On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:35:38 -0800, Roy wrote:

> Any baker who has considerable experience in dough preparation be he
> a hobbyist or a professional can recognize at what level of dough
> development has been attained It is not easy to explain this to a
> beginner

I am aware that there are baking enthusiasts who are able to derive
therapeutic benefits from _feeling_ a sticky mess turn into an elastic
dough. Regrettably, I do not have what it takes. So I have to make
do with a dough hook and appearances.

Also, I am suspicious of advice based on experience with manipulating
large quantities of dough (and its predecessors). The material handling
problems of large quantities of dough are irrelevant in a kitchen and
the needed temperature controls are different.

So I start to sit up when I read of:

giving 1000 rotations with a dough hook; the first third at low
speed and the other two thirds at a higher speed.

That information would be even more interesting if it related to a
Kenwood Chef and not a Kitchen Aid mixer - since I own one of the
former and the latter is probably not available in Australia.

> For a varied explanation but dedicated to artsanal baking using a
> specimen of a french bread 'The Taste of Bread by Raymond Calvel. Here
> calvel have a different idea how a bread dough should be mixed . He is
> partial that the dough should be only be mixed nearly half developed
> and no more.
>

I suspect that I have already been following his advice routinely.

And not from choice. I may have taken too seriously the possibility of
irreversible degradation of the dough caused by overmixing.

Thank you for the prompt response to my query.

Felix Karpfen

--
Felix Karpfen
Public Key 72FDF9DF (DH/DSA)