Hi there
I have a spiral mixer (10kg dough capacity) - one speed.
A general question ; Can a spiral (with one speed) develop gluten adequately for dough that has a high % of water (say 80% hydration).
Is there a general technique that I should be adopting when developing gluten in the spiral - i.e. say hold back some of the water and slowly incorporate?
Is there a 'general indication of how long I should mix in he spiral for high hydration or any dough?
Can good quality dough of an open crumb quality be solely prepared in a spiral mixer (one speed)?
I recently;y bough a spiral (one speed) soley for bread making but wondering whether I should have bought a planetary ?
Any advise or links would be appreciated.
Regards
Vman
Hello Vman
Every mixer has it's ups and negative elements, getting to know any given unit takes a few doughs. To answer your first question: I believe that you should be able to develop an 80% dough in your 1 speed spiral and it could well happen quicker than you may think. The mixing action of a spiral machine with rotating bowl, is generally quite intense. The dough breaker bar (not all machines come with one) can also have a noticeable affect, some choose to remove them. The doughs heat up more in a spiral, you will also have to adjust for that.
In any case, mixing times are much shorter than with a planetary. I've used small kitchen aids and various sizes of Hobarts, I much prefer rotating bowls. You'll have a hard time mixing muffin batter in your spiral though.
Something to keep in mind, is that the actual speed of a single gear machine, won't necessarily match the slower speed of a two gear mixer. That will vary by manufacturer, they may choose to have it fall half way between. There are advantages to a two gear unit, but as you know it also comes with a higher price tag.
A while back, i picked up a two speed spiral, max.15kg dough. It has a timer and i'm glad of it. If i use a dough autolyse of 20 minutes, I follow up with about 5 min. in low and 3 min. in second. Going without the autolyse, I would typically mix 8min and 5in. Most of my doughs are in the 12kg range and are in the high 70% water wise. I often hold back about 10% of the water and dizzel it in at the end, i can do this without lifting the safety guard, which of coarse shuts the machine off. Probably none of my doughs, would pass the window pane test at the point of coming off the mixer. I remove them immediately, place in a plastic box, give them a rest then gently pour them out onto the work bench stretch them carefully into a rectangle and fold them together. That works well for me with european flour.
With a single speed mixer, you will just have to experiment a bit with the time.....every machine takes a bit of time to get to know. I have a couple of blog posts here under "Mini Bakery" that you may find of interest.
cheers and happy mixing
daniel
thanks for your feedback Daniel. Its very much appreciated...
Since i'm new to 'baking' and on a steep learning curve can you offer any suggested website/or book where i can experiemnt an 'easy recipe' using a spiral mixer. An open crumb bread recipe would be ideal.
your website is very informative - thanks
making high hydration doughs in the spiral, that is.
Reason for asking is that I've recently bought one - single speed and it's great for the doughs I'm making but was curious about ciabatta type dough in it (which I currently use my Hobart A200 for, but need to make more!)
I imagine the biggest issue is getting it out - mine has a fixed bowl..
Cheers,
-Gordon