BoschMUM4405 Compact Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield, 400 watt, 4 Quart

For background, I am a home baker, who takes the task somewhat seriously. Not in the sense of making fancy, delectable offerings, with refined flours that have had most of the life-giving nutrients provided by nature removed. I only use freshly ground grains. Whether it’s cracked oat groats in the morning for cereal, or Einkorn, Kamut, or another wheat variety, it’s always freshly ground and 100%, barring a tsp of gluten often added. I first started using a Vitamix to grind the grain. The result was coarse, nutritious, but of limited appeal. Then a Nutrimill Grinder allowed me to make breads with universal appeal. More recently, Komo Classic and a Nutrimill Harvest grinders have taken over, opening the door to many new sources of nutrition.I have both a Bosch Universal Mixer and a Bosch MUM4405 Compact Tilt-Head Stand Mixer. The small compact mixer is great for small spaces, and with it planetary gearing does a superb job of kneading dough. If fact, before getting the dough hook extender for my universal, I considered the compact mixer to be even better at kneading, especially the smaller batches I usually make nowadays.For those new to these machines, here are a couple of tips. The compact Mixer is a wonder. But you do have to get your ratio of water to flour somewhat close. There are great you tube videos available that walk you through, so no one should have too much trouble. But here are a few tips: You don’t need any dough conditioners. Just the basics will do fine. Once you have made a loaf or two, you will have a good idea of ratios that work for you. Here’s an example, of what works for me: 2 ½ wheat berries, 1 ½ cups water, a tsp yeast, a tsp salt, a tsp gluten, a tbsp oil, a tbsp honey. With this I never have to add anything to get a great dough, with 6 – 8 minutes of kneading. I punch down or knead on an oiled board and never need to add flour, and am left with quick easy cleanup. I proof my dough at lower temps for an hour for better flavor, and often do a poolish preferment for even better flavor and texture, and then use a bread cloche for even finer results with both bread and pizza.In short, I find it to be a wonderful machine that does great things in a small space.

This mixer is a little goofy-looking in white plastic; it won't beautify your expensive kitchen. However, I wasn't looking for a pretty object - I was looking for a mixer that could handle tough jobs while taking up a minimum amount of my counter space and money.I mainly purchased this to use as a stand mixer. So far I've done several lighter jobs (cookies, cake), a few regular loaves of bread including wheat and rye breads in double batches, some wetter doughs like English muffins, and three batches of very stiff bagel dough. The Bosch handled all these tasks perfectly - even after 10 minutes kneading the bagel dough, it wasn't complaining or overheating. It looks and sounds like something Fisher Price would make, but its function put big, beautiful KitchenAid mixers (and a variety of food processors I've used with dough blades) to shame.I ordered the blender attachment - nothing spectacular, just a capable blender that easily turned ice cubes into "snow." I also have the food processor, which comes with shredding discs and the usual chopping blade. Only downside there is that the food processor doesn't handle small jobs very well with the chopping blade...which is pretty typical. I'm not sure whether it might've been better to get the chopping/shredding attachment (a separate option which just spits the chopped food out, without the food processor bowl attached) and skip the food processor.I was debating for a while between this product and the bigger "Universal" mixer - definitely glad I went with this one. Unless you're baking many loaves of bread at a time on a regular basis, this is more than big enough; the bowl holds more than you'd think. It's really wonderful to be able to move the mixer around (I can easily pick it up with one hand), particularly if you have a smaller kitchen. Although the motor is "only" 400 watts, I think design must trump power to some extent. I've used a Kitchenaid Pro 600, which has 575 watts, and it overheated kneading pretty standard wheat breads in less than five minutes.Would definitely recommend this mixer. There are several YouTube videos demonstrating how the various attachments work - I found those helpful.

I just need something smaller than my Universal Bosch mixer 800W. I have the big one for few years and this machine is very powerful and very good. When I received the little one I want to use for beat the eggs whites and first I was very disappointed because compare to Big Bosch was very slow even when I turn for number 4 speed. I get spoiled with the Big machine and I was expecting the same from the little one. Takes a time to beat the egg whites but after all did the job. I also use for making my sourdough bread together with the Big Bosch. The real sourdough bread is very long process so when I'm baking I bake a list 2. It is huge difference between 400W and 800W but both mixer are doing their jobs. I get additional bowls because when you bake a lot you need more than one. With the little one I have to be more patience because is slower. I never have any other brand then Bosch as a stand mixer so I cannot compare them to anything else. For me is always important the power and quality. I know they have it stand mixers with 1000W power maybe they are stronger but for some reason I trust more Bosch. The bowl is not 4 quarts is smaller.