Comfee Stand Mixer

Let me start by saying I like this mixer SOOO much I bought a second one. Not as a gift for someone else, but for me! I don't know how, but it seems that every time I find something I REALLY like, "they" find out and take it off the market. (Gonna have to find out who "they" are!) By loving this little mixer I have given it the kiss of death I'm sure, hence the second one! Now I hope I have a lifetime supply! So what's so special about this mixer that would persuade me to buy two of them? Well, the size for starters. Let me be really clear about something - this is not a large mixer. Quite the contrary. If you want a stand mixer to make two loaves of bread at the same time or enough cookie dough for 30 dozen cookies, THIS AIN'T IT!!! On the other hand, if you are single or maybe have just one other person you're feeding this is the perfect size. For example, it will handily hold three or four medium sized potatoes when making mashed potatoes. Need just a half dozen rolls? This is perfect for that amount of dough. I regularly make bread with it using 300 grams of fresh ground whole wheat flour (a little less than three cups) and it has no problems at all handling that. Whole wheat bread dough can really stress a mixer and this little dude comes through with flying colors. I make cracker dough with it as well which is another stress test for a mixer and again, no problems. Folks, this is actually a kinda big deal. Stand mixers have a rather limited range in terms of capacity vs. ability. For example, my KitchenAid Professional 600 is a 6 quart mixer, but if I tried to make bread dough with only 300 grams of flour, it wouldn't be able to mix it because there wouldn't be enough stuff in the bowl. The optimum amount for the KA mixer starts at around 450 grams of flour and goes to about 600 grams (maybe more with a wetter non-whole wheat flour dough). You should ask yourself what you kind of quantities you expect to use with this mixer. This 2.6 quart mixer seems to peak at around 300-350 grams of whole wheat flour and can probably do more without too much issue. The size of the bowl will become the limiting factor at that point. Another thing that is important when looking at these smaller, cheaper mixers is how they operate. Are they more like a hand mixer? That is, does it hold two beaters that rotate or one paddle/hook that has a planetary gearing? Like most larger stand mixers, this has the planetary movement which yields much better results than the equivalent of a hand mixer mounted on some kind of stand. Also check out the dough hook when comparing mixers. If they don't look like the ones in my pictures, they probably won't be effective if bread making is in your plans. The straight spiral wire things that come with most hand mixers are useless at actually kneading dough. Furthermore, I've never used a hand mixer that had anywhere near enough power to handle stiff doughs like whole wheat. This thing as a cinch to clean, too. The stainless steel bowl is small enough that I find it easier to just wash it out by hand when I'm done rather than run it through the dishwasher. Talk about compact! It fits almost anywhere so storage isn't that big of a deal. I have a small (small from a commercial standpoint) 10 quart commercial mixer that is anything but easy to store. It comes with all the attachments the bigger brothers would have: dough hook, paddle and whisk along with a splash guard that actually works! Everything fits inside the bowl making it perfect for a smaller kitchen not loaded with storage space. This mixer has plenty of power, too. As I have indicated, I use it often for bread making and I work almost exclusively with whole grain flours. This machine just settles in and does it's job without a lot of complaining. It doesn't get hot. It doesn't trip thermal overloads. It doesn't sound like it's about to fly apart. It just works. All that sounds pretty good, but I do have one or two little complaints. The first is the more serious and that is that even the lowest speed is fast. Not outrageously fast, but faster than my KitchenAid Professional 600 or my General GEM110. The net result is that I have to be more aware about using the splash guard at least until the ingredients have been mixed together enough to keep them from flying all over the kitchen. Even at the higher RPM for the first couple of speeds, this machine does NOT lack power. If I tried to knead bread dough in my KA on its top speed I'd be worried. The KA is geared differently and those higher speeds come at the price of power. This mixer can actually knead dough at its highest RPM (which is a ridiculous thing to do, I just wanted to see if it could). One other really minor issue that may one day show itself is the covers for the accessory ports. At least one of them is protected by a switch that won't allow the mixer to run unless either the cover is in place or the accessory is attached. Hence, don't lose the cover plates. Lastly, it appears that the accessory pack with the blender/food processor/meat grinder is not available anywhere that I can find. It isn't here on Amazon or any of the other online retailers. Not a big deal for me since I already have all of those tools, but I could have been tempted into trying them anyway. It would have been nice to consolidate appliances to conserve space. I have included some photos of the three mixers I have to give you an idea of size relative to each other and also some pics of this one in action. Since I am much more interested in function I haven't mentioned much about the appearance and I would be remiss not to include a short comment. This is a good looking little mixer. The plastic cover plates are chrome plated (or some shiny stuff) and it will polish up real nicely if you give it a quick buff with a soft towel. It's kinda short and squatty which makes it a bit unusual and unique looking sitting on the kitchen counter. It's that squatty profile that makes this so easy to store under the counter or in a cabinet. I have both the black and the grey and I like them both. Finally, I am including a recipe I use regularly with this little mixer for whole wheat bread. The recipe was written with a classic free form loaf in mind, however it will also make a nice loaf if you use an 8"X4" bread pan instead. Hope you enjoy! If you prefer 100% whole wheat, replace the bread flour with more whole wheat flour (236 grams total) and add a tablespoon or two of water. Expect a somewhat more dense and flavorful loaf. Ingredients: 118 grams Whole Wheat Flour 118 grams Bread Flour 4 grams Fat Free Dry Milk or Sweet Dairy Whey 14 grams Vital Wheat Gluten 14 grams Oil, Ghee or Shortening Pinch (< 1 gram) Diastatic Malt Powder 6 grams Salt 4 grams Yeast 155 grams Water 17 grams Honey, sugar or other sweetener Weigh salt and yeast separately and set aside. If using vegetable oil weigh it separately and set it aside as well. If you are using shortening or ghee, you’ll add it in the next step. If using ghee, let it warm to room temperature. Combine the other dry ingredients in mixer bowl (along with shortening or ghee if using) and mix well on the #1 (slowest) speed with the paddle. Weigh the water and honey in a small measuring cup and warm to 90⁰ F. in the microwave (about 30 seconds). Add the oil to the water/honey mixture (if using) and then add to the dry ingredients. Continue to mix with the paddle on the #1 speed until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and a ball forms on the paddle. The bowl should be clean and all ingredients should be stuck to the paddle. Scrape the dough from the paddle and form a ball with it. Return the dough ball to the mixer bowl. Warm your oven by turning on the light or placing a pan of hot water on the bottom shelf. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the dough ball and allow it to sit in the warm oven for 30 minutes. Return the bowl to the mixer that has been fitted with the dough hook and knead the dough on #1 speed for 1 minute. Add the salt and continue to knead the dough for another 2 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and form a ball. Oil the inside of the bowl and return the dough ball, turning it so all sides get oiled. Allow to rise in your oven for about 40 minutes, or until doubled in volume. Punch down, form a ball, re-oil the bowl and return the dough ball to the bowl and allow it to rise again for about 20 minutes or until doubled in volume. At this point place a bread or pizza stone on the middle shelf of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Punch the dough down, form a ball and place the dough ball in a well floured banneton. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled in volume. Gently flip dough ball on to a piece of parchment paper. Score if you wish. Slide the parchment paper onto a peel and transfer to the fully heated bread stone. Reduce temperature immediately to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the bread sounds hollow when the bottom is thumped or until the internal temperature is 205 degrees. You may need to cover the bread with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly. Cool thoroughly on a wire rack before slicing.

