In addition to baking bread by hand or using a bread machine, it is also possible for the home baker to use a mixer or food processor to make bread.

Mixers and food processors are used to mix and knead dough, the bread being then shaped, proofed and baked in the oven.  While one of the great advantages of a bread machine is that the user assembles the ingredients and walks away to find a loaf of bread in three hours, the advantage of the mixers is that they perform multiple functions in the kitchen— with several attachments they are used for cake baking and decorating, chopping vegetables, grinding meat and making pasta among other things.

The quantity of bread dough produced in a mixer depends on its capacity, the smaller mixers handling no more than one or two loaves and the higher capacity ones handling up to eight loaves at a time.  This article refers to table models sold for home use.

Whatever mixer you have, optimal results will always be achieved if you:
 

1)      Know how to operate your machine and follow the manufacturer's specifications.  Bread doughs could overload your machine, so never exceed the recommended amount of flour your mixer can handle.  For heavier doughs made with whole grains or studded with dried fruit, make sure the amount of flour in the recipe does not exceed 80% of the maximum all-purpose flour your manufacturer allows.

2)      Know your dough.  It is important to recognize the adequate level
of dough hydration during mixing, and also to recognize when sufficient
kneading has been achieved.

3)      Use bread flour or strong flour.  When kneading bread dough with a mixer, there is the possibility of over-kneading, which can ruin a good loaf of bread.  Bread flour contains more gluten than all-purpose flours and can withstand the rigors of machine kneading better.  Check the nutritional label on the flour bag and choose a flour with at least 12% protein.

Dough Watching—How much flour?, How long to knead?

The recipes in most cookbooks are not presented in the quantity appropriate for your mixer.  Feeling the dough will allow you to convert any recipe for use with your mixer. Recognizing when enough flour has been kneaded into a recipe is the first step towards excellent bread. First, the amount of flour depends on the recipe, for example, Italian Bread requires more flour than Challah, as Italian Bread needs to be tighter in texture. In addition:

1. the amount of flour required in a recipe depends on humidity, so bakers
usually hold back a little liquid when mixing.

2. the gluten content of the flour affects how much liquid is needed.

Is it really necessary to fondle the dough?

No, not every single time.  It is only necessary to feel the dough the first time you make the recipe, make your flour/liquid adjustment and note them.  After that, it becomes easy just to dump all ingredients in the mixer and let it do its work.

Knowing when to fold

Overkneading the dough can destroy the gluten structure.  While this could very rarely happen when kneading by hand, it could happen when making your bread with a mixer.  To swim, one needs to get in the water, and I will never forget the lesson when I was called away from my mixer only to end up with some very doughy hot cross buns.  Nowadays, my newer mixer has a time feature.

Therefore, your dough watching activity will be complete when you record how long it takes for your mixer to knead a particular recipe.  Some mixers work at very slow speeds and take up to ten minutes to knead the dough, others work much faster and can knead the dough in as little as three minutes.  I prefer the mixers with graduated, slower speeds.

A sufficiently kneaded dough is very elastic.  When you hold the dough with one hand, palm to the ground, the dough streches slowly to the table.  Rub your hand on the dough and it will feel smooth, poke it with your finger and it will spring back.  When you look at the ball of dough, some say that it is slightly wrinkle like the skin of a baby's bottom—but, in case, you cannot find a baby bottom too look at, think of the slightly wrinkled face of a cabbage patch doll.

Finishing the Bread

Once kneading is complete, proceed with proofing, shaping and baking according to your standard recipe instruction.

Recipes to Use

Cibelia Muller is a native Brazilian who has resided in the Bahamas since 1989.  Although her educational background is in Mathematics and she toils in an office from 9 to 5, she would rather be thought of as a cook and baker.  A self-taught cook and baker, she is an enthusiastic participant of several cooking and baking contests in the Bahamas.  She has produced all the bread consumed by her family since 1990.  Her other hobby other than cooking is growing fruit trees and herbs in the yard.

She may be reached  at:jazzbel@grouper.batelnet.bs