Is a Kitchenaid Pro 600 Adequate for Kneading Whole Grain Doughs
The question of which stand mixer has been debated well. If the question of a KA Pro 600 was addressed, apologies for posting again.
The only bread making I have done is Ezekiel Bread from freshly milled flours. It is a batter dough that my wife's Kitchenaid Pro 600 mixer handles well. Now I want to branch out to whole grain yeast breads.
I have been warned about burning up a KA with whole grain flours and advised to get an Electrolux DLX. The KA manual says it will handle 8 cups of whole grain flours.
I don't want the KA to go up in smoke. But most of the warnings I have read involve the decorator mixers. Does the KA Pro 600 do a good job of mixing and kneading, or will I taste a difference with the DLX even if the KA doesn't go up in smoke? Will it handle an 8 cup whole grain dough batch?
For all kinds of bread doughs, including 100% whole wheat, high percentage rye, as well as other whole grain breads. I think as long as you don't go overboard with the dough volume, KA 600 can handle it beautifully. My dough rarely goes over 2lbs though.
I have a Kitchen Aid Professional 6; I assume it's the same kind as yours and I have been using it for my ezekiel bread also. It does get warm at times but I knead it anywhere from 10-15 minutes in the machine without problem. Do you use yeast now in your ezekiel bread? I have been working and modifying mine and have it pretty much the way I want it. It's just my skills that seem to be lacking at times. :) Would you like to exchange recipes? Let me know. And yes, I use it for all my whole grain breads.
I have the KA Pro 600 and for large dough batches I first mix the entire batch with the paddle attachment and then remove half of the dough, switch to the dough hook and knead half at a time. I've made challah with 5lbs of flour using this method, which is not whole grain but is a fairly heavy dough.
I'd be interested in seeing your Ezekiel Bread recipes Cincinnati and LLM777.
We are into eating high nutrient food and found that this is a great bread for that reason. Hope you like it. All ingredients can be found through a co-op or health food store. This makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf.
Ezekiel Bread
195 grams wheat
140 g spelt
50 g beans mix (variety of beans) (I grind in blender)
25 g barley
25 g amaranth (it's usually millet but amaranth has higher protein content)
280 g water (lately I’ve increased water to 305g)
2 tbs. Evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
2 tbs. Honey
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. yeast
Can be doubled. Mix on speed 1 for 10-20 minutes until smooth. (resting 5 min. in middle)
Option 1
Can put in frig overnight and take out in morning for about an hour to take chill off.
Shape and place on parchment paper, spray with water, and let rise 1 hour until doubled.
Option 2
Can let rise 90 minutes with a couple of stretch and folds.
Shape and let rise about 30 minutes until doubled.
Preheat oven at 425 degrees. Put bread in and turn oven to 350 degrees.
Bake 15 minutes, rotate and bake another 15-20 minutes or until instant-read thermometer reads 190 degrees.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. Do you cook the beans before grinding? Whole barley or barley flour?
I grind all the dry grains (wheat, spelt,) and put in the Blendtec blender to grind the dry beans, barley (hulled but not pearl) and the amaranth since they are smaller amounts. If I had a grinder of my own, I'd grind all but the beans. All of it makes the flour for the bread; no cooking necessary. The beans, I've heard, are hard on the grinders.
I added more water today when I made it and it turned out a lot better. I had a finer texture of grain and it definitely absorbed more water than the coarser grain I was using. I went from 65% hydration to 80%; it was light and even had holes so I am going to keep this hydration. The total amount of liquid was 350 grams. I didn't really shape it in the end, I just let it slide on the sheet like a ciabatta but it was a perfect texture, not like the hard dense texture I was experiencing lately. Hope you enjoy it.
Please note the change to 350g of water in the Ezekiel Bread recipe.
I have used my KA for heavy doughs and when it gets warm as it did once I turned it off and let it cool. I also don't knead over #2 setting as the book says. Anything else can burn it up.
I also use the paddle and keep the dough very wet till most of the dough is almost finished. Then I add the rest of the flour and switch to the dough hook. This alone helps the dough form gluten worry free. By this time most of the flour is incorporated and the dough bounces around and finishes gluten development without strain on the machine.
A good rest in the middle of the process doesn't hurt a thing.
Mariah