The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [162]
The machine will complete the kneading of one loaf’s worth of dough made from high-gluten flour (“bread flour”) after about 125 revolutions once the dough ball forms, but a lower-gluten dough may take only half that many. If the dough ball suddenly falls apart and spreads against the sides of the bowl, stop the machine. The processing has been a little too long; check the time or count, and with the next loaf, allow a little less. Meantime, the dough is probably fine. Remove it from the bowl, shape it into a smooth ball, and set it aside. Process the next part of the dough if you are doing two loaves, and then go back to your recipe to let the dough have its first rise.
THE DOUGH HOOK
Some home mixers have a dough hook attachment, and some of them are powerful enough to handle whole wheat dough. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, try using it to knead one loaf at a time. You will see very quickly whether your machine can handle the job.
Heavy-duty machines made specifically for kneading dough do a wonderful job. Our own Hobart 30-quart mixer kneads bread for a dozen families. All our recipes have been tested both in single batches by hand, and in batches of sixteen loaves by machine; all our recipes work beautifully both ways. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, compare the instructions from its manufacturer with the following, the method we have worked out for kneading whole wheat dough. Instructions for kneading doughs containing rye flour are different; see this page.
Mixing & kneading whole wheat bread with a dough hook
Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Measure the flour and salt into the bowl. Turn the machine on slow speed to mix them.
Using unbreakable cups, pour the liquid ingredients and the yeast mixture in a steady stream into the bowl while the hook runs on slow speed. Add the liquids without haste, but without dallying, either. The flour will look like it is getting evenly moistened; then when most of the liquid is in, it will begin to look like mud.
Stop the machine and feel the consistency of the dough. Moisten your hand with water and squeeze the dough. Is it soft or is it stiff? Ignore the fact that the dough is wet and sticky. Does the dough resist your touch? Does it strain the muscles in your fingers when you squeeze it? Then it is too stiff. On the other hand, the dough must have enough flour to hold its shape. Does the dough feel waterlogged, as if the flour is not contributing much substance to it? Does it have a runny, liquid quality to it? Then it has too much water. Feel deep into the dough, not just the surface.
If the dough is not right, thoroughly mix in more water or flour, a little at a time, and reevaluate until it is right. If you are using a coarse, stone-ground flour, it will take up the water more slowly. Whatever kind you are using, the dough will benefit from resting for 10 to 15 minutes before you make the final adjustment in water-flour balance, and proceed to the actual process of kneading the dough.
The first few times you mix dough in your machine, you may want to do all the mixing on slow speed, so that you can observe the changes in the dough. Later on, though, this will be the time to turn the machine to medium speed. As you continue to beat it, the mudlike mixture will come together into a soft claylike dough. The gluten is forming, but the dough’s surface continues to look rough and bumpy, and if you feel the dough—stop the machine first!—it feels quite sticky. The next big change comes when the dough reaches cleanup—it all comes off the sides of the bowl to form a ball. The dough feels a little drier. Shortly after this, the dough becomes fully developed, so watch it closely: the dull, rough surface develops a smooth, satiny sheen, and the dough stretches rather