When this first arrived I looked at it and thought it was way too small. However, I decided to give it a go and I am so glad I did. I am NOT a baker. I don't make large batches of baked good by any means but this works so well for me. It is awesome quality and I got rid of my crummy hand-held mixer. The size is deceivingly small. Until I recently had to a mix a large batch of meat for sausage balls, which required splitting the amount in to two batches for mixing, I have been able to complete everything I need to with this. I think this is an amazing little mixer that was well worth the cost---- although, I did purchase it when amazon was doing a special.

I think there might be a good market for mini mixers. When I discovered this product, I tried to find a similar one by a brand name that is more familiar to me. But this seemed to be one of the few mini mixers available; so I went with it. My family said "Mom, do you really need ANOTHER mixer?" I have the extra large KitchenAid mixer and the medium KitchenAid mixer and a hand held Dualit mixer. Those all cost more than this little Comfee mixer and yet these days, the Comfee is the one I use most often. The reason for this is that I often need to mix a small amount of stuff like whipped cream or egg whites. Comfee is great for small batch mixing! There are just a few things that stop me from giving it five stars. I am sure you could argue that the value for the price is worth 5 stars. But style and durability matter also. I do not like how much writing is on the outside of the machine. After reading the manual, I understand how to use the machine and where not to put my fingers. I do not like seeing permanent caution warnings and pictorial directions for use on the body of the machine. Also I do not like that the directions suggest you can only run this thing for a certain number of minutes. I wonder if that means it will burn out if you have to whip egg whites a long time. So far I have had no trouble using the machine long enough to make merengue, etc. One more thing I do not like is that the whisk attachment is a little bit flimsy. That part is the one I use most so I need it to be durable. It works just fine so I just hope it lasts. What I like best about this little mixer is that it works so well with small amounts. I can whip two egg whites into beautiful foam peaks without any effort. I can put in a half a cup of whipping cream to make a little topping for a dessert, without having to stand there and do it by hand. My big, expensive mixers have trouble processing tiny amounts and my hand held mixer takes my time since I have to stand there with it. Comfee's mixer is like a hand held that works on its own, and it does it with enough sturdiness and weight to make cooking more enjoyable.