Ankarsrum new user
HI Everyone,
Just joined and hope someone can help me get started with my new Ankarsrum mixer.
I'm a kitchenaid refugee (30 years of use) and given the total junk they've become I made the switch when my machine finally died.
Having a little challenge with the learning curve on this new unit.
Using the roller and scraper combo when doing bread dough.
How much do you tighten down the arm? When I have it full tight the arm won't move when I push it. Too tight?
If I don't tighten it that much then it just bounces around the bowl and doesn't do anything to the dough.
So I went to the dough hook, the dough wants to crawl up the arm and get into the attaching arrangement.
Been watching YouTube for days and no one says anything about tight vs. loose.
Looked for a decent manual with no luck.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
You can find a lot of information by clicking THIS LINK.
I leave mine loose, unless I have a lot of dough, then I tighten it so that when the dough squeezes between the roller and the side of the bowl it does not get squeezed over the top of the mixing bowl. It may not look like the roller is doing much , but it is. By way of reference, I autolyze for 1 hour ( usually 100% home milled wheat ) and then mix in the starter and salt for a minute or so, then turn up the speed to knead and it is done in 3 to 4 minutes.
THANK YOU!
I just bought my new Ankarsrum, have a lot of questions, when you do autolyse, do you take the roller/scraper out and then cover the bowl? or do you leave them in the bowl and not cover the bowl? I took them out and had a hard time putting them back because of the rough dough in the way. just wanted to know how you do your autolyse
when you turn up the speed, how high is the speed you use? thanks
HI,
I usually only use the scraper to get the ingredients "mostly" together. Just enough that most of the flour will be incorporated, take it out and cover.
That way I can get it back in and stick the dough hook in. This has worked well for me. I don't use the roller a lot for the mid-hydration doughs I make.
3 is about as high as I go.
Hope this helos
thank you
I have done it either way. If you want to keep the roller and scraper attached, see if you can find a shower cap that will fit over the bowl and the rear of the machine. IIRC, I did that a few times.
Am confident you will love your new mixer with just a short period of adjustment.
First, you might add ingredients in a different order than you have previously done, you can see this in some of the manufacturer's videos.
Second, an autolyse will reduce mixing time and make the dough much more supple for the roller or hook.
Third, be patient and do a careful reading of the manual, (is your machine new?) and hope there is one on the Ankarsrum site if not? Note there is a suggested distance for the clearance between the roller and bowl. Try 1.5 inches to start with. It will vary depending on how dense and wet the dough is. More clearance the denser and dryer.
The arm should swing toward the center of bowl with a light pull. Don't worry about locking it like a vise.
If you are doing a reasonably high hydration straight dough, use the dough hook, but add water, yeast or starter first and gradually add the flour. When the dough is too dry or stiff, it will indeed climb around on the hook or roller. But this is not a fault of the machine, it just requires a slight adaptability on your part. A KA doesn't teach you any of these things, you have a different and better tool that you will love, but be flexible in how you go forward in your mixing compared to the KA. You will love how it is quiet and powerful, speed is easily adjusted and the timer is well thought out as well.
You have a lot of enjoyment to look forward to. Let us know of your victories.
Great information, thank you so much. I know I'm going to love this machine. I looked at a lot of youtube videos before it arrived so I would have some idea of how to operate it.
I am adding most of the liquid first. Yep it is a totally different process from using a KA for 30 years!
My arthritis has gotten to a point where I really can't hand knead anymore, so gonna give this puppy a real good work out. I bake all the bread for our house and always have.
Appreciate your help.
Sometimes I just use stretch and fold and then I don’t need this machine.
But a other great advantage is that when it is mixing/kneading you can do all kind of other stuff.
The timer functions is very handy for that.
Recently i make cake batter with it and the. The timer is also bery handy.
The cake turned out perfectly.
JC, I agree with the others, this should soon be your favorite appliance. For long time KA users, it is a little bit of a learning curve, but I think you will catch on very quickly.
What I've learned this week:
1. I'm impatient
2. I'm impatient
3. my primarily lower hydration recipes (50-60%) require more fiddling when trying to use the roller/scraper
4. it takes longer to knead with the roller/scraper than I thought it would (switched it over to the hook & that seemed to finish the knead) did I say I was impatient?
5. I know I am going to love this machine, at some point
Glad to hear you are making bread and fiddling. Never stop experimenting, that's how we all learn. Maybe you will try a different hydration and soon will be taking on new recipes and loving the results? Go for it!
I know I should try "wetter" doughs to get the hang of the machine. These are all recipes I've baked for well over 30 years. A couple are from my great-grandmother and others from grand-mothers. So family heritage things.
Still experimenting+++++++ thanks for the encouragement
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I did it, 2nd batch same as the first. Thank you everyone for the help and support
Looks nice and thanks for the update. Many use the search feature and read every thread they can find here on a machine before they decide what to buy, and whether it was positive or negative, the follow up post can be really helpful to someone on the fence.
Reading reviews is a big part of making decisions esp. expensive ones like this.
This is great forum with tons of info to help bakers at all levels.
I'm busily converting my heirloom recipes and having good luck doing that.
Reworking them to include a Poolish which is one reason for the success. Additional hydration has been the trick, at least for me.
I have a stiff poolish dough recipe, how and when do you add it to the mixer? I know for the soft poolish you just add to the water, but what about the stiff kind (pretty much like a high-hydration dough), when and how do you add it to the main dough ingredients?
We didn't have to wait long for you to show us your success. And it will get better.
How long before you see someone on here who hasn't quite gotten the hang of their shiny new Ankarsrum?
Am sure you will be able to tell them how it only took a slight adjustment for you and the loaves turned out beautifully.
Congrats! Well Done!
I am a very determined old bat. What I am not showing you is the incredibly fat squirrels who have been chowing down on the failures.