My post on Quick Challah brought in a number of comments and questions including questions about allowing sufficient time for the challah to rise a second time. I thought I'd post a picture of my finished (water) challah so that everyone can answer the question of sufficient rise for themselves. I made my dough in the morning and my oldest quickly braided these for about 10 minutes (no second rise) before jumping into the shower.
My challah recipe uses 5 cups of flour and is kneaded in a Kitchen Aid mixer. Kosher on a Budget has links to a mixer priced at $162 after rebates.
I've been using my mixer for at least 7 years and the engine is still going strong. A good mixer does carry a hefty price tag, but useful workhorses are on my frugal-approved list. If you average out the cost over say 10 years, it equals the cost of 3 bakery challahs.
What appliances have paid dividends in your kitchen? Speaking on dividends, training children to help and take responsibility is a tremendous investment! I'm starting to see the investment pay off in the form of pretty nice looking challah.
Shabbat Shalom.
10 years sounds way too conservative. My parents' Kitchenaid mixer is at least 30 years old. They last forever.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to blogging and therefore I'm new to your blog, so I didn't see them last time.
ReplyDeleteWow 15 minutes!
Now I don't really have any excuse not to try to make them!
Thanks
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Daniela
http://isreview1.blogspot.com
My KitchenAid mixer is 22+ years old and is like brand new.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo, I think this is the first photo I've seen on this blog!
My mom bought her first Kitchenaid in 1956. In 1981 she bought a bigger model but the original became her Pesach mixer and then mine, and it's still going strong. My regular Kitchenaid is now 35 years old and still going strong. You get what you pay for, and Kitchenaid is a true bargain when you look at years of use.
ReplyDeleteMy dividend-paying appliances include:
ReplyDeletesoy milk machine ($0.60/gallon for soy milk and can make nut or rice milk too)
KitchenAid mixer (just like you said!)
coffee bean roaster (green beans are 50% less than already-roasted beans and it tastes MUCH better!)
food processor
food drier (dry cheap in-season produce and enjoy it all year long)
crock pot
All of these get used several times a week, and most of them are 10+ years old. The coffee bean roaster is the young one at only two years. :)
We were short on time this week and skipped the second rise on the Challah, no apparent negative effects, even tastier than usual. We even had to shorten the first rise because we were tight on time.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I love my Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer, and my mother in laws is going strong after several decades, but they are NOT the same as the "old" ones, the manufacturing division was sold off a number of years ago.
They might still last 30 years, but I wouldn't necessarily expect it.
tesyaa-There is a first for everything.
ReplyDeleteThis week's challah was perhaps the best I've ever made. If you could only taste the photo.
And don't forget a good food processor! I don't have a mixer yet so I bake my challah by hand, but the Cuisinart FP fills in nicely for cakes and cookies and of course grating veggies etc. For Pesach I have a Braun FP it's a great machine as well.
ReplyDeleteThe appliance that has paid dividends for me is the $20 Belgian waffle iron from Target. It (along with Krusteaz pancake mix)has transformed breakfasts in my house. Homemade waffles are the fall back breakfast to the point where I tell my kids, "I don't have time for you to have cereal for breakfast; I'll make you a waffle." It is honestly easier to make mix up the batter and make waffles than to deal with finding the four bowls and spoons necessary to give the kids cereal.
ReplyDeleteI got a kitchen aid mixer for my wedding. It lasted about 20 years, so I bought a new one when it went. Within a year it broke (on challah dough). They replaced it for free. The next one broke too, but it was after the warranty expired (which was for another year). I had it fixed for a pretty penny, and so far so good, but the new machines are not like the old one. I no longer use the kitchen aid for challah, I got a magic mill that I use only for challah. I know it is pricey but much much cheaper than buying challah every week (not to mention the taste).
ReplyDeleteI have a Kitchen Aid for over 18 years now. I also got one for Pesach as a gift. I do bake a lot for Pesach but I would have made do with my hand mixer if I had not received the Kitchen Aid for free.
ReplyDelete