Kneading dough by machine

[cr56f]

I'm new to the site. I have kneaded my whole wheat with honey sandwich bread by hand for the last 6 months. I live alone, no family, no entertaining etc. I make two loafs a week and its alright. But I am wondering if I would get a better loaf if I did it in a food possessor or a mixer to knead them with which I am thinking about buying one for that purpose. I would like a variety of points of view on if I would get better texture, rise etc with a machine. If you got an opinion and have done all three ways on which one please tell me why you like doing kneading with a possessor, mixer or by hand. Is one style better for one application or bread type over another? How many people do it by hand now of days? I wonder by not seeing it done on TV that doing it by hand is out of date these days. I could not find anything on the Internet on this subject.

Thanks in advance
“Nash”

 

[justplainbill]

Welcome to DC, Nash.
We knead by hand because we have a small kitchen with little room to spare for another machine. We often make and freeze batches of bread that are too big for most non-commercial machines.

 

[Rocklobster]

I've kneaded with a large Hobart for years. And by hand at home. Kneading by machine would be a lot easier. It will also cut down on your kneading time. Be careful that you don't over knead. It is easy to do.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I knead all bread by hand, even though I have a lovely mixer with a dough hook...I just like playing with my food.

 

[FrankZ]

I don't think the stand mixer makes better bread, it does make it a lot easier. I will say it also helps with consistency. (Some people might not think that is a bonus).

If you enjoy kneading by hand then there is no reason to change. If you would like to make it easier then the stand mixer works a treat. I have not tried the FP for bread dough.

 

[Selkie]

For those of us with arthritic hands, the stand mixer with dough hook is a real blessing!

 

[Andy M.]

I make bagels using a KA mixer. I make pie crust dough using a FP. I make pasta (poorly) kneading by hand.

 

[Bigjim68]

I knead all my bread in my bread machine. Haven't used it to bake bread in years, but it does a good job on the dough cycle
Often I mix a loaf at night and start the machine. In the morning you have dough, form a loaf and bake.

 

[Katie H]

I've had a bread machine for over 10 years and have yet to use it to actually "make" bread in it. I use exclusively to knead my dough. Mainly because I have arthritis in my hands and kneading is a killer. Also, it frees me up to do other things as the dough is being kneaded.

Out of curiosity I spoke with some of the resident bakers at King Arthur Flour and they told me that they felt a bread machine did a far better job of kneading than any other kitchen machine. I can't dispute that.

I used to enjoy kneading yeast dough, but good old "Arthur" has put the lid on that. I'm just happy I have my trusty bread machine to do the work for me now.

 

[magdelinewest]

Well it definitely comes out more even for one thing. It's quicker. But then again you'll be missing out on the exercise. LOL

 

[pigskins]

I'm late to the party, but thought I would jump in anyway. I've recently started getting into bread and roll making. We've had a bread machine for many years and it got a lot of use when we first bought it. It was great to add ingredients, set the timer, and wake up to a house filled with that wonderful aroma. As the kids got older and schedules got busier, the bread machine sat on a shelf. Now, I have been using it much more frequently to make/knead dough for bread, rolls, and pizza. I like it because I can "set it and forget it" to go do other things for an hour or so, then come back and take care of the rest.

 

[CharlieD]

I've done it both ways by hand and my stand up mixer. I do not see the difference in the dough quality. It is easier to use machine.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

I'm one of the oddballs I guess. I barely knead my dough at all. I bring it together into a shag, and then knead it just enough to form a ball. I let it rise, punch it down with one or two knead motions, and then either allow it to rise again for bread or roll/stretch it out for pizza.

This produces a fine-crumb sandwich bread similar to Pepperidge Farms (but with that fresh baked flavor/aroma and crust!). I find that working this consistency dough out into a thin, almost translucent pizza also develops enough gluten to provide a stable and chewy crust.

I also find my method to be demonstrably faster than using our stand mixer for even double or triple batches (especially when you factor in clean-up). The first third of the flour is whisked into the liquids to form a thick, uniform "batter". The final 2/3 of the flour is then added and mixed/folded in with a dinner fork until all the flour is taken up. Then it just requires a dozen or so kneading motions to form a ball with the "shag". No opening/closing the mixer to scrape down the bowl, no washing parts other than a fork and mixing bowl, and done my way you get little or no dough on your hands.

