Hi all,

I have recently bought a Kenwood stand mixer, not just for mixing my bread doughs but also for other kitchen tasks. I am quite chuffed with my purchase but I am having some trouble with the timing of the mixing of bread doughs and am looking for some advice.

For my last three bakes I have used the stand mixer but the final breads have not turned out well. Last night I made some mini boules but the crumb has turned out quite dense with little air bubbles. Now I am not seeking large holes in these rolls but these were so tiny and dense that I wouldn't call them succesfull. The taste was quite alright but the overall feel when eating them wasn't what I was expecting.

The instructions that came with the machine state not to mix above setting 1, which is a moderate speed. As I have hand kneaded my doughs and have used stretch-and-folds I am having some trouble with the timing. I have tried to go by the generic instructions from Peter Reinhart's BBA of machine kneading for about 6 minutes but at 6 minutes the dough's consistancy doesn't seem right. Now I know that a dense crumb can be the result of a lot of things but can anyone please advise whether underkneading is one of them?

This morning I have put together a quick dough and initially mixed for 5 minutes and let it rest for a couple of minutes. The dough definitely hadn't come together yet, so I mixed for another 5 minutes. I repeated a couple of times and ended up with a total mix time of about 25 minutes. This seems extremely long compared to the times mentioned in the BBA. The only comparison I have when it comes to mixing times is an old bread baking machine I have used in the past. The machine would initially mix for 20-25 minutes depending on the weight of the dough. As the dough paddle in the BBM doesn't compare to the dough hook in my stand mixer I am unsure how to the mixing times compare.

To make a long story short I am looking for anyone who could give some advise or guideline on mixing time. Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Peter

The manual that came with my Kitchen Aid mixer (Accolade 400) clearly states, " Do not exceed Speed 2 when preparing yeast doughs as this may cause damage to the motor." But Daniel Leader in "Local Breads" calls for faster speeds, sometimes for rather extended times, in several formulas. For example, in the formula for Genzano Country Bread (pg.199), he says to mix at Speed "5 or 6 on a  KitchenAid mixer" for 10 minutes, then at Speed 10 for 8 to 10 minutes.