The Death of a Mixer

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012 will live forever as a day of infamy in the Caudill household.  It's the day that my 7qt, 1000watt mixer suddenly died.  6 years prior I had done hours upon hours of research for the best, heaviest duty, and longest lasting stand mixer.  The result was a new Viking mixer.  They were not cheap but I was willing to pay the price for a worthy product.  Now, just the thought of referring to this mixer as worthy, is, well, laughable - to the point of tears.  I found a website (FYKitchen.com) that had the best price and I was so impressed with the reviews of the Viking 7qt mixer, I got the Viking food processor too.  Again, these were a serious investment for me, but as far as I was concerned I was getting the best product available in the world.  I have used the mixer to make all sorts of breads, sweet breads, yeast breads, bagels, sourdough, traditional white, heavy whole wheat breads and many more.  I Have used this mixer to whip butter from fresh cream from locally raised and harvested dairy products.  I have used it to whip egg whites for my wife's favorite Angel Food Cake for her birthday as well as my favorite, carrot cake.  The Viking was certainly not a perfect mixer but it handled everything that I threw at it and rarely complained.  If one can actually love a mixer, then I, believe it or not, loved my mixer.  While making a cake for a client, the very day of my birthday (August 23rd) it was whipping egg whites and it simply shut off and never budged again.  I had to finish whipping the egg whites by hand and by God's grace, the cake still turned out wonderfully. 

 

That begun the new search.  Was I going to replace my dead Vking with a new one?  What about a Kitchen Aid?  What were my other options?

 

Well, my Viking lasted less than 6 years and it was out of warranty.  There was no way that I was going to buy another, especially considering the cost and the fact that Viking has stopped production of these units.  For what it's worth, my Viking food processor died about 6 months ago too.

 

So, now that Viking is off the table, I have to tell you that I have been baking and making breads for years and years.  The top of the line Kitchen Aid is simply not able to handle the heavier dough that I use frequently.  So, if you do not bake breads, the Kitchen Aid is an awesome machine that will handle everything you throw at it.  Plus, they will always make Kitchen Aid parts, unlike Viking.

 

So, what else was out there for someone in my situation?  Well the first thing that I did was to hit my favorite websites (TheFrehLoaf.com amongst others).  The real toss up was between the Boshc Mixer and the Electrolux Verona Assistant DLX.  These mixers use a different gearing and method to knead the dough.  This has enabled them to handle the super heavy doughs that bread bakers like myself use so often.

There are people that are FIRMLY in the camp of each of these products, and for good reason.  You have to want to find an issue with these mixers.  You have to be looking knowing that once you find it, you have to spend as much time justifying the fact that it is an issue as you do explaining what the issue us.  That being said I went with the Verona Assistant.  Again this mixer has a great reputation but it aint cheap.  This has been the preferred mixer for bread bakers all over the globe. And still other famous bread bakers swear by the Bosch.  Either way, you are not going to go wrong. 

 

Which one did I get?  I ended up purchasing the Electrolux Verona Assistant, DLX mixer.  I ordered it from the pleasenthillgrains.com.  It's an online paradise for information regarding home milling and baking. Do the first thing I did was make a large batch of dough, enough to make 4 - 1lb loaves of a heavily seeded whole wheat yeast bread.  The recipe that I have uses flax meal, flax seeds. Salba seeds, Salba meal, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, oat bran, and freshly milled Montana Gold hard red wheat.  This is definitely a seed heavy bread and by all counts should produce a dense and rather heavy loaf.  Instead of falling flat, the gluten development was remarkable.  That enabled the dough to rise to a great height prior to being put into the oven and again produced a surprising oven spring once it was in the oven.  I have eaten a few sandwiches on this bread and really loved it.  It was just as good if not better than breads that were made in the Viking (God rest its soul)... 

I don't do a lat of small batch stuff so I cannot comment on how it does with single batch cookies or cupcakes or anything.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

Chef Pat @ CFL

Got Milk? No, Really...

                Milk, it's a controversial product of the modern age.  Some say that humans were never intended to consume dairy products, some say that organic is best, while others say that raw milk is the only way to go. So, what do you do with all of these options, especially when the folks that are providing the information are so passionate about their positions.  More importantly, who is funding the research behind each statement about their version of the "truth" about milk and dairy products in general? 

 

                Let's take a step back and look at how milk is handled in today's western culture and mindset.  First off, we need to understand that if a cow has been given antibiotics, the farmer cannot sell its milk.  So all of the advertisements that you see in grocery stores boasting about "No Antibiotics", is nonsense, for no reason other than it's illegal to do otherwise. 

