Kneading by Hand
Well, now that I've committed myself to artisan bread, I need to move up from making only two loaves at a time. I have a wood-fired oven that I only fire once a week, so I'd like to increase the load to make better use of the heat/oven space. My thought is to try to make a dough using 5# of flour + starter. That should make about 6 or 7 loaves, I guess.
My problem is that my KA can hardly handle the 1-1/2# batches I'm presently making. Other than drop another $500 on a new mixing appliance, my only option is to go manual. Which I've never really done before, except to finish up what the mixer already mostly accomplished.
So, how do I do this? I took a look recently at the Julia Child video site -- the video about making baguettes -- where the chef (can't remember her name) says you throw and turn the dough 800(!!) times. At 5+ pounds, that's a lot of throwing! (Kinda like tossing 2 tons of 5# rocks.) Besides, my wife would probably kill me after all that banging of dough on the counter. And I can't say I'd blame her.
Anyone out there hand knead this size dough? What's the technique? How long should I expect the process to take? If it makes a difference, I'm working with naturally leavened dough.
ClimbHi