Cuisinart Precision Master 5.5 Quart Stand Mixer, Sky Blue

Since we are home more, I have been baking more. This machine has taken a lot of bread kneading stress off my arthritic hands when working with yeast doughs. My husband loves the home baked loaves of bread. We both like that this machine is more quiet than most large mixers. Saves money on gourmet baking! Money well spent!

I've been expanding my baking horizons from chocolate chip cookies and muffins to pastry, pizza dough and breads. Bread recipes seemed to assume one had a stand mixer and a dough hook. I made do with a hand mixer with a couple of spiral attachments billed as dough hooks. It worked well enough but took extra effort and sometimes the bread came out too crumbly. So I bought the Cuisinart Stand Mixer. So far I've used it for muffins, bread, pizza dough and chocolate chip cookies. It has made baking easier and more efficient because I can multi-task. My cookies did not come out as well using the stand mixer instead of a blender - a short-cut that works surprisingly well - the dough was drier and less pliable. So, I'll research recipes that specify a stand mixer. My whole wheat multi-grain loaf came out perfectly. It is so much tastier than store bought bread, so I'll aim to always make my own bread. I don't know if that'll amortize the purchase price but I'll still be happy with my Cuisinart Stand Mixer and the goodies it helps me bake. The bowl is capacious and easy to clean by hand. The mixer is powerful so it handles dough with ease. It is solidly built and stable. If you are researching stand mixers, put this at the top of your list.