Stand Mixer Style: Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine Stand Mixer
Our Reviewer Rating: 4.7 / 5.0
Brand: Bosch
Amazon Rating: 4.7 out of 5 Stars with 762 Reviews
Model Number: MUM6N10UC
Best Used For: Consumer High End Use
Summary
Do you, your significant other, or family member love to bake? Are you considering a new, upgraded, or replacement stand mixer? Are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone who loves to bake those quadruple batches of cookies or bread dough? You’ve come to the right place here at The Cook’s Measure. If getting the baker in your life a new powerful mixer like this Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer isn’t quite what you’re after, be sure to check out our gift guide for women who bake for even more ideas.
As you’ll see in our review, the Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine is a home baker’s stand mixer dream for making big batches of any recipe. With a much larger than average bowl and a significantly stronger motor than most other high-end consumer mixers, the Bosch mixer will plow easily through double and triple cookie, brownie, cake, or bread batches. You also have access to a wide range of attachment add-ons for expanding the tasks you can accomplish with a single small kitchen appliance.
If you’re looking to replace or upgrade an older, finicky, or lower-powered stand mixer, Bosch’s Universal Plus mixer has become a popular choice, especially among KitchenAid users wanting to move to a mixer with more power and bowl capacity. While its Best Seller Rating of #76 doesn’t seem high in Stand Mixers, many people never get past all the KitchenAid mixers in 10 colors to look at Bosch models.
I suspect as that changes, Bosch will gain quite a few more fans. Of their existing buyers, they have a very solid 4.7 Stars Amazon rating with 762 reviews, and several reviewers specifically mentioned shifting from a KitchenAid to a Bosch for their bread baking mixer.
| Power and Mixer Speeds: |  (4.8 / 5) |
| Capacity: |  (5.0 / 5) |
| Quality and Durability: |  (4.5 / 5) |
| Versatility of Add-Ons: | (4.8 / 5) |
| Overall Value: | (4.8 / 5) |
| Busy Family Cooks: |  (4.7 / 5) |
| Couples Who Entertain: | (4.7 / 5) |
| Cooks Working Outside Home: | (4.5 / 5) |
| Cooks Who Cook for One or Two: |  (3.7 / 5) |
| Cooking Enthusiasts or Pros: | (4.5 / 5) |
- Summary
- What Do You Get in the Universal Plus Stand Mixer?
- Pros and Cons of The Universal Plus Stand Mixers
- Versatility of Use
- What Buyers Say About Bosch’s Universal Plus Stand Mixers
- Who Should Buy This Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer
- Who Shouldn’t Buy This Bosch Stand Mixer
- Accessories and Related Items
- Our Recommendation and Why
What Do You Get in the Universal Plus Stand Mixer?
The Bosch mixer comes with a plastic 6.5 Quart bowl that locks into place, and the bowl can handle up to 15 pounds of dough. You also get a full lid and splash ring, plus wire whips, a dough hook, bowl scraper, and cookie paddles. Everything centers around the metal driver, and the drive shaft is removable for easy cleaning.
And for those of you who hate “walking” mixers, the mixer has suction feet so it remains stationary and stable. Although this Bosch model MUM6N10UC is not a planetary mixer, the smaller Bosch Compact Mixer MUM4405 has a planetary gear system. (Wikipedia: How does a planetary mixing gear system help my mixer?)
While the powerful 800 Watt motor only comes with 4 main speeds, you also have access to the pulse function. Also this mixer has a lower low-speed and higher high-speed setting for more versatility.
And like other high-end stand mixers, Bosch offers a number of useful mixer attachments. In addition to the wire whips, cookie paddles, and dough hook, you can purchase these 11 stand mixer attachments.
- Bosch Food Processor Attachment
- Universal Citrus Juicer
- Food and Meat Grinder Attachment MUZ6FW4
- Bosch MUZ 7 FV1 Berry Press (for use with Meat Grinder)
- Dough Hook Extender for Universal Mixers (make smaller batches)
- Bosch MUZJRV1 Grating Attachment (nuts, spices, hard cheeses; for use with Meat Grinder)
- Bosch Blender (small blender)
- L’equip Flour Sifter Attachment MUZ6FS4 for the NEW Bosch MUM6N10 Kitchen Machine Mixer
- Bosch MUZ8NS1 Noodle Attachment (for use with Food and Meat Grinder)
- Large Slicer Shredder Attachment
- Bosch MUZ6ER2 Stainless Steel Bowl
I really like the Bosch add-ons like the food processor, grater, and slicer/shredder attachments because you can bypass your food processor for some common tasks. If you do small bread batches, for only a small loaf or two, you’ll find the dough hook extender a great attachment. And if you do a fair bit of blending in small quantities, you could nix your separate blender in many cases with the small blender add-on. However, if you want to use a full-size blender, I wouldn’t get the Bosch blender attachment.
It even has integrated cord storage, and since I like to keep my counters neat and free of cables all over the place, that’s a plus for me.
Pros and Cons of The Universal Plus Stand Mixers
Pros:
- The compact head area means that this mixer has a lower vertical footprint than other consumer mixers.
- The 6.5 Quart high volume mixing bowl is perfect for double and triple batches of bread, cookies, brownies, or other sweets. It’s larger than most any consumer brand’s mixing bowl and doughnut shaped for easier access. The Bosch Kitchen Machine is a workhorse dough mixer with breads and does well with wet dough, too.
- The Splash Ring Lid has a removable center that makes it easy to add ingredients to the mixing bowl, and also keeps softer ingredients from “poofing” out of the bowl at high speeds.
