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I don't do either. I put the ingredients in a bowl, and mash and mix it together with a wooden spoon. When it's ready to knead, I take it out of the bowl into a huge plankwood cutting board, and knead it by hand. Making breads is a labor of love for me, one of the few "bastions of tradition" that I won't break. No machine can match the quality of hand-crafted bread.
I purchased a bread machine years ago when they were all the rage and even though I counted the minutes until I had one of my own, I think I used it only a dozen times. My Viking mixer, however, gets used at the very least on a weekly basis. It does a great job at kneading bread dough along with tons of other uses. If bread making is something you do often, invest in a powerful mixer that will use much more frequently.
^^^Same here. Used it once.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
I don't do either. I put the ingredients in a bowl, and mash and mix it together with a wooden spoon. When it's ready to knead, I take it out of the bowl into a huge plankwood cutting board, and knead it by hand. Making breads is a labor of love for me, one of the few "bastions of tradition" that I won't break. No machine can match the quality of hand-crafted bread.
Me too, make it by hand, knead it (great work out for the upper arms)
I don't do either. I put the ingredients in a bowl, and mash and mix it together with a wooden spoon. When it's ready to knead, I take it out of the bowl into a huge plankwood cutting board, and knead it by hand. Making breads is a labor of love for me, one of the few "bastions of tradition" that I won't break. No machine can match the quality of hand-crafted bread.
My breads actually improved after using the Assistent. I also hate working with rye doughs by hand. The dough is some of the stickiest stuff known to mankind.
I never had any problems with my Oster Kitchen Center and bread dough. Unfortunately, Oster seems to have discontinued the product. Mine finally needed a repair and there are no parts available any more.
I've got the kitchen aid mixer but have not tried it for bread dough. It just doesn't seem to be all that strong. It even whines about chocolate chip cookie dough, so I would expect a protest over bread dough.
I've got a bread machine, but the shape of the loaf is not good. It does an excellent job of kneading and rising. Maybe get the bread machine and take the dough out before it bakes and move it to a bread pan and bake it in the oven.
I never had any problems with my Oster Kitchen Center and bread dough. Unfortunately, Oster seems to have discontinued the product. Mine finally needed a repair and there are no parts available any more.
I've got the kitchen aid mixer but have not tried it for bread dough. It just doesn't seem to be all that strong. It even whines about chocolate chip cookie dough, so I would expect a protest over bread dough.
I've got a bread machine, but the shape of the loaf is not good. It does an excellent job of kneading and rising. Maybe get the bread machine and take the dough out before it bakes and move it to a bread pan and bake it in the oven.
My loaves usually come out nicely shaped out of my machine.
I don't do either. I put the ingredients in a bowl, and mash and mix it together with a wooden spoon. When it's ready to knead, I take it out of the bowl into a huge plankwood cutting board, and knead it by hand. Making breads is a labor of love for me, one of the few "bastions of tradition" that I won't break. No machine can match the quality of hand-crafted bread.
That's great, since you are physically able. Not everyone is.
The mixer has actually improved the quality of my dough.
I've got the kitchen aid mixer but have not tried it for bread dough. It just doesn't seem to be all that strong. It even whines about chocolate chip cookie dough, so I would expect a protest over bread dough.
Bread dough is a different thing...the cookie dough is sticky and thick and you mix it at a higher speed than you would ever use a bread hook.
Here's a good dough recipe to get you started if you want to try it with the KA.
2/3 c warm water
1 tbsp instant yeast
1/2 c warm milk
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
4 cups flour
Throw it all into the KA bowl. Attach dough hook. Mix on lowest setting until dough comes together. Turn up to 2, knead for 4 or 5 minutes or until dough looks smooth. Let dough rise until doubled, about 30 minutes if it's warm in your kitchen, longer if it's not.
Makes 2 or 3 dozen small rolls, or 8 hamburger buns, or 2 14" pizza crusts, or will cover about 45 cocktail sausages for pigs in a blanket. If you're making rolls or buns, let the dough rise again after it is shaped, then bake at 350 for about 18 minutes. If you're making pizza, bake at 450 on a pizza stone for 9 or 10 minutes.
I gave away my bread machine as soon as I got my mixer. I could only use the bread machine for breads and since I never used it to actually bake the breads, just make the dough, it was basically being used as a single function mixer. I use my stand up mixer several times a week whereas I used my bread machine 1-2x a month. Big difference to me and they take up the same amount of space.
All that being said, I think bread machines are usually cheaper, especially since people like me get rid of them. So if you only want/need it for bread dough? Then go for the bread maker since it times it out and does the rise cycles. But if you think that you'd like a mixer for cakes or cookies or anything else? Then go with the stand up mixer and save yourself the trouble and expense of having to make a second purchase shortly down the road.
Just wanted to add another thought, lots of bread recipes can be made in a food processor. If you think you would use that more than a mixer (like if you aren't much of a baker but you use a lot of veggies) it might make more sense to go with a food processor instead of the other two options. Sorry if that makes the decision more complicated, you can totally ignore this if you'd like.
I only occasionally use my bread machine for dough. I make at least two loaves of bread in it a week. Takes about 10 minutes to throw the ingredients in (I add seeds), press buttons and 5 hours later I have a healthy bread and I know exactly what is in it.
I never had any problems with my Oster Kitchen Center and bread dough. Unfortunately, Oster seems to have discontinued the product. Mine finally needed a repair and there are no parts available any more.
I've got the kitchen aid mixer but have not tried it for bread dough. It just doesn't seem to be all that strong. It even whines about chocolate chip cookie dough, so I would expect a protest over bread dough.
I've got a bread machine, but the shape of the loaf is not good. It does an excellent job of kneading and rising. Maybe get the bread machine and take the dough out before it bakes and move it to a bread pan and bake it in the oven.
When my husband and were looking at buying a mixer for the main purpose of mixing and kneading bread doughs, we pretty much immediately ruled out any Kitchen Aid manufactured in the last 30 years. They just don't have the proven ability to deal with large batches of sticky or low hydration doughs.
Honestly, I highly recommend an Electrolux Assistent. It is belt driven. You can see of a vid of how it takes bagel dough to school on YT:
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