Hi

[1976Pianoman]

Hi, I'm Ryan. I am a self taught chef and musician.  I love to cook.  I really love making pizza.  At the moment,I do not have a mixer with a dough hook, so I kneed by hand, which is a royal pain in the butt.  A Kitchen Aid mixer is in my near future. 

I have many questions regarding making dough.  That's why I'm here. 

 

[scott123]

Hello Ryan and welcome to the forum.

By the way, I own an artisan kitchenaid mixer, but knead my doughs by hand.  Doughs in my artisan KA tend to creep up the hook. I've scaled back the dough amounts and still have issues.  Compared to babysitting an artisan KA and kneading by hand, kneading by hand is a breeze.

If you're really not that fond of kneading, you can use rests and fermentation techniques that cut kneading to a bare minimum.  I generally knead my doughs for 2 minutes, max, and I generally don't go to great lengths to minimize my knead time.  Another big factor in kneading is ergonomics and technique.  You want a counter area that's at a comfortable height and you want to use your body weight when pressing out the dough rather than relying too much on arm strength.

[dmcavanagh]

Here's one of the best dough making tools you can own, cheap also   http://www.breadtopia.com/store/danish-dough-whisk.html

[1976Pianoman]

Hello Ryan and welcome to the forum.

By the way, I own an artisan kitchenaid mixer, but knead my doughs by hand.  Doughs in my artisan KA tend to creep up the hook. I've scaled back the dough amounts and still have issues.  Compared to babysitting an artisan KA and kneading by hand, kneading by hand is a breeze.

If you're really not that fond of kneading, you can use rests and fermentation techniques that cut kneading to a bare minimum.  I generally knead my doughs for 2 minutes, max, and I generally don't go to great lengths to minimize my knead time.  Another big factor in kneading is ergonomics and technique.  You want a counter area that's at a comfortable height and you want to use your body weight when pressing out the dough rather than relying too much on arm strength.

Thank you!  I think I misspoke.  I am not opposed to hand kneading. My concern was that I wasn't kneading correctly and my dough was possibly coming out wrong as a consequence.  So the not knowing if I was the problem or if other factors were at play, like the wrong kind of flour, was troubling.  That's why I said what I said.  I figured a KA would eliminate the human error factor. While I'm experienced in the kitchen, dough is new to me.  The truth is that I like the idea of hand kneading.  There's much more love that goes into it and the final product is all the more special because if that.  So I will stick with hand kneading and look on this site for proper technique to make sure I'm doing it right.  Before I found this site, I was looking on YouTube.  Everyone seems to be doing it differently on YouTube.  

[1976Pianoman]

Here's one of the best dough making tools you can own, cheap also   http://www.breadtopia.com/store/danish-dough-whisk.html

COOL!  ..and only $8.00!  Thank you!  I assume, that I would use this in addition to hand kneading?

[dmcavanagh]

To tell the truth, after I get done with the whisk, very little hand kneading is needed.

[franko9752]

Welcome Ryan. If you get a KitchenAid mixer then check out the 7qt 1.5 horse power, better than the 6qt. 1/3 hp.

[1976Pianoman]

Welcome Ryan. If you get a KitchenAid mixer then check out the 7qt 1.5 horse power, better than the 6qt. 1/3 hp.

Frank, could you please link me to the model you're referring to, because I don't see any 7qt models on the KA website.  I was going to get a refurbished one like this:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/KitchenAid-RKG25H0XMC-Metallic-Chrome-5-quart-Professional-Mixer-Refurbished/5094900/product.html

I wonder what the HP is on this one?  

[1976Pianoman]

Here's my dream mixer!

http://www.hobartcorp.com/products/food-prep/mixers/n50-5-quart-mixer/

[1976Pianoman]

http://mixedupjake.tumblr.com/post/1161822632/new-mixer-with-a-bite