherry

 

[nkhansen1]

Thanks for the tip, Sherry! We are vegan, and beans are a staple around here. It's crazy that I don't have a pressure cooker! I'm living in the dark ages, still soaking my beans. I need to look into getting one of those!
One more nice thing about the Bosch...my mom has had the same one for about 20 years. They last forever.
If you're interested, I can send you my whole wheat bread recipe. It's so good that my children's school teachers buy bread from me every week.

 

[wgilchrist]

How does the price compare when making your own bread? We are a family of 5 and spend A LOT I money on bread every week. I have been toying with the idea of making my own. I'd bet the taste outweighs the cost.

 

[nkhansen1]

How does the price compare when making your own bread? We are a family of 5 and spend A LOT I money on bread every week. I have been toying with the idea of making my own. I'd bet the taste outweighs the cost.

I buy my wheat for my flour in 50 pound super pails, and each pail costs about $65. I can get around 40 loaves of bread out of that, so that turns out to be about $1.62/loaf. And you can't even compare the taste! My kids won't eat store-bought bread...the little snobs!

Edited to add: I can make 6 loaves of bread in about 2 hours, start to finish, with my Bosch mixer doing the kneading for me.

 

[Epcot Chick]

Nothing compares to a Bosch for bread making. I have been grinding my own flour and making all our bread since 2005, and I can't live without my Bosch! There's no way you could make dough in the Vitamix. I have one of those too. Bread dough, no matter what grain you use, is much too heavy for the Vitamix to handle. The 10-15 minutes of heavy kneading required to properly develop the gluten would burn your Vitamix up. I also have a professional grade Kitchenaid that cannot take the job of bread dough. I make six loaves at a time in my Bosch which turns out to be about 15 pounds of dough. It kneads it like it weighs nothing! But that's what it's made to do. If you are serious about making your own bread, Bosch is the only way to go. It's a fabulous regular stand mixer as well.

This sounds great. I had been looking at KA stand mixers, but this sounds like exactly what I need for bread baking. Is this the Universal Plus you are talking about? I've just been googling it and it gets great ratings across the board.

 

[nkhansen1]

Best Whole Wheat Bread recipe

Here's my bread recipe! It is NOT gluten free, so no hate mail to me about the gluten. Whole wheat bread needs a little bit extra gluten to help it rise properly and have a tender crumb. Otherwise you end up with a brick. The dough conditioner is a little bit of special whey powder that also helps with rising and crumb. I made bread for years without either one of them, but my bread was NEVER so amazing as when I started using them. Feel free to leave them out, but you will not get the same result. This recipe also halves well and can be made in a large Kitchenaid with dough hook.


Best Ever Whole Wheat Bread
Recipe from the famous Shar’s Kitchen
Yield: 6 loaves in 8.5 x 4.5 pans

You will need roughly 10-15 cups of whole wheat flour (or roughly one ton *wink*). Grinding 10-11 cups of wheat will give you enough flour for this recipe.


In Bosch mixer, combine in this order:

2 Tb sea salt
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
3 Tb dough enhancer (find on Amazon or EverythingKitchens.com)
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten (find on Amazon or EverythingKitchens.com)
6 cups steaming hot water from tap
3 Tb SAF instant yeast

On speed 1, mix for a minute or two, then start adding flour one cup at a time. Keep adding flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer, and you can see the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Once you get this consistency, set a timer for 10 minutes and let the dough knead on speed 1.

After 10 minutes, turn the dough out onto a greased countertop (don’t use flour), and separate into six equal portions. Just eyeball it, and palm each one like a basketball to check for equal size.

Form each portion into a loaf and slam it against the counter several times to remove any air pockets. This is super fun! Reform loaf, tuck ends under and place in non-stick 8.5 x 4.5 bread pans.

Cover with light towel and let rise until two inches above the pans, about 30-60 minutes depending on the temperature in your kitchen. Just watch them closely. Preheat your oven right now while they rise to 350.

Bake all six loaves in one oven for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. You might have to switch out the loaves on the top rack for the loaves on the bottom rack for the last 10 minutes of baking to get a golden crust on all the loaves.

 

[mini-natty]

I don't have a Bosch Mixer (I am not a very good baker ), I just wanted to say YAY FOR BREAD!! I never knew people still ate the stuff..........it seems pretty foreign these days. I do however go to my local Farmer's Market and pick up freshly baked whole wheat loafs........TO DIE FOR. You can't compare the store bought stuff to freshly baked bread. Funny story, I bought white bread the other day (gasp, it's ok) from the grocery store by accident (I was in a hurry, my toddler was getting impatient). My husband "forcefully" ate it, but then reminded me to "never do that again". Bread can be a powerful thing

 

[nkhansen1]

This sounds great. I had been looking at KA stand mixers, but this sounds like exactly what I need for bread baking. Is this the Universal Plus you are talking about? I've just been googling it and it gets great ratings across the board.

Yes, I have the Universal Plus, though you don't have to buy it with the blender container. I didn't since I already have a Vitamix. The Universal also has a larger motor than the smaller version. The best place to buy a Bosch is from EverythingKitchens.com. I don't work for them, they just have the best price and free shipping as well as being an authorized dealer for your warranty.

