Hello
I'm a newbie. I was looking to buy a kitchen mixer but they all kind of look the same. As you're all super keen, great bread bakers, what's the thing about your kitchen machine that's got you most excited?
I heard from a friend that you won't get a good loaf until you can perfect the slap & fold / stretch & fold technique. Not sure a kitchen mixer would ever be able to replicate that - right?
So tell me. Do I need a kitchen mixer or is it better/ more enjoyable by hand? Are they worth it? If so, why? Thanks
do nothing :) well almost nothing. I have adopted a technique that has been posted here in a couple forms. Mix everything except salt till it is shaggy but everything is wet. Cover and set it in a warm place. Wait a few hours...so far I have done one batch that was about 3 1/2 hr and one today that was 4 hr. Amazing...it will be puffy and look and feel like it has had a lot of work done on the gluten sheath. And it has but mother nature has done it . Now sprinkle on the salt and spray it with water and fold it in using a wide rubber spatula ...about 30 turns in the bowl. Cover and leave 30 min. Now take it out on a lightly floured board and do one s&f. Return to bowl. 30 min do another and then one more in 30 min. Should be done. Shape and retard. Bake the next day. I have to say I am working on various subtle changes but this is the jist of it. You most definitely do not need to ever do a slap and fold. It is a choice. You also never need a KA for bread making again , it is a choice. I have mine and use it for other things. I have baked bread for over 40 yrs. Less is more in this case. There are tons of fantastic bakers here ....will be fun to get lots of points of view. Enjoy the experience. c
you certainly don't need a mixer to make good bread. i found a used one on craigslist before i even considered making bread. i use it because, for me, it minimizes the mess i make in the kitchen and my hands when i initially mix everything. but i also use stretch & folds (without taking the dough out of the bowl) during bulk fermentation.
the slap and fold technique definitely requires some practice and patience. it's definitely interesting to see the dough evolve as you slap and fold. but you can make good bread without slapping and folding, too.
point is, you don't have to wait for a mixer to arrive at the house or pick one up before you can start making bread. it's not about being "right" or "wrong". it's simply a tool, and depending on your baking style/approach/goals, one mixer may be better than the other.
I don’t have a mixer and have found like many that the only way to understand the process - because it is a sensory tactile process - is to learn by hand. You’ll learn by feeling, something you can’t get by machine...sonif I was you I’d learn by hand then get mixer besides get your hands in is part of the fun