In article <a40efaf4-14fa-41b8-9f13-
>,
says...
> 1. Is there a formula for translating mixing times to an approximate
> equivalent of hand-kneading time? I've been trying to follow
> Hamelman's recipies to the letter, (especially those that use an
> Autolyse technique) only without the benefit of a mixer, I'm usually
> stabbing in in the dark trying to guess how to keep my dough properly
> hydrated and not over-kneaded.

I have NEVER seen anyone overknead their dough by hand. As to formulas,
no. You need to evaluate the dough's development and work on the dough
until it is properly developed.

In teaching a good number of baking classes I find that many people have
no idea how to effectively knead dough, but that they are sure they are
doing it the right way. I also find people who think they can't knead
dough because of physical ailments. In classes, I find if I can get
them to listen, I can get them to knead effectively.

I put together some videos on kneading and they are online at
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/kneadingconverting.html In general, I find
that most breads are done being kneaded in about 15 minutes, of which 10
minutes is actual kneading time.

However, kneading is just one way to develop dough. I also like the
stretch and fold technique, which I show at
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/stretchandfold.html A quick warning - both
of these are LARGE pages with lots of videos on them. If you have a
slow connection, get some coffee. Or a faster connection.

> 2. When using an autolyse stage, what is your bare minimum amount of
> incorporation to enable the autolyse to do its job? Either I get
> overzealous at this stage and end up with a clumpy, partially-kneaded
> ball of dough, or my autolyse seems too dry to actually begin any
> gluten development. (And I just had a thought...is it advisable to do
> an autolyse at all when kneading by hand?)

I have no trouble doing an autolyse by hand. However, I make my
autolyse at 100% hydration, take care to make sure all the flour has
been wetted, and only let about 1/3 of the recipe's flour go through the
autolyse. I'm not entirely convinced that an autolyse adds anything to
the bread when you are using sourdough.

>
> Finally:
> Next paycheck, I'm investing in a mixer since I want to return to
> making bread with some level of consistency. Is there any reason to
> get anything fancier than the Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer that's on
> sale just about everywhere right now? I'll primarily use it for bread
> and probably for some other pastries, but that's about it.

I strongly suggest learners knead by hand until they have a good idea of
what the dough should feel like, and how it feels as it develops. From
your comments, I don't think you are there yet.

As to mixers, there are consistent reports here that the new KitchenAid
mixers are not as well made as the older ones. I have an ancient
KitchenAid and am very happy with it. I've seen, and heard, newer ones
and would not own one. Most of the tales of woe about KitchenAid mixers
are from people who didn't read the instruction manual.

The manual gives you three pieces of relevant information. How many
cups of flour the mixer can safely mix into dough. That if you are
using any flour other than white flour, the load limit is cut in half.
And that you may only knead for a certain length of time, do only so
many batches back to back, and that the mixer needs to rest after that
many batches for a certain length of time.

Usually, the people who have mixers die are making their 4th batch of
bread back to back, making whole wheat bread, and the size of the batch
is about 3x the maximum white flour load. Yes, there are people who are
doing it by the book who have problems, but not many of them.

Still, the load limits on the KitchenAid mixers are not very large. The
largest mixer will let you use 14 cups of white flour. This is about 6
pounds of dough. If you want to make a whole grain, or partially whole
grain, bread, you need to cut that in half, to about 3 pounds. You're
taking up a lot of kitchen counter space to make 2 to 4 loaves of bread.

The fundamental issues faced by the KitchenAid mixer is that it is using
a variable speed motor and asking it to deliver maximum torque at low
speed. This issue is shared by the Viking, DeLonghi and Kenwood mixers.
They may be better engineered (though I once saw Bobby Flay and Emiril
trying to get the bowl off of a Viking mixer without success. They
wound up picking the machine up and pouring the contents of the bowl
out). If you are selecting a mixer for making bread, I think the two
best contenders are the Electrolux and Bosh mixers. Having owned both,
I think the Bosch heats the dough too much. I sold mine on eBay. I
still have my Electrolux and would not willingly be parted from it.

Mike