There is a learning curve with anything new and the Electrolux is no exception. I was fortunate to have been at the King Arthur test kitchen and they showed me how to use the machine. Let's take the above items one at a time... 1.) I don't know what they are talking about with the height adjustment. I've never adjusted anything to do with height. The bowl sits on top of the motor so there's no motor head above the bowl to get in your way...hence nothing to "adjust". 2.) The assembly arm can't be "stiff". There is a knob on the side of the arm with large groves to make it easy to grasp...you just simply turn it one way to loosen and the other way to tighten. I have arthritis in both hands and can easily grasp the knob. It's large and if it's hard to move it's because you tightened it too much...operator error not the machine. 3.) The pin holding the attachments is solid SS (about 3" long with a little knobby thing at the top). I can't figure out for the life of me what could be hard to clean. It's a solid piece of SS for goodness sake. I've never had to do anything but wipe it down for a little bit of flour dust. There are NO grooves, crannies, etc. to catch any food particles on or in. It looks sorta like a gigantic SS nail. 4.) Assemble and disassemble...too much work? Huh? Preparing the mixer for use consists of the following: a.) put scaper arm in hole (this is again a solid piece of SS and just drops into a hole...how hard can that be?) b.) push the pin into the roller (wow, that's hard!) and that it...assembly complete...time required...maybe, 2 seconds. 5.) Creaming butter/sugar requires knowing how to use the machine. The Owner's Manual is quite good but sometimes folks don't really pay that much attention to Owner's Manual instructions. The roller adjusts from tight against the bowl to completely loose and floating. If the butter was getting caught on the scraper then the roller was not adjusted property...too loose...the roller should have been tighter against the bowl. If you go into using this machine expecting it to be a KA then you'll be frustrated. It works on a completely different design. It is, IMO, much superior for all mixing but it is extraordinarily superior for kneading bread dough. The roller acts like the palm of your hand in the kneading process. With each rotation of the bowl, the roller pushes the dough against the side of the bowl the same way in hand kneading you push the dough down against the table. You end up with a thoroughly kneaded dough that is silky smooth. My machine came with a separate mixing bowl and wire whip for doing egg whites. I've never used it. The Owner's Manual tells you that the roller does a better job but since most American's are used to the whip attachment they included one. I find the roller does a beautiful job on anything from a single egg to a couple dozen for angel food cakes. I especially think it does a great job with meatloaves. The roller is more gently than a hook and so you end up with a more tender meatloaf, meatballs, etc. Cookies...the Electrolux is so much better here it's almost funny. The roller does not beat so much air into the cookie dough so your cookies will not have that awful commercial texture even doing a triple batch loaded with chocolate and nuts. The speed control is excellent...it using a sliding knob that gives infinite control of the speed rather than separate speed zones. I've never needed a timer with more than 12 minutes. Six to eight minutes will perfectly knead even the heaviest of rye doughs. Capacity is huge at 22 cups. I'm not sure what else to address...if you have more questions, I'll try to answer...wish I could have you over for a slice of fresh, warm bread and show you how the machine works. I was so fortunate to live within driving distance of King Arthur.

Guess it depends on what kind of bread you are making. I very seldom brush a glaze on any of the breads I make. I just spray them with water while they are in the oven and also throw some ice cubes in to produce steam. But here are the suggestions for glazing from Baking 911. From Baking911 FOR YEASTED BREADS: After you turn on the oven to preheat, it is time to give some finishing touches. Use a clean, soft pastry brush to apply a thin coating. Here are some of my favorites. Glazing Before Baking: When applying a finishing touch before baking, be careful not to "glue" the loaf to the rim of the loaf pan or the baking sheet. This will make it difficult to remove the loaf from the pan after baking. If it does, use a sharp knife to the bread from the pan's sides if it does. Glazing After Baking: Transfer the loaf or rolls to a wire cooling rack, then apply the prepared finishing touch using a soft brush while the bread is still warm. This is done to add flavor to the bread and to soften the texture of the crust. GLAZES: Egg Wash: will give a shiny, golden look to the crust as well as make a harder crust. This is my favorite. Beat together 1 egg or 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon of water. (1 whole egg will impart more color because of the yolk.) Apply it right before baking. If you forget, you can brush your loaf five minutes before it's ready to come out of the oven. Egg White Wash - Seeded Breads: Poppy, caraway, sesame seed or rolled oats are eye-appealing and tasty toppings. Poppy seeds produce a crunchy and nutty flavor in the bread. Sesame seeds are small oval-shaped seeds of the sesamum family. They are pearly white in color and produce a rich, toasted nut flavor. Whisked egg whites make a great "glue" and are used to glue one piece of dough to another. This tip is from Robert who contributes to the Ask Sarah Message Board for Bakers on a regular basis: Take 1 or 2 large egg whites beaten with 1 teaspoon water and brush on the bread dough before baking. Let it set a second and then reapply and immediately sprinkle on your seeds. You could try patting the seeds down gently. The egg white wash acts as a glue. Butter: adds flavor and a nice brown soft crust to your bread. Brush top of loaf with about 2 tablespoons softened butter. Honey: gives it a soft, sweet, sticky dark brown crust to a sweet dough if a few tablespoons honey are brushed on top of a loaf before baking. For a soft, sweet, sticky crust, brush a baked, still-warm bread from the oven with honey. Milk: you'll get a slightly soft or tender crust, with a golden color if you brush loaves with warm milk before baking. For a slightly sweeter glaze, dissolve a little sugar in it. Olive Oil: adds flavor and makes a nice golden crust with a slight shine. Do so immediately before and after baking. Salted Water: makes for a light shine and crisp golden crust. Mix together 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons water. Brush on right before popping in the oven. Cornstarch Glaze: For a chewy crust with a sheen, brush the dough with a mixture of cornstarch and water that has been cooked until translucent and then cooled. Professional bakers also use this glaze. Combine 1/2 cup cold water and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. In a small saucepan, with a small whisk, stir together water and cornstarch. Heat mixture to a gentle boil. Stir, reduce heat, until mixture thickens and is translucent. Cool. Brush on loaf about 10 minutes before baking is finished and again 3 minutes before bread is completely done.

