Thanks for for doing the research. I replaced my Kitchen Aid with Ankarsrum. Love the larger capacity, however there is a learning curve. Looking forward to your part 2. I still haven’t completely figured out which is better for kneading- the roller or the hook.
Great post! I was told that I’d kill my KA while writing my bagel book. You know that’s a seriously stiff dough and my recipe requires 6 minutes of machine kneading on 4. I’ll admit my KAs sometimes squeal, but BOTH of my KA Pro mixers survived that year. I alternated using them so one could cool down while I made another batch in the other. I still expect both will expire at which time I’ll buy the Ankarsrum.
I enjoyed this article and look. Forward to the next chapter. I hope you are going to include the Bosch Universal Plus in your article...with the stainless steel bowl that has the dough hook on the bottom and which gives free access to the bowl from above as there is nothing but a bowl cover on top (as the hook attaches to the bottom of the bowl). It’s a big bowl with large capacity and supposedly a great motor. People seem to consider this as an alternative when also considering an Ank. I would be interested in hearing your take on this machine.
FWIW, I've totally abused my KitchenAid for years - done quite a few batches of panettone dough in there which I've mixed on quite a high speed for at least 15 if not 20-25 minutes... and also done low hydration bagel dough a few times. I've had it for about 5 years and it's still going strong (although I'd love to replace it with a Wilfa Probaker in a heartbeat)
Love this post! I do a lot of fairly intense bread mixing with my KA (usually on speed 2 or 3 out of 10) and started adding a 5-10 minute rest period maybe a year or so ago. Definitely hasn’t harmed the bread. I’m pretty sure older manuals had a “don’t mix over speed 2” instruction too -- one of my bread heroes references that in this post from 2010: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20669/sourdough-pan-de-mie-how-make-quotshreddablyquot-soft-bread.
My mixer has survived all the punishing doughs so far but if I do ever get another mixer in the future, I’ll definitely be looking at spirals!
When I graduated from pastry school, I was gifted a KA Professional 600. It gave up after 16 years. It made concerning noises on low speed toward the end of its life. I only bake bread a few times a year, and it's not unusual for me to use speed 4 for 8-10 minutes when I do. But we beat on that mixer baking 3,000 Christmas cookies every one of those years (we give platters of them for gifts). I think stiff cookie doughs are just as challenging to a mixer as bread dough is. We were mixing the last recipe of last year's bake when the spinning head (you attach the paddle to it) stopped, made awful grinding noises, then broke off and fell into the bowl! Luckily, our neighbor loaned us his that allowed us to finish. I felt the cost of shipping it back and forth and the repairs wasn't good use of money. We bought a refurbished 600 from the KA website for a bargain $250. You can still buy them there. I think they made some improvements over my last one--the motor runs more smoothly and with much less noise.
I was so shocked when I got my new mixer and it said to only do dough on low and 2 minutes. Which does...nothing much. So I’ve been ignoring the guidance and so far so good. But I bake bread sporadically.
I’ve been annoyed that this model’s paddle chips terribly. I finally called customer service, naively thinking they’d say “oh no! How awful! We’ll send you a new paddle!”
Their answer was: it’s to be expected you can order a new one. I expressed my disappointment--and my concern that my family’s clearly been eating enamel bits. “Ma’am, rest assured, it’s food safe enamel.”
LOVE this post Andrew. I started with a KA Artisan mixer, then gave it to a friend so I could upgrade to one of the KA bowl-lift models. I hate the thing. If it breaks I'm replacing it with an Ankarsrum or something similar. Looking forward to part 2 of the series.
This is the relevant text from my 1993 kitchenaid manual. It does say to use speed 2 but does not say kneading should be limited to 2 minutes at a time but "until smooth and elastic". The brioche recipe says to knead for 3 minutes to incorporate the sponge fully.
In the old days of Hobart Kitchen-aid mixers they were built like the original Hobart professional mixers which meant that the mixer ran at a constant motor speed and the mixing speed was controlled by gears. One actually shifted gears to go from one mixing speed to another. And the gears were metal. Tough workhorse machines. At some point home mixers became a separate business line and the machines changed. Instead of being geared machines the new ones have a single plastic gear and adjust mixing speeds by adjusting motor speeds. This is why they generate so much heat and are prone to breaking down.
