Stand Mixers VS. Bread Machines

[saucée]

Kitchen Aid Professional 600 6 qt mixers are on sale from Amazon for $210. I just got one after mixing dough in my food processor and the versatility of it is very liberating. As others have mentioned, you can do a lot with it and the 600 version is very capacious and powerful.

josh

[Philip Dundas]

Making bread, as we all seem to agree, is a most satisfying moment for a cook, even one who is hopeless at baking generally, as I am. The only downside is the flour strewn on the floor during the kneading, particuarly for those with a small kitchen. Having the machine to do that part, what greater pleasure than to watch the loaf rise in the oven, taking its own shape. Different every time.

[sammifloater]

Kitchen Aid Professional 600 6 qt mixers are on sale from Amazon for $210.  I just got one after mixing dough in my food processor and the versatility of it is very liberating.  As others have mentioned, you can do a lot with it and the 600 version is very capacious and powerful.

josh

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that is an awesome deal-i like the licorice rather than meringue

those are the only 2 colors at that great a price but that is OK

(the zojirushi bread machine is $170 so...)

thanks i think i will get this for christmas

plus if you spend over $25 in the home store at amazon you get a free 1 year sub to bon appetit gourmet or domino

i am thinking gourmet-not sure tho... opinions which one of the 3 magazines is best?

thanks for all the info this is great!

s

[CommissionerLin]

question is do i buy another bread machine (i use it 90% of the time for making dough for other things) or get that super fantastic kitchenaid that is really expensive but makes dough and does alot of other useful things..

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Can I recommend that you eschew the bread machine and the kitchenaid and start baking by hand. It is more rewarding and you will get far better results compared with bread produced via bread machine or dough mixer. Over the span of several years, I made the transition from bread machine to J hook/dough mixer to making bread by hand and I have not looked back.

The most difficult or satisfying (depending on your penchant/aversion to working with sticky goo) part about baking by hand is kneading the dough. I would say that everything else being equal, how you knead the dough is the single most important determinant in producing those light crusty artisanal loaves with big gaping holes inside that seems to be the holy grail of a majority of home bakers I know.

Crust & Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers by Peter Reinhart and Crust: Bread to Get Your Teeth Into by Richard Bertinet are good places to start.

Richard Bertinet works with very wet dough employing a kneading technique that may seem daunting at first, but one which will engender slavish perseverence once the results are seen and eaten.

[sammifloater]

thanks for the feedback

i only want a breadmachine/mixer because it saves time and i MUCH prefer how it comes out over storebought bread hands down (and it is less expensive than buying bread)

i always like to make my own when i can-i totally like the whole bread making by hand experience very much

but i want the option of fresh bread that is less time consuming and better all around than store bought for daily consumption.

sammi

[saucée]

I like to mix dough in the mixer then leave about 1 or 2 minutes at the end to finish it off. It really depends on what you're looking for though and the stand mixer provides a quicker way to make bread when you don't have that much time but still want to make your own bread. I think it offers more control and versatility over the bread machine. Mixing by hand is of course a part of the process that I really enjoy, but I don't have enough time to do it very often but still want to make my own bread.

I've also found, though I may be mistaken in my observations, that big holes have more to do with the amount of hydration and how the loaves are handled in the bulk fermentation and proofing stages. This is not to say that I don't think proper kneading has anything to do with it, but I do think its quite possible to use a mixer and get good results.

josh

[CommissionerLin]

I've also found, though I may be mistaken in my observations, that big holes have more to do with the amount of hydration and how the loaves are handled in the bulk fermentation and proofing stages.  This is not to say that I don't think proper kneading has anything to do with it, but I do think its quite possible to use a mixer and get good results.

josh

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Yes I am sure you're quite right, the amout of water is a big factor in producing big holes. What I've experienced however is that with the same amount of hydration, I get much better results when kneading by hand. This is especially pronounced when I make ciabatta. Whenever I cheat by using a mixer, the loaves don't seem to rise as high and the interior has puny holes.