 

                Another fact that is important to know is that mass produced milk does have hormones in it.  You see, for a cow to produce milk it needs to have given birth recently, if not then a farmer will give the cow hormones, in this case estrogen, to trick the cow's body into producing milk.  There are many studies that reveal the negative effects of an abnormal amount of estrogen in our diets.

 

                For instance, elevated estrogen levels in young girls is thought to be the reason that the breast size of developing girls has increased significantly over the last 20 years.  Girls are starting puberty younger than ever and that too is linked to the elevated estrogen levels that they are exposed to.  Young boys on the other hand are hitting puberty later and the need for testosterone supplements in adults is at an all time high.  Again, this is linked directly to the use of hormones in our food products.

 

                There is much more to be learned about the negative side effects of estrogen and the commercial production of milk.  I could write pages upon pages of information regarding milk production and estrogen but I think that you get the point.  However, if you'd like more info, here is a great link and here is another.  Both are worth taking the time to read.

 

                Putting aside the estrogen issue, there are a few other processes that commercial milk is required to go through prior to being bottled and put on a shelf in your local grocery that deserve mentioning.  Pasteurization and Homogenization.  Pasteurization is the process of heating the milk to either 135 or 145 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on whether its pasteurized(EHT) or ultra pasteurized (UHT).  This process kills any bacteria that may harm us. Homogenization is the process of breaking the fat (cream) into uniform sizes to ensure a smooth and creamy texture upon consumption.  Sounds like a good idea right?  Well, maybe, maybe not...

 

                Milk directly from a cow is teaming with life.  There are loads of bacteria and enzymes that make drinking milk a cornerstone of any healthy diet.  The pasteurization process kills all bacteria and enzymatic activity, significantly decreasing the benefit of its consumption.  Homogenization is a rather benign process only effecting the texture of the beverage, however, it does expose the milk to more oxygen and as a result the nutritional value is marginalized.  Any process will inadvertently increase oxygen exposure.  The less we manipulate the raw product the less exposure therefore the integrity of the raw product is retained.

 

                That bring us to raw milk.  There are volumes of pages on the internet that will tout the praises of raw milk.  Loads of ancedotical evidence that supports raw milk's role in resolving digestion issues, boosting immune system function, fighting off cancer, correcting blood pressure, curing bacterial infections and the list honestly goes on and on.  Unfortunately, it's obvious that selling "raw milk" is illegal so how in the heck do you get your hands on it?    There are purveyors of raw milk and raw milk products all over the U.S.  The legal path to raw milk starts with purchasing a "herd share".  This means that you actually own a portion of the cows in that specific herd.  So legally now you can do whatever you want to do with the milk that is harvested from your cows.  Next you will need to pay a monthly boarding fee for your "portion" of the herd.  A herd share runs anywhere from $50 - $100.  The boarding cost is usually somewhere around $30 or so per month. 

 

                I honestly believe that there are great benefits to consuming raw milk.  Let me explain why; raw milk is unprocessed, unrefined, unhomogenized, and completely natural in every way.  It is in its most basic form and that is the way it was intended to be consumed.  I will always prefer the raw, unprocessed version of any food product.  The enzymes and positive bacteria will do for our bodies what we hope vitamins will do.  Consuming organic raw milk and dairy products is what was done 2000 years ago and only since we have found a way to pollute milk even before it's harvested have we noticed negative impacts of dairy products on our health.  It's not that dairy products are unhealthy, it's that all of the chemicals and processes that we subject the raw product to is making it unhealthy.

 

               I'd be in hot water if I failed to give the disclaimer about the potential dangers of raw milk.  There can be potentially dangerous bacteria living in raw milk.  So in effect you are taking a measured risk by consuming raw dairy products.  That is why it's always good to go to the farm that your herd shares are on.  Check out their operation and get to know your cows and if you are uncomfortable with anything then move on, there is usually more than one farmer in an area that has herd shares available.

 

                So, contact your local organic dairy farmer, take the plunge and purchase a herd share then get ready to feel the benefits of raw milk.  Rest assured, they will be unexpected, far reaching, and life-long.

 

Chef Pat @ CFL

 

Here are some internet resources to help you find raw milk in your area.

http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/

http://www.realmilk.com/

http://www.rawmilk.org/default.php

http://www.eatfoodforlife.com/new-website/

http://www.eatwild.com/index.html