I am forwarding a response to a question recently asked about this machine. I hope it will help with your decision.

Dear____,

I'm sorry to say I must agree with your friend. I have received nothing but complaints about the Champ, and MANY customers who want a reliable machine. It doesn't have a good track record for dependability. The number one complaint is that it spends more time broken down than working. It is not made as well as the Bosch and certainly not as well as the DLX! It is much more flimsy in construction with the majority of its parts, working and otherwise, a thin plastic, thus the lower price. If you have 6 children and one more coming, I don't think even the Bosch (which is a tougher machine than the Champ) could possibly give you what you need.

The reason people get "lured" into the Champ is the price for what is listed. However, in some things you really do "get what you pay for", and this is one of them. My husband is a contractor, and believe me, he's not going to excavate with a shovel!! He's going to get the equipment to get the job done.

With your size family, you are not just a cook/housewife, you are a domestic engineer!! And you need the machine to make life do-able for you. (to "get the job done" for you, too!) In my opinion, with your family size, the DLX is the only way to go. You can make SIX 2 lb. loaves at one time! It will mix 21 cups of flour, AT ONE TIME. I usually make 6 1 1/2 lb. loaves in mine (14 cups of flour) as my oven bakes that size better. No non-commercial oven will bake more than 6 loaves at a time. I have the largest oven (30") and I bake the medium loaf size.

The practical advantages of the DLX Assistent are: it has it's own timer and speed control. You assemble the ingredients, set the timer AND WALK AWAY! I am a Christian, and I tell the people who come to the whole grain nutrition classes I teach, "The Proverbs 31 woman had servants to direct. I don't have servants, but I have an Assistent, who makes life do-able for me!" We are homeschoolers, and I can assemble the ingredients in about 5-10 minutes. I turn it on, check on it and leave it to do school. I set my kitchen timer for the mix + rise time and when it rings, I punch the dough down and remix it. (I do a triple rise bread due to better nutrient absorption.) Then I set my kitchen timer again for the mix + rise time and leave it. When it rings I then come and put my hands in the dough. Until then, it's cost me maybe 10 minutes, TOTAL time! Then, depending on what I'm making from that amount of dough, I may have my hands in the dough for 5 to 30 minutes. (In my class I make 6 different recipes from ONE batch of dough, to show usability and versitility.) Then I set the dough in the pans to rise and when risen, bake them. It's very easy as the machine helps you break the time into small pieces.

The DLX is always my first choice as it has a seamless stainless steel bowl, is not a doughnut shape, (easier to use and clean) and has stainless steel working parts. It also has a direct drive motor, which makes its 450 watt motor very powerful. It doesn't require as much electricity to work a heavy load of dough, thus saving you on your power bills as well. The Bosch is a belt driven machine. It has a doughnut shaped bowl and doesn't have the capacity of the DLX. The DLX will mix one or 9 (1 1/2 lb. or can be baked as 6 2 lb. loaves) of bread at ONE time! This gives you the ability to make your weeks worth of bread at one time, further freeing you from the kitchen. The Bosch will make 5 loaves of this size.

When researching as a consumer to purchase for my own family, I chose the DLX, even though we are only a family of four. I chose this machine because of its features, warranty, construction and engineering. I knew that this was a one time purchase and would have to last a lifetime. I knew that the DLX would do that.

This machine is a gem. I have 2, one for home use and an extra to use at the classes I teach on whole grain nutrition. (my husband and 2 children have one to use in the kitchen while I am using the other.) They haven't given me a moments problem. I have had one for ten years!

I will tell you these not as cheap, but remember, this is an investment which will free you to be with your family, not just serving them and to let you invest in their health as they grow. It is also a machine which you can depend upon for years and which can be passed down to your children. With the track record I’ve seen from the Champ, it won't last even through your lifetime.

There are SO many health benefits from milling your own grains. The DLX makes the "doing" of it so much easier. I don't know where you are located, but Dr. Leila Denmark, (who recently retired at 104) a practicing pediatrician in the Atlanta area is my children's pediatrician. When she first saw my girls, (6 years ago in April) they were 8 and 11. THEY HAD NO TONSILS. She asked me if they'd ever had surgery because there was no carring in their throats. I told her no. She was AMAZED!! She had already questioned me about our diets, before she ever examined the girls. When she saw no tonsils she said, "I never see this anymore. When children pass babyhood, their tonsils should naturally atrophy and go away. If the adrenals (which sit on the kidney and "run" the immune system) are very strong, the tonsils will atrophy. But, I don't EVER see this anymore because our children aren't healthy." My youngest daughter had had SO many ear infections before we began milling our own grains and making 100% freshly milled bread. We went from $1688.00 on myself and my 2 girls (my husband's rarely sick!), to NO doctor and drug bills, literally, overnight. What did we change? Only one thing; we began milling our own flour and I put sandwich bread from it on the table at every meal. From people who knew us, who saw the change in our health is how my classes were born. People wanted to know "WHAT did you do?.

