Test #2 First batch in the BUP and impressions.For my first batch, I decided to mix up a batch of caputo 00 dough. I decided on caputo 00 b/c it is a relatively low protein flour and requires more kneading to develop gluten. By using this flour, I felt like I could better gauge the effectiveness of the bosch.
As mentioned in Test#1, the BUP will mix a 800gm batch but didn't really seem to do 400gm of dough very well. Perhaps at a later time, I will retry with a 400-600gm batch without the small batch adapter in place.
As far as noise level, the BUP didn't seem very noisy at all. I can't really compare it to other mixers b/c this is my first mixer.
For the dough I used caputo pizzeria 00 flour, cake yeast, kosher salt, and room temp bottle water (63% HR). I dumped all the ingredients in the bowl without dissolving the salt or cake yeast. Turned on the machine to speed the slowest speed 1 and within 2 minutes had an even mix. I let it sit/rest for 15min (per Scott r's regimen - he uses 20m) and then proceeded to mix on speed 1. From hand kneading caputo flour, it seems like most of the sources I've run across recommend about 25-30m of hand kneading. I got to watch a pizzaiolo use a fork mixer and timed the kneading at about 30-35m. Based on this, I decided to initially mix for 15-20m stopping the BUP every 5min and check the consistency of the dough. I wanted to see if and how the dough consistency would change over the next 15-20m. The dough consistency didn't seem to change much and had a rough look to it (pic below) even after 20min of mixing. During this 20 min, I would periodically stop the BUP and pull the dough away from the center shaft and moving it about in the bowl to ensure an even mix.
Since this was the first time using it, I wanted to make sure the dough wasn't just spinning around and around. it didn't appear to be doing this but again, I wanted to make sure. After 20min, the consistency didn't change much, so i opted to let it mix for another 5 min or so. I decided 25m of kneading a caputo dough was plenty.
At this point I pulled out the dough, noting very miniscule amounts of bowl residue. I quickly shaped the dough into a ball and allowed it to rest 15-20m. After this rest period i would perform the window pane test as seen in Scott R's video and per Varasano's website.
After 20min of rest, I was pleased to see that the dough window paned fairly well. When stretch to it's absolute limit, the dough did produce 2 tiny holes, but considering this is a 00 flour, it was more than satisfactory. This dough will be bulk rest for 6 hours tonight at room temps and then be balled in the morning, proof at room temps for another 6 hours or so and then baked.
ImpressionsI think most folks are easily tickled by the windowpane test. I (like most others) was first introduced to this concept via J. Varasano's website. Once Scott R posted his video on the BUP's ability to knead a dough to window pane it had just about everyone drooling for a bosch. I will say that the knead quality is impressive and easy to do. Just turn a knob and watch the the machine do all the work.
I was a bit surprise by the color of this dough though. It turned from a cream color to a light cream color. I was surprise that it didn't turn ultra white as I would have expected even after 25 min of kneading in the bosch. I dunno, it could be b/c it's late and I'm tired and maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. With 25-30m of hand kneading, I can usually get the dough fairly oxidated/oxygenated to give it that white color. I've never tried a window pane test on my hand kneaded caputo doughs before so I can't say that it would compare at this point. I'll have to do a cmparison test in the near future though to be sure.
If anything the BUP shines in kneading a large batch of 00 flour for 30min without me getting tired. When I hand knead, it is usually a small batch of under 400gm. If I were to hand knead 800gm or more I would like be a bit worn out after a 30m knead. I was expecting the BUP to do a better job in half the time. It seems to do as good of a job or better but able to handle much bigger batches easily than I can by hand. At this point I'm not complaining at all.
Here are a few pics of the dough after 20min of kneading, after a 20min post knead rest, and the windowpane test, balled ready for bulk rise.
I'll update this thread tomorrow with a few pics as well.
