FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Two questions about mixing and one about autolysing (all related)

Mike Avery

In article >,
says...
>
> "Mike Avery" > wrote in message ...
>
> > I have an ancient KitchenAid and am very happy with it.
> > I've seen, and heard, newer ones and would not own one.
>
> What do you suppose makes the new ones so bad as you imply?
> Could we get a little bit technical here, and lose the rumors?

A friend purchased a new KA to use in her bakery to mix icings and
frostings. Every time I heard her use it, the sound was awful - it
sounded like cheap bearings on the edge of failure. Will it continue to
run? Maybe.

> > Most of the tales of woe about KitchenAid mixers are from
> > people who didn't read the instruction manual.
>
> Does that mean they can be conditionally good?

Most of the "it died" stories I've heard are from people who made
multiple large batches of bread one after another. If you read the KA
manuals, you find out four things that are very relevant.

1. Each KA mixer has a maximum load size they don't want you to exceed.

2. If you use whole grain flours, the load size is cut in half.

3. You should let the mixer cool off for a certain length of time after
you make a certain number of back to back batches of dough.

4. You should only knead the dough for a certain number of minutes.

However, the load limits are somewhat suspect since they do not consider
the amount of liquid, just the amount of flour. I feel that bagel dough
is a much harder load than bread, which is a harder load than batter,
even if all three are made with the same amount of flour. Look at
professional mixer manuals and they'll rate the mixer for different
kinds of loads. As many egg whites as will fit in the bowl, lots of
cake better, less bread, much less pizza dough, still less bagel dough.

> Here is my main instruction for the K45:
> Don't try to mix thick dough, and let the head float in any
> case. Is that instruction in the manual? I don't think so.
> (For thick dough, mix thin or medium dough, and work
> in additional flour later, by hand.) (Or do all by hand.)

Good advice. Or buy a mixer that can handle the load.

Mike