KitchenAid Accolade / Artisan Mixer Tip - Use Speed 3
Just putting this out there in case it helps anyone else...
I've always had trouble making good bread in my KitchenAid Accolade (similar to the Artisan). Bread was crumbly with poor gluten development. I tried mixing longer (20-30 minutes) and saw some improvement. But the biggest improvement came when I used Speed 3 instead of the recommended Speed 2. This is fast enough to knock the dough off the J hook where it gets stuck and just spins on Speed 2. On Speed 3 it actually kneads the dough and gets the gluten well developed after 8-10 minutes. The spiral hook is not available for this model, which may help the bigger KitchenAid work better in this respect.
For a basic 2 lb loaf, the recipe is:
- 20 oz flour
- 13 oz water
(mix together until just combined, rest 20-30 min)
- 2.5 tsp year
- 1 tsp salt
- 2-3 tbsp honey (optional)
- 2-3 tbsp butter (optional)
(add above, mix on speed 3 for 8-10 minutes, rise 1 hour, shape and rise in pan for 1 hour, bake at 350 F for 35 minutes)
I took your advice and used speed 3 for today's bake.
When the dough is still coming together, speed 3 flings ingredients out of the bowl. Speed 2 works best until a dough ball starts to form. Once a dough ball has formed, the gluten indeed seems to develop better and more quickly on speed 3. I think there's something to this advice; thanks for posting it.
I saw in some KA documentation that you want to run at speed 2 or higher because the fan turns faster and does a better job of cooling the motor.
I'm using a Hobart-era KA bowl-lift mixer with a spiral dough hook.
Yes - good point! You should start the mixing on speed 1 or 2 and then move up to 3 once it's all sticking together.