Monday Mix 5/8/23
Happy Mondays, everyone. I went on something of a mini-rant over on twitter on Friday, about how the manuals for all models of Kitchen Aid stand mixers (including the $800, 8 quart, “professional” one) state that you shouldn’t knead bread in the mixer at speeds higher than 2 and/or for longer than 4 minutes at a time. Which obviously isn’t how I — or nearly everyone else in the known universe — write machine-mixed bread recipes, which poses something of a problem. I’m working on a much longer rant (and a general overview of using stand mixers for bread dough), to arrive sometime soon.
But in the meantime, I have a guest post for you today — from my pal Dayna Evans — which I am sending out a couple of days early, since it is time-sensitive: The story of The Blanton Museum’s “Blanton Bake-off,” an annual art-inspired baking competition that you all should compete in. The deadline for entries is 5/16, eight days from today, so there’s still loads of time to get in on it. (If you do submit, let me know and I’ll share your entries here too.)
Stay tuned for it to arrive in your inboxes not long after this one.
—Andrew
Interesting. I've been making bread in my Kitchen Aid all along at whatever speed/time I want without knowing this guidance. I haven't killed it yet, so fingers crossed!
So how much does one have to spend to get a warrantied stand mixer that can handle bread doughs at faster speeds and longer times? The Wilfa goes for over $1000. King Arthur sells a Ankarsrum mixer for $750, which ATK just highly rated (they dinged every single Kitchen Aid mixer due to the warrenty issues you just mentioned.) Anything else?