Electrolux Magic Mill / Verona (now called Ankarsrum) - Breadmaking Comedy of Errors - Part 1/2

For a lovely and informative video on making bread with this machine, watch this:    • Ankarsrum (Electrolux/Magic Mill/Verona) M...  

That's not what I did here. Instead, in my ignorance, I believe I committed every major error with this machine. I present the whole long disaster here to my eternal shame so that you can learn from my stupidity and do not fall into the same wayward path.

I have concluded that my major mistakes were:

1. Never remove the scraper. There won't be anything to flip the dough over and it will simply ride around in circles, merry-go-round style.

2. Use the roller, not the dough hook -- although there is some debate about that. Different people use different attachments. I've seen both used successfully in YouTube videos. Start with the roller. More sources recommend it.

3. Don't add extra flour needlessly.

4. Don't load the bowl higher than the top of the ribbed part of the roller. It can't perform its work if the dough climbs its neck. Here's a video of a lady loading the bowl to the top, which proves that, yes, this mixer can handle large quantities. But she's making cookies and that's a different animal. Bread dough is alive and fights you in a way that cookie dough doesn't.    • Monster Cookies on my new Electrolux Assis...   I think you are better off reducing the quantities when making bread dough. You need the extra work room.

Be aware that in this video, I'm making challah, which is a very difficult dough. It literally killed my KitchenAid. Smoke. Flames. The whole she-bang. Dead KitchenAid. For power and performance, you need one of THESE machines. Challah doesn't kill it. Not even my overloading it with challah killed it. It's one truly fine machine!

Word of advice: Don't make bread dough in such great quantities that you can't bake it when it is ready to go in the oven. I made several large batches of dough, then didn't have enough room in the oven. Many loaves had to wait their turn and passed their prime. You really are better off making several smaller batches. You can then work your timing so it spaces them far enough apart that they can each enter the oven at the peak moment. (I know, it's like "Duh, you moron. Isn't that obvious?" Yes, it is. But if you get obsessed with playing with the mixer, you can overlook such obvious facts.)

Ah, well. Live and learn. Or just watch this and learn from a screw-up. It's faster.

Part 2 will show the continued adventures, using sandwich bread dough... which is easier on the mixer. Plus I learned from this adventure, so made different mistakes on the next one.

And if you'd like to see what happened when I did a side-by-side comparison with this machine and a KitchenAid, here it is:    • Mixer Battle: KitchenAid vs. Electrolux Ma...