Tips For Kneading Dough In A Mixer

baking basics

If the thought of hand kneading dough has put you of making bread, have you considered kneading dough in a mixer.

A stand mixer does all the hard work for you and is not as messy as kneading by hand. But there are a few things that you should consider.

Check the mixers instruction manual to be certain that bread dough can be mixed in the machine, as not every machine is powerful enough to do this.

1. Can Your Machine Handle Bread Dough?

This single bent, spiral or curved attachment is supplied with most stand mixers.

2. Use The Dough Hook

The dough hook has been designed specifically for dough and works the dough something like hand kneading.

If you are using your stand mixer for the first time to make bread dough, I recommend keeping an eye on it as it kneads.

3. Don’t Walk Away From The Mixer

Because, some machines especially if they are light weight or don’t have suction cap feet can “walk” when kneading.

As a general rule, it can take between 5 - 10 minutes depending on capabilities of the machine and the speed setting you are using.

4. Kneading Dough In A Mixer is Quicker Than You Think

Ultimately, you should be checking the progress of the dough structure during kneading, it will “tell you” when to stop.

At the start of the kneading the dough will look lumpy and wet and will stick to the sides of the bowl.

5. When To Stop Kneading

As the kneading progresses the dough will pull together and become smoother in texture and will not stick as much.

At this stage you can do a simple test that will show you if the dough is ready, it’s called the windowpane.

When using a stand mixer, dough can quite easily over worked. Over kneaded dough is hard to push and flatten and won’t meld to itself when folded.

6. Avoid Over Kneading

So, check the progress of the dough with the windowpane test and when it passes the test it has been kneaded enough.

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