The testimonies we have received from others who have begun milling grains and making their own bread are astounding. There really IS truth for our health in this way of baking.

I have a cookbook, instructional videos to help you get started if you feel intimidated. There IS help for you, if you need it!

Hope this helps. I will do all I can to get you off on the right path!

In the service of the King of Kings,

Beth ºÜº
Bread Lady

PS Feel free to visit my website and "check me out"!

My experience with the K-Tec Kitchen Champ and the DLX Assistant By Therese S. – February 2002

After reading the article titled “Our Daily Bread” by Sue Becker, I became very interested in home0milled and home-baked bread for my family. A friend suggested I contact Beth Holland, the “Bread Lady”, in Athens, Georgia. Beth answered my (many) questions and provided a wealth of information, not only about the process milling and baking at home, but also about the nutrition value of fresh milled flour. Before I dove in with both feet, however, I needed to be sure that I could devote the time to the periodic task of baking the bread. I borrowed a Whisper Mill, a K-Tec Kitchen Champ mixer (both about a year and a half old), some wheat, and other essentials from a good friend. I headed home with recipe in hand and was ready to give this bread thing a try.

The bread making process was very simple. The Whisper Mill produced beautiful whole-wheat flour. I mixed the ingredients for four loaves (the limit in the Champ) with about half of the fresh milled flour, and after several minutes added the remaining flour until the dough began to pull away from the side of the bowl. As I poured in the last of the flour and the dough stiffened, I noticed that the Champ mixer bowl was “wobbling” side to side as the dough moved around the bowl. With every rotation of the dough hooks, the bowl hit the blender, which is mounted adjacent to the mixing bowl. This was quite noisy, and I was fearful the machine might break! My husband commented as he saw it in action, “That will never last.”

The Champ has a convenient “auto-knead” feature that detects when the bread is kneaded sufficiently. The machine stopped after several minutes of kneading. Since I was planning to allow the dough to rise twice, I decided to leave the dough in the bowl. I quickly discovered, however, that the bowl is not big enough to allow the dough to rise to double in size. I had to transfer the dough to a large bowl to rise.

I noticed during the kneading that the dough got “wound” around the top of the dough hook. When I took the machine apart to clean it, I found that the dough had worked its way down around the center drive shaft. The dough was very difficult to clean out of the gear-like connection where the drive shaft and the dough hook come together. The drive shaft, which is made of plastic, was also showing signs of wear. My friend told me that the shaft had broken once, and she had replaced it. She explained that the shaft is designed to break, so that the motor will not be damaged under a heavy load.

Again, I went to Beth with more questions! She shared information about different mixers and her own personal experience, all of which was very helpful to us in making a decision. After my husband and I considered all the options, we decided to purchase a DLX Assistant. We wanted a mixer that would be easy to use, handle a large amount of dough (so I could make many loaves at once), and last a very long time. We felt sure the DLX was that mixer.

The DLX is one solid machine! From the size of the bowl to the strength of the motor (big enough to handle 9 loaves worth of whole-wheat dough), it is impressive. It mixes with ease and kneads without straining – and it is surprisingly quiet. It has a roller and scraper, which work the dough as the bowl is turned from below. The variable speed motor allows you to mix as fast or as slow as you please. The timer allows you to set the machine in motion, let it knead for the desired time, and leave it in the bowl to rise. Clean up is a breeze – the bowl, roller, and scraper wash clean with ease. The three-year warranty speaks well of its quality. It is exactly what we were hoping for: a machine that makes it easy to provide home-
milled, home-baked bread in large quantities with the minimum time commitment.

Though my experience with mixers is limited, I can recommend the DLX with great confidence. I know we will be using it for many years to come.

I thank God for Beth! She has a passion for truth and has a wealth of Knowledge. She is truly a “bread evangelist!”

Therese S.