 

[nkhansen1]

I don't have a Bosch Mixer (I am not a very good baker ), I just wanted to say YAY FOR BREAD!! I never knew people still ate the stuff..........it seems pretty foreign these days. I do however go to my local Farmer's Market and pick up freshly baked whole wheat loafs........TO DIE FOR. You can't compare the store bought stuff to freshly baked bread. Funny story, I bought white bread the other day (gasp, it's ok) from the grocery store by accident (I was in a hurry, my toddler was getting impatient). My husband "forcefully" ate it, but then reminded me to "never do that again". Bread can be a powerful thing

Lol! Nobody will ever convince me that a slice of homemade whole wheat bread isn't good for me! Very few things are as nourishing and comforting as a slice of warm bread. It's a world problem-solver, I tell ya!

 

[ElleJay]

When I lived in San Francisco I loved the fresh baked sourdough - and they put clam chowder in it and oh my gosh! Sigh

Thanks for the review of the Bosch - I've been looking for a new breadmaker!

 

[Katerchen]

How much bread do you want to make at a time?

I make one to two recipes at a time, mostly European sourdough breads with 3 - 4 cups of flour and I use the Zojirushi breadmaker for the dough. It takes about 1:28 minutes for the kneading and rest. Then I just shape the loaves and bake them in the electric or wood burning oven. I love that I can just add the ingredients and walk away. Even if I come backk four hours later, the dough is not dried out because of the top.

I was looking at a Bosch before but I rarely make more than one or two loaves a day so I do not need the capacity. Additionally, compared to the Zojirushi, the clean-up is a mess with the Bosch.

I never use the breadmaker for baking and I wish Zojirushi would make a machine only for kneading.

 

[nkhansen1]

I had a Zo for about six years before I bought my Bosch. It is great if you only want one loaf at a time. I just got tired of making bread everyday, so making six at once and freezing them made more sense for my family. I rinse my Bosch immediately after use, and it's simple to clean, but I agree, if you wait until your dough is cemented on there...good luck! I never baked in the Zo either because of the gigantic holes the kneading hooks made in the bottom. Having had both, the Bosch does a much superior kneading job than the Zo which always left flour and such unincorporated in the corners. However, if you only want one loaf at a time, I agree that a Zo is a great option.

 

[Katerchen]

I did not know about the Bosch Compact. That load capacity would be perfect. Two loaves at a time, one for eating and one to give away. It is actually cheaper than a Zo.

I am going to have investigate this one and make sure it does bread dough very well because it has only half the watts than the universal.

 

[nkhansen1]

You can freeze the other loaf for up to a month. Just wrap it in plastic wrap or a large ziplock bag. I have a girlfriend who has a Bosch Compact, and she makes bread every week like I do, but single batches. She loves hers and got her mom one for Christmas this year. I totally forgot to mention there was a smaller version! The only bad thing about the Zo is that it doesn't do anything else whereas you get a great all-around kitchen mixer with the Bosch.

 

[rjroubi]

I own both the vitamix (for grinding grains) and a universal Bosch. The Bosch is wonderful for making breads but doesn't work as well for cookies and cakes (flour sticks to the sides in smaller recipes). That's not to say it isn't doable....(My bet is the new compact might be better for that.) I do like that my universal model is much lighter than a Kitchenaid and has suction cups that stick to the counter. It also doesn't weigh very much (I don't keep mine on the counter...and when not in use I store it in my pantry). I have no regrets purchasing it and still believe for me a much better choice than a Kitchenaid. I bake breads more than cakes or cookies (I had an old version Kitchenaid that weighed a ton and was horrible to clean...dough and cake flour got stuck in all the nooks and crannies....I should have recycled it but I just go so irritated with it that I threw it out.)

If you make bread more than cookies or cakes, I think the universal Bosch is probably one of the best choices in mixers. (It's super easy to clean)....but do realize it is not the perfect mixer for everything. It is good for large batch items and breads...not so much for cookies (yes, I do own the "special cookie paddles")....maybe the smaller compact model would be better....I don't know.

As for using my vitamix grain container....it's way too much of a hassel and cleaning it is too much of a pain (can't get all the grain out of it and takes way too long for me to clean). I've used it once and I probably shouldn't have wasted the money and upgraded my original Vitamix when I first purchased it. Of course, this is all just my own experience.

PS. I also own a Zo breadmaker (the supreme for whole grain breads)... the loaves are way too big and the bread made isn't that pleasing to me. My old original Panasonic model made bread better (I got the Panasonic in the early 80s when breadmakers first came on the market). Most of the time, I rather knead my own dough and make it the old fashion way....it's easy enough and tastes the best. On the other hand, the Zo does make an awesome sour cream coffee cake (you can find the recipe on line at the website)..and is great for super easy pizza dough (which my husband likes). To be honest, I'm just not pleased with the bread recipes and over the years I've tried quite a few. Maybe it's the process that ruins the taste...I just don't know. Making bread by hand is easy enough and doesn't take much time with a really good simple recipe.

 

[spyrosmom]

Um, you don't need a mixer for making bread. Your 2 hands will do the trick, and they're free! On occasion (once a year or so) I use my KitchenAid to make bread, but by the time I drag it out, and then wash it and put it back, it's just easier to do it by hand, and takes the same amount of start to finish time. And quieter, too.

Now, I normally don't make more than a loaf or two at a time, normally 2, but there is no need for a mixer. I rarely use a mixer for anything. Hand, wooden spoon!

Nan