lpinkmountain - Cake flour is milled from soft wheat and is also bleached, which is one thing I avoid in flour (although King Arthur has a new unbleached cake flour available). Whole wheat pastry flour is also milled from soft wheat, but not so low in the protein as cake flour is. Using ALL cake flour (7.5-8.5% protein) would be a little too low in gluten for soda bread. I've seen soda bread recipes that use a portion of cake flour and all-purpose flour to lower the gluten level. Other flour choices would be Southern All-Purpose flours such as White Lily (which has always been the flour-of-choice for making biscuits for generations), Martha White, Gladiola, and Red Band. Yogurt is a good substitute for buttermilk because it is acid enough to react the soda in soda bread recipes, an acid ingredient is a MUST. Just give the yogurt a stir to liquefy it (which breaks up the curds), and you can add a little milk or water if you want to thin it a bit. In fact, yogurt (4.3-4.4 pH) is more acid than buttermilk 4.5-5.1 pH) - the lower the number the more acidic the food. Sour milk would also work, naturally soured or soured with lemon juice or vinegar. Powdered buttermilk is rather insipid, compared to commercial buttermilk. It just doesn't have that tangy flavor that is part of soda bread - BUT - if you want to use powdered buttermilk, you can use it to culture and make your own homemade buttermilk, and it will be nice and tangy like commercial buttermilk. How to: In a quart jar, place 1/2 c. buttermilk (commercial buttermilk or reconstituted buttermilk made from powdered buttermilk - according to package directions). Fill the remainder of the jar with regular milk. Stir well. Let stand in a warm place (at least 80°F - I place mine in the oven with the light on, as far from the light as possible). Leave the mixture until it clabbers - 12-18-hours. Stir when done and refrigerate. You can take a 1/2-cup of homemade buttermilk to culture your next (1-quart) batch of homemade buttermilk if you use it within two weeks. BTW - When making biscuits, once the liquid ingredients are added to the dry ingredients, keep mixing (by hand) to a bare minimum so you don't develop the gluten strands in the dough. I pat biscuit dough into a nice square with floured hands (no rolling pin) and then cut them into squares with a pizza cutter. When you cut biscuits into rounds, you have all that leftover dough which is balled up, patted out and cut again. Those biscuits are called "second cuts" and are generally more tough than first cuts because the gluten has been over-worked. So to save time and avoid second cuts, try cutting your biscuits into squares. -Grainlady

I think 2 tsps of salt should be enough...taste the dough and see what you think How about this recipe: I like to make them in the mornings for a breakfast roll too. I usually double the recipe using only 1/3 cup sugar in the doubled recipe. If you keep the dough for a week, punch it down every day or so. They are a great roll. Buttermilk Refrigerator Rolls 1 Package dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup melted butter 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon soda 2 cups buttermilk Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir in butter Combine dry ingredients; add to yeast mixture along with buttermilk. Stir well. Turn dough out on a floured surface, knead gently a few times and shape into a ball. Place in greased bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed. Keeps for one week. Break off a soft ball sized lump of dough and roll into a circle about 1/4" thick. Cut into pie shaped wedges and roll up from the wider edge into crescent shapes. You do not have to let them rise again. Bake on greased baking sheet at 400 for 8-10 minutes I'm glad you liked the rolls Emily. I'm about to make 300 of them for an upcoming event. I should have mentioned that the dough is very sticky after stirring. I scrape it onto my board and very gently knead in another 1/2 to 1 cup more flour. Just firm enough to handle. The flour is coating the outside of the gluten ball. Later, when punched down, I use enough flour to roll them out..it's actually more of a streching the ball into a flattish round. I try not to disturb the gluten sack. I do roll a bit, however. I'm not explaining it very well, but bread doughs can be managed by using flour on the outside and not incorporating it into the dough itself. This makes a lighter roll. Or these...just what we need at Thanksgiving...more butter but they are very VERY good. Julie Trussler's Butter Brite Rolls 2 pkg dry yeast 3 eggs 1/2 c warm water 1 t. salt 1 1/2 c. milk 4-6 cups flour 1/2csugar 1 1/2 c. butter softened Disolve yeast in warm water and add 1 t sugar and let rest until proofed. Add sugar milk and salt and beat in 3c flour , add eggs and another cup of flour and mix very well. Add enough more flour to make a soft dough and refrigerate 15 minutes. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 15 X 20 rectangle. Spread bottom 2/3 of the rectangle with 1/2 c of butter and fold top 1/3 over middle 1/3 and bottom 1/3 over all. Fold each end to the center and fold one more time. Refrigerate 30 minutes and repeat buttering and folding 2 more times. Refrigerate overnight ( Julie says.....but a couple of hours is enough) Makes crescent rolls dinner rolls and sweet rolls. Bake 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes depending on size. These are not yeast rolls...but very good. New England Biscuits with Cranberries and Rosemary 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces ½ cup dried cranberries 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, finely chopped 1 cup buttermilk 1 egg, lightly beaten Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Place the mixture in a large bowl. Stir in the cranberries, rosemary and buttermilk. Mix well. The dough will be sticky. Transfer to a floured work surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough 10 times or until smooth. Pat into a round about ½ inch thick. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter or drinking glass, cut out biscuits and place on the prepared pan. Gather the scraps and repeat until all the dough is used. Brush the biscuit tops with the beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool slightly.