19 hours ago, ElsieD said:I did this too and THEN I placed them opposite each other.
I watch in the early phases, The dough should look like it is shifting from side to side and slowly folds in on itself.
And remember, if it doesn't look like it has mixed enough and doesn't have the "smooth" appearance, you can always stop the machine completely, cancel the cycle and just start it again from the beginning, add a tablespoon or water, or if it looks too sloppy, add a tablespoon or two of flour.
YOU control the machine.
Here is what I am doing now. I started with one of the box mixes, calls for a cup of water and 2 tablespoons of oil
I dumped in 1 1/2 cups of water, 3/4 cup of rye flour and three tablespoons of whole milk powder and some caraway seeds.
After it had gone through the first kneading cycle, it looked a little skimpy (this is the 3-pound machine) I cancelled the program.
I mixed separately, 2/3 cup of bread flour, 1/3 cup of milk and heated it in the microwave, beat it into a thick slurry and allowed it to cool to 106°
I then added 2 teaspoons of fresh yeast. Mixed it vigorously and allowed it to sit for 15 minutes, the yeast was VERY ACTIVE.
I then dumped that into the machine and reset it to the #1 program, plain white bread and turned it on.
This is well into the second kneading cycle. It has the slightly glossy look I expect at this stage and everything has been incorporated into the dough.
If it rises a lot, I will probably cut some off when I pull it out to remove the paddles at the end of the last kneading cycle. On my machine the timer shows 1:55 to go till done.