And, BTW, I use mine in a new modern apartment with electrical safety features and if the mixer strains at all it will generate enough resistance to throw the breaker on the electrical circuit. KA’s are pieces of appliance shit.
Excellent post Andrew. When I began baking bread, I first switched to a Bosch and then an Ankarsrum. I love the Ankarsrum and endorse it for any home baker.
The kneading of a bread dough with the dough hook simply doesn't work. The dough hook never kneads the whole dough, it always just "kneads" the part of the dough in the middle. Then I have to push the dough from the sides into the middle, start the machine again and after not even one minute stop the machine again and so on. Yesterdays bread was started with 25% less water than the recipe asked for - and this still didn't work. My old machine -4,8L - HEAVY DUTY 5KPM5 - bought in 1994 never gave me such head aches. AND I also never followed any 2 minute kneading advise. This machine still kneads and kneads - just not in my household anymore. Bread bakers, do not buy the 6,9 l professional!
I have a KitchenAid Heavy Duty stand mixer with 325 w which I was given in 2000. The instructions also say use 2 speed. No max time is given, but in all the recipes use 2 minute increments.
Thanks for for doing the research. I replaced my Kitchen Aid with Ankarsrum. Love the larger capacity, however there is a learning curve. Looking forward to your part 2. I still haven’t completely figured out which is better for kneading- the roller or the hook.
Great post! I was told that I’d kill my KA while writing my bagel book. You know that’s a seriously stiff dough and my recipe requires 6 minutes of machine kneading on 4. I’ll admit my KAs sometimes squeal, but BOTH of my KA Pro mixers survived that year. I alternated using them so one could cool down while I made another batch in the other. I still expect both will expire at which time I’ll buy the Ankarsrum.
I enjoyed this article and look. Forward to the next chapter. I hope you are going to include the Bosch Universal Plus in your article...with the stainless steel bowl that has the dough hook on the bottom and which gives free access to the bowl from above as there is nothing but a bowl cover on top (as the hook attaches to the bottom of the bowl). It’s a big bowl with large capacity and supposedly a great motor. People seem to consider this as an alternative when also considering an Ank. I would be interested in hearing your take on this machine.
FWIW, I've totally abused my KitchenAid for years - done quite a few batches of panettone dough in there which I've mixed on quite a high speed for at least 15 if not 20-25 minutes... and also done low hydration bagel dough a few times. I've had it for about 5 years and it's still going strong (although I'd love to replace it with a Wilfa Probaker in a heartbeat)
Love this post! I do a lot of fairly intense bread mixing with my KA (usually on speed 2 or 3 out of 10) and started adding a 5-10 minute rest period maybe a year or so ago. Definitely hasn’t harmed the bread. I’m pretty sure older manuals had a “don’t mix over speed 2” instruction too -- one of my bread heroes references that in this post from 2010: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20669/sourdough-pan-de-mie-how-make-quotshreddablyquot-soft-bread.
My mixer has survived all the punishing doughs so far but if I do ever get another mixer in the future, I’ll definitely be looking at spirals!
When I graduated from pastry school, I was gifted a KA Professional 600. It gave up after 16 years. It made concerning noises on low speed toward the end of its life. I only bake bread a few times a year, and it's not unusual for me to use speed 4 for 8-10 minutes when I do. But we beat on that mixer baking 3,000 Christmas cookies every one of those years (we give platters of them for gifts). I think stiff cookie doughs are just as challenging to a mixer as bread dough is. We were mixing the last recipe of last year's bake when the spinning head (you attach the paddle to it) stopped, made awful grinding noises, then broke off and fell into the bowl! Luckily, our neighbor loaned us his that allowed us to finish. I felt the cost of shipping it back and forth and the repairs wasn't good use of money. We bought a refurbished 600 from the KA website for a bargain $250. You can still buy them there. I think they made some improvements over my last one--the motor runs more smoothly and with much less noise.