- The 800W motor is better for big jobs like bread dough mixing, quadruple batches of cookies, or candy-making that will bog down low powered consumer stand mixers. And if you’re worried about the high speeds causing your mixer to “walk” across the counter like some other brands, Bosch has added suction cups to keep your mixer stationary.
- This mixer model here has an included bowl scraper. Why do small appliance companies think we don’t need a bowl scraper, anyway? Bosch knows better and has included one with the mixer accessories sold in this particular combination of attachments.
Cons:
- The Kitchen Machine comes with fewer power settings, and some people like the extra levels between main speeds.
- Attachments, as you’ll find with any brand of stand mixer, are specifically designed for the Universal Plus Kitchen Machines, so if you’re used to trading your old KitchenAid attachments with friends, you’ll lose that. On the plus side, if you upgraded to a newer series KitchenAid, the older attachments often don’t work with those, either.
- Like many heavy duty mixers with large volume mixing bowls, very small batches of egg whites, whipping cream, or creaming of ingredients give this mixer some trouble due to the wide and deep bowl.
- This Bosch mixer, like many small kitchen appliances sold in the U.S., is only usable in North America where US Standard Voltages of 110-120V and 50-60 hertz are available. You can’t use it overseas, in Europe, etc. with 220V outlets.
- This mixer is a little bulky to wrap your arms around and while lighter than KitchenAids is still pretty awkward. If you have limited strength in your hands and arms, you may find it hard to move, which is fine if you leave on your countertop. So if the intended user is an elderly or disabled person, this could require a bit of help from another person when moving the mixer.
Versatility of Use
With the same variety of stand mixer attachments as you can find with a KitchenAid stand mixer, as well as the included wire whips, dough hook, splash ring and lid, cookie paddles, and bowl scraper, this mixer can handle a lot of tasks even beyond the heavy duty stand mixer tasks you plan to give it.
My favorite attachments of the ones listed above are the food processor, grater, and slicer/shredder. And the Meat Grinder is important for using some other attachments.
If you prefer using stainless steel bowls instead of plastic ones, you can get those as well.
What Buyers Say About Bosch’s Universal Plus Stand Mixers
Reviewers definitely like the extra power in this stand mixer over, for example, the 325W KitchenAid Artisan stand mixers, or the 575W KitchenAid Professional 600 Series.
The larger bowl with the wider access for adding ingredients is something reviewers also like, and they pretty much universally praise this heavy duty stand mixer for bread making over stand mixers by other major brands like KitchenAid, Cuisinart, and Hamilton Beach.
Other reviewers feel the mixer’s price is a little expensive for what is essentially a high-end, high-powered residential mixer. The plastic parts are also something they wish would be replaced. But as long as you realize this mixer is not a commercial-level stand mixer more like the KitchenAid Pro Line 7 Quart mixer and adjust your expectations accordingly, this really isn’t an issue.
And many purchasers are specifically moving over from KitchenAid mixers because they are tired of having to troubleshoot and repair or service their KitchenAids every year or two in some cases. Bosch, on the other hand, provides the Universal Plus mixer as their main stand mixer, and it’s a sturdy small kitchen appliance, with a special sealed oil transmission that Bosch says will extend its transmission lifetime quite a bit.
Who Should Buy This Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer
I know that most home bakers — and most well-equipped kitchens — have mixers already, but we often outgrow our kitchen appliances over time through wear and tear or growing beyond their limited capacity. If you or a family member or friend has ramped up your baking and bread making a lot over the years, you just might be craving a new, versatile, more powerful stand mixer. If you’re looking for an upgrade or replacement stand mixer for a baker in your life, this one is a good choice especially for bread making.
The higher wattage motor and larger bowl significantly add to the production capacity for bakers. And if you or your baker is a holiday baking fiend like the ones we have in our family, you’ll really appreciate the features in this mixer.
Who Shouldn’t Buy This Bosch Stand Mixer
Quite simply, if you’re not going to use the extra capacity, and don’t need the additional power, the only real advantage to this mixer is the attachments. But if you have many of those attachments for other mixer brands, you can’t use those on this mixer, so you’d have to buy them all over again.
It is kind of a toss-up there: buy a new mixer and have to get new attachments for your favorites, or replace an existing mixer with the same brand and model (which you might have outgrown a little) so you can use existing attachments. Keep in mind also that not all KitchenAid attachments, for example, work with different series or models, so you might be in the same boat with attempting to replace a current model.
It’s a bit expensive for a residential mixer, certainly not the cheapest stand mixer option, but if you want the best in consumer heavy duty stand mixers, are looking for quality baker gifts, or if you’re trying to replace the lower-powered and smaller capacity KitchenAid residential models, this may still be a solid choice for you.
Accessories and Related Items
Of all of the attachments for this stand mixer, I most recommend these.
- Dough Hook Extender (make smaller batches)
- Large Slicer Shredder Attachment
- Bosch MUZ6ER2 Stainless Steel Bowl
- Bosch MUZJRV1 Grating Attachment (nuts, spices, hard cheeses; for use with Meat Grinder)
You can also access the product manual and user guides at the Bosch website here.
Our Recommendation and Why
If you need to replace or upgrade a baker’s stand mixer, or are looking for a gift for a baker (especially bread bakers), what you’ll really like with the Universal Plus Kitchen Machine is the high volume bowl, very powerful motor, and Bosch attachments. You’ll get a solid high-end stand mixer that plows through the toughest tasks and will make your baking and dough making more efficient and enjoyable.
Amazon consistently has the best prices over department stores for stand mixers and small kitchen appliances. And of course the qualifying Amazon Free Shipping is nice, too. You’ve got to check out the Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine Stand Mixer.