Hi Tony-
I'd never dissuade anyone from getting a KA, tho I have heard some
complaints about the new ones. I LOVE mine and the day I bought it 20
+ years ago said "I should have gotten this a LONG time ago <G>.

Food processors are excellent for bread, tho they work very fast so you
have to not over work the dough.

Also for indirect breads, anything with a preferment (sourdough,
polish, biga, etc.) you don't have to knead. If you mix the
ingredients and then allow them to rest, autolyse, fold rather than
knead. I haven't done this with straight doughs simply because I
haven't made them in a while. Even if you do want to knead, by hand or
a mixer, allowing the dough to rest cuts the time involved with
kneading way down. There are descriptions of the no-knead in many
places, including _Bread Baker's Apprentice_, _Bread_ (Hamelman),
_Artisan Making_...

-Marylouise

Tony P. wrote:

> Actually my 12 year old Sunbeam Mixmaster works just fine for cookie
> dough. It's a 228W unit and adequate for those needs.
>
> But I need to get something a little heavier because I'm into the bread
> thing now and kneading by hand can get tedious.
>
> So I'll probably end up with a KA series myself.