Just received this yesterday, first use this morning. After a hiatus of several years, I started making bread again this fall, and am now baking twice a week. My wife had encouraged me to use her KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, labeling it the gold standard of mixers. Takes up huge space on the counter, but is so heavy you don't want to get it out and put it away. In the past I had used 220-watt hand mixers from both KitchenAid and Cuisinart, and while they did fine at kneading, the effort caused the mechanism that secures the dough hooks in both mixers to fail, and the dough hooks kept falling out. The Braun 5100 offers a compact and more powerful alternative to the stand mixer (350-watt motor vs 325-watt on the stand mixer). From what I've read, the KA Artisan should be used for"occasional' breadmaking, suggesting it would not stand up long to twice-weekly outings. The single dough hook doesn't knead as effectively as two dough hooks. And who wants to be responsible for burning out his wife's 20-year old mixer? It also offers a sensible alternative to less powerful hand mixers. The on-off switch is easy to reach, and the motor won't run unless the beaters/dough hooks are properly mounted. The speed dial is easy to reach with your thumb, so you don't have to turn the mixer off to changes speeds. Some would say you could press the beater-eject button while mixing - anything is possible - but it's not likely to happen. The design of this device is great. The vertical motor placement makes it easy to hold and the motor's weight helps it stay in the bowl while mixing. The dough hooks are long enough to provide a lot of stretch to the dough as it's being kneaded (and kneading is more about stretching than compressing). Long story short, I have pain-de-mie dough that has the texture of satin rising in the Pullman pan right now. I will get a very fine-crumbed, tender loaf from this. Clean-up is a snap. I won't put the dough hooks in the dishwasher, though I understand they could go in there if I wanted. The mixer is compact and doesn't take up a lot of cabinet space. I never pushed the mixing speed above 5 with the bread dough so there was a ton of power in reserve. Bread dough, to me, is the best measure of how a mixer will perform. I don't use mixers for many tasks - pretty much bread dough and whipping cream. I'll be whipping cream later in the week to make Christmas pies. I think this is going to do just fine with whipping cream. Yes, there are less expensive hand mixers, but paying $30 for a mixer that that the beaters won't stay in doesn't make sense. And there are more expensive mixers - a Breville that costs almost $100. But I don't need a mixer with a light and built-in timer. For power, ease of use, compact design, comfort in hand, this one earns its five stars. Edit: OK, had it a week now, have made bread three times and this morning whipped cream for a holiday pie. So far it does everything I've asked it to do and done it without difficulty. It feels lighter in the hand than the KitchenAid and Cuisinart hand mixes, probably because of how the motor sits. For us bread junkies, the dough hooks are longer than the KitchenAid and Cuisinart dough hooks which makes kneading very easy. Mu pain-de-mie from today is simply one of the best loaves I've turned out - the Braun gave me satin dough. I like that it has a three-year warranty (I was sure to register it) so if I run into an issue with the dough hooks, I'm covered. Neither the KitchenAid or Cuisinart lasted that long. Very, very happy with this purchase.
