I am contemplating getting a stand mixer for baking purposes, and I’ve always known KitchenAid as the default choice here. I would instead want something European-made, but I am unfamiliar with the landscape.

Do any of you have any experience with European models, such as the Ankarsum or Bosch OptiMUM (what kind of name is that??), or any other?

I have a good food processor and blender from before, so I don’t need it to be able to handle all kinds of things that stand mixers are not meant for, but if there’s some extensibility beyond just kneading that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve with those devices, that would be a plus.

  • I have my (late) grandmother’s 35 years old Bosch MUM, which still works decently well. It struggles a little bit with larger quantities (>1 kg of flour) of firm doughs these days but does everything else well. My mum recently upgraded her MUM to an optiMUM and couldn’t be happier.