 

[taxlady]

I'm one of the oddballs I guess. I barely knead my dough at all. I bring it together into a shag, and then knead it just enough to form a ball. I let it rise, punch it down with one or two knead motions, and then either allow it to rise again for bread or roll/stretch it out for pizza.

This produces a fine-crumb sandwich bread similar to Pepperidge Farms (but with that fresh baked flavor/aroma and crust!). I find that working this consistency dough out into a thin, almost translucent pizza also develops enough gluten to provide a stable and chewy crust.

I also find my method to be demonstrably faster than using our stand mixer for even double or triple batches (especially when you factor in clean-up). The first third of the flour is whisked into the liquids to form a thick, uniform "batter". The final 2/3 of the flour is then added and mixed/folded in with a dinner fork until all the flour is taken up. Then it just requires a dozen or so kneading motions to form a ball with the "shag". No opening/closing the mixer to scrape down the bowl, no washing parts other than a fork and mixing bowl, and done my way you get little or no dough on your hands.

I'm going to have to give your method a try. I'm not fond of kneading dough for 10 minutes at a time. My stand mixer is way too wimpy to do it. I have two food processors. One is on its last legs and the other doesn't have a big enough bowl. So your method sounds perfect.

I used to bake bread all my bread when I lived in a log cabin. I didn't much like kneading the dough for prolonged periods then, but I was younger and more energetic I would love to start baking bread again.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

1-C Warm Water
1-T Yeast
1-T Honey
1/4-C Olive Oil

1-T Kosher Salt (Morton Coarse, Much less if using Diamond)
3-C All-Purpose Unbleached Flour

Bring the wet together as above. Add the first cup of flour and salt and whisk it to uniform consistency. Ditch the whisk, and bring in the last two cups with a fork, scraping the sides of the bowl, folding/cutting etc. Ditch the fork, and then bring all the shags and any remaining flour together by hand until you get a ball that is fairly uniform. I do this by kneading a little bit, and rubbing the whole ball around in the bowl to pick up anything stuck to the walls. This step takes about 30 seconds once you get good at it - maybe a minute or two if you've never done it (nowhere near the recommended 10 minutes).

Lightly rub another bowl with oil, and roll the ball in it. Wrap the bowl with a damp flour-sack towel. For rising, I warm my oven up a bit by setting it to 350ºF for a minute or two, then I shut it off (use your judgement here by sticking your hand in and feeling the warmth). Put the covered bowl in for an hour.

I punch it down and knead it a couple times, then the next step depends on what you're making. I always use my pizza peel though. If making bread, I put some cornmeal on the peel, put the ball on the corn meal, and cover with a damp towel. I let it rise while my pizza stone and oven heat up to 375ºF for another hour.

For pizza (this recipe makes two large thin-crusts), I just roll it out with a pin, and then finish stretching and forming the crust by picking it up by the edge and allowing the weight of the dough to stretch itself. This takes some practice. I don't start rolling the pizzas out until my oven and stone have fully pre-heated to 550ºF.

-----

Maybe I'll post some pics later, as it's a bread day for us and I'm baking a boule tonight.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

copied and pasted...I called it "Mosher Bread"

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

PrincessFiona60 - Haha... I told my wife tonight her dinner (a BLT) features Mosher Bread. I got a look...

A quick photo of what the above recipe should yield when making a Boule.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

A quick note - the bread should be left to rest until it's warm or cool, at least 30 minutes. Without the rest, the interior can stick to the blade due to the moisture and heat.

EDIT: I'll be making some pizza tomorrow, so I'll post a photo of that too.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

PrincessFiona60 - Haha... I told my wife tonight her dinner (a BLT) features Mosher Bread. I got a look...

A quick photo of what the above recipe should yield when making a Boule.

That looks wonderful! If I ever get my act together and get my recipes formatted, I have all my DC recipes credited to their creators. This will be an heirloom book for my Grandkids.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

Thanks! Despite being in my 20's (late 20's), I have begun archiving descriptions, photos, and recipes as well. My grandparents never wrote down their recipes, and it took me a long time to replicate just two that I enjoyed as a child (based on memory). I'd like to someday make a nice book and have a local printing company run a few dozen copies for my friends and family.

Pizza Pizza! (Utilizing the above recipe)...