mixing dough for the physically challenged
Hi all,
I recently discovered the joy of bread making from this site while I was out of work on medical leave. I was using my KitchenAid to mix the dough, but it is getting stressed with this chore and I'm afraid it will burn up if I continue to use it for this. In fact, I'm sure it will. It has gotten warm the last two times I've made bread dough. I'm still not working full-time so I can't afford a new mixer, though I've searched to see how much it will cost. Definitely won't buy a KA again.
So, my dilemma is this. . . my disease causes extreme muscle weakness, especially in the arms and legs. The weakness is so profound lifting a gallon of milk takes two hands, and even then is difficult. I haven't yet tried to mix dough without my KA, but think it will be incredibly difficult for me. Once I can figure out how to mix the dough, I'd use the stretch and fold for kneading. I'm a single mom of a 16-yo male who may help out sometimes, but not as often as I would like to keep us in bread.
This is all pretty depressing for me since I had just found the joy of homemade bread. I had to buy bread this week because I was too tired to try to mix dough this past weekend. It is awful. Tastes like dough to me now. I had been making up to 3 loaves of oatmeal wheat per week for us and miss it so much.
Any thoughts on mixing the dough without the mixer would be appreciated.