I was so shocked when I got my new mixer and it said to only do dough on low and 2 minutes. Which does...nothing much. So I’ve been ignoring the guidance and so far so good. But I bake bread sporadically.
I’ve been annoyed that this model’s paddle chips terribly. I finally called customer service, naively thinking they’d say “oh no! How awful! We’ll send you a new paddle!”
Their answer was: it’s to be expected you can order a new one. I expressed my disappointment--and my concern that my family’s clearly been eating enamel bits. “Ma’am, rest assured, it’s food safe enamel.”
😳🤯
LOVE this post Andrew. I started with a KA Artisan mixer, then gave it to a friend so I could upgrade to one of the KA bowl-lift models. I hate the thing. If it breaks I'm replacing it with an Ankarsrum or something similar. Looking forward to part 2 of the series.
mix about 15 seconds or until in-
gredients are combined.
3. Continuing on Speed 2, gradually
add liquid ingredients to flour mix-
ture, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Mix 1 minute longer. See Illustra-
tion A.
NOTE: If liquid ingredients are
added too quickly, they will form
a pool around the dough hook
and slow down mixing process.
4. Continuing on Speed 2, gently tap
remaining flour around sides of
bowl, ½ cup at a time, as needed
See Illustration B. Mix until dough
clings to hook and cleans sides of
bowl, about 2 minutes.
5. When dough clings to hook, knead
on Speed 2 for 2 minutes or
until dough is smooth and elastic.
See Illustration C.
6. Unlock and raise head on K45SS/
KSM90 or lower bowl on K5SS/
KSM5 and remove dough from
hook. Follow directions in recipe
for rising, shaping and baking.
This is the relevant text from my 1993 kitchenaid manual. It does say to use speed 2 but does not say kneading should be limited to 2 minutes at a time but "until smooth and elastic". The brioche recipe says to knead for 3 minutes to incorporate the sponge fully.
In the old days of Hobart Kitchen-aid mixers they were built like the original Hobart professional mixers which meant that the mixer ran at a constant motor speed and the mixing speed was controlled by gears. One actually shifted gears to go from one mixing speed to another. And the gears were metal. Tough workhorse machines. At some point home mixers became a separate business line and the machines changed. Instead of being geared machines the new ones have a single plastic gear and adjust mixing speeds by adjusting motor speeds. This is why they generate so much heat and are prone to breaking down.
And, BTW, I use mine in a new modern apartment with electrical safety features and if the mixer strains at all it will generate enough resistance to throw the breaker on the electrical circuit. KA’s are pieces of appliance shit.
Excellent post Andrew. When I began baking bread, I first switched to a Bosch and then an Ankarsrum. I love the Ankarsrum and endorse it for any home baker.
The FAMAG IM-5 isn't the only game in town for tabletop spiral mixers anymore. VEVOR has a private label Chinese mixer currently selling for only $515: https://www.vevor.com/commercial-mixers-c_10669/vevor-commercial-dough-food-mixer-spiral-dough-mixer-w-7-3qt-bowl-p_010396288289
There are many other models of Chinese tabletop mixers...hopefully they will find distribution in the USA in the near future.
I have this one:
6,9L - ARTISAN 5KSM7580X and I HATE IT!!!!!
The kneading of a bread dough with the dough hook simply doesn't work. The dough hook never kneads the whole dough, it always just "kneads" the part of the dough in the middle. Then I have to push the dough from the sides into the middle, start the machine again and after not even one minute stop the machine again and so on. Yesterdays bread was started with 25% less water than the recipe asked for - and this still didn't work. My old machine -4,8L - HEAVY DUTY 5KPM5 - bought in 1994 never gave me such head aches. AND I also never followed any 2 minute kneading advise. This machine still kneads and kneads - just not in my household anymore. Bread bakers, do not buy the 6,9 l professional!
I have a KitchenAid Heavy Duty stand mixer with 325 w which I was given in 2000. The instructions also say use 2 speed. No max time is given, but in all the recipes use 2 minute increments.
So I'm slowly killing my KA??? It's good that I don't make Japanese milk bread often, I've let it run for 12 full minutes!! 😬