Easiest way to make about 5 lbs of whole wheat dough?
I've been going around in circles on this topic for a few months. I prefer to bake once a week (it's easiest to schedule), and this requires about 3 8x4 loaves, or 2 9x5 loaves. I've been making the whole wheat and oatmeal bread out of Laurel's kitchen as our standard sandwich loaf. I make a batch and a half of dough. This is about 1300 gm of whole grain flours and 900 gm of water. It also includes 6 TBSP of oil and 4.5 TBSP of honey.
I have a 12 cup kitchenaid food processor and a 4 qt kitchenaid stand mixer. The stand mixer says it can handle up to 6 cups of whole grain flour (I think I saw 5 or 5.5 somewhere else in the manual, but can't find it again. The manual gives recipes calling for up to 6 cups of whole wheat). I'm less clear about capacity for the food processor, but I think one loaf is about it.
I use 3 S&F during the rises (45 min apart).
The question is: how can I most conveniently knead the dough? I have a 3 year old son, and another son on the way, so taking long stretches of time to knead is difficult.
I've tried the stand mixer, and am never satisfied with the results. 10-20 min of trying to get it to knead a loaf still doesn't yield a window pane. Given the capacity, I need to work in at least 2 batches, maybe three. And, I have to babysit the mixer the whole time because the dough keeps climbing the hook or trying to jump out of the bowl. I usually stop kneading because the motor is smoking, not because I think the gluten is fully developed.
I've tried the food processor. The problem is, the dough is prone to falling apart and sliding under the dough blade. The dough blade will also lift up off the shaft. Adding more flour helps, but the dough blade ends up with flour inside it, and the last time I couldn't get it off the shaft at all when I was done. My husband had to use substantial force, and thought the inside of the dough blade looked melted. The dough blade is a recent replacement, and I'm wondering if it is the wrong blade or defective. The bottom arm of the dough blade doesn't lay flat against the bottom of the bowl, it's raised up by 1/2 in. If the dough would stay in a ball like it's supposed to, this would be a really convenient option (about 2 min a batch and I'd need to do 3 batches).
I've tried doing it all by hand with more S&F, autolyses, etc. I haven't gotten a loaf as fluffy as I'd like this way. Using the food processor has yielded the best results, although even then the dough never window panes.
So . . .
Ideas? My husband is threatening to buy me a bosch compact if that would make this easier. I'd prefer to make do with what I have (He just got me a Brod and Taylor proofer for Christmas, and this hobby is getting expensive!).