What is the rule of thumb for mixing doughs?

Question

Without delving too deeply into specialty doughs, but addressing more than just cakes and bread, what concerns can I evaluate when calculating the technique for approaching a dough?

For instance, some recipes say not to mix too much, others would imply that beating every bit of air out of the dough is the best thing for it.

What I am looking for is a set of criteria, maybe a flowchart, that outlines how to deal with having a well-reasoned technique (as opposed to just following a recipe).

Crumble, cream, or melt the fat first? Paddle or hook? Beat, fold or whisk? Knead once and rest or knead three times and throw? I would assume that to some extent getting air in or out, activating and mixing ingredients, distributing fats more or less evenly, and so forth play a factor in any decision. However, I have no idea what those different things do, or the food science behind them.

What general principles would help me understand what each factor does, so that I can have more confidence when staring down the ingredients, whether for some cookies or pizza crusts or muffins?

Answer

Once you start thinking in terms of techniques, it shouldn't be that hard. The book Ratio has an excellent overview of different methods for cakes. The blog pastrychefonline.com does as well. You can see an overview of the:

• Creaming method in which softened but not melted butter and sugar are whipped together first to create a network of air bubbles for structure, then eggs, if called for, and other liquid ingredients added, then (or alternated with) solid ingredients. Overmixing after a certain point destroys the air bubble network, but you need to build it up well first. An alternative is the Two-Stage Mixing Method in which eggs and flavoring go in with some of the liquid, then softened fat and solids all get added in, then the rest of the liquid in parts with little mixing.
• Foaming method, or sponge cake in which egg yolks and whites and sugar are whipped together to form the air bubbles, then dry ingredients are added, then melted butter is added at the end if called for. I believe in Ratio butter is added before dry ingredients, but I don't remember if that is the case. Again, you don't want to start popping your air bubbles.
• Biscuit Method or pastry method for pie crusts and biscuits, in which it is important to keep your fat very cold and leave some larger pieces of it for flakiness and usually over mixing after liquid has been added causes a dense biscuit or crust because it activates the gluten.
• Muffin Method or quick cake/bread method in which all the dry ingredients are added to all the wet ingredients and the fat is melted or liquid as opposed to softened or cold. In this case leavening comes from commercial leaveners instead of mixing so at no point do you want to overmix and activate the gluten.
  • There is an exception for batters like crepe batter where there is simply so much liquid that the gluten will never be activated. You can mix a high liquid content batter all day if you want.

And not covered on that blog are:

• Yet another technique uses whipped egg whites only for structure, much like making a meringue. I have a waffle recipe that uses whipped egg whites at the end for additional structure after using the muffin method for the rest of the batter.
• For bread I personally love the explanations in Peter Reinhart's books, both that on regular bread and also whole grain bread. You WANT to activate the gluten, so that's why you knead it after mixing (or in the case of the no-knead bread movement let the yeast activate it over a very long time), which is basically more mixing. The structure of bread is a combination of the bubbles from the yeast and the gluten that is partially activated by kneading. After rising you want to handle even bread gently, though, so as not to degas the yeast bubbles.

There may be more and different recipes use different variations, but these are the ones that spring to mind. The key is to figure out:

1. How is leavening happening - from chemical leaveners, a mixing method, steam during baking, yeast, or a combination of these?
2. How much do I want to activate the gluten?

The answers to these two questions largely determine the temperature of your fats and eggs and how much you mix.

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Techniques for mixing bread dough with stand mixer

Question

Can anyone tell me what the best technique is for using a stand mixer to make bread dough?

I just got a stand mixer with a dough hook and have started using it for mixing and kneading bread dough. It seems that I have to add more flour than I would expect to get it to "pull away from the sides of the bowl".

What should I expect at the different stages? What determines how long should I mix/knead, is there a simple set time?

Answer

Mixing bread with a stand mixer will normally take 10-12 minutes, depending on speed. A lot of this smaller mixers will tend to 'walk' if they are not anchored. Look for the dough to be smooth and supple, but not shiny. If it is shiny, and appears wet, it is over mixed. To start, it will look choppy and rough, sometimes you will have to pull all of the dough off of the hook and start up again, because it seems the dough will gravitate to the top of the hook and that part of the dough will not mix properly. This of course depends on the dough consistency to start with. Remember that a crusty bread dough will be stiffer, and a sweet dough will be soft, and should have a spot on the bottom that doesn't clear the bowl.

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What to look for in a Stand Mixer?

Question

I want to buy a stand mixer, a good one. Mainly for mixing dough, but also for mincing meat. I've seen that the KitchenAid has a mincing attachment. So, I've made a list of what to look for, and would like your input about what's missing.

1. Steel bowl.
2. Power, is that a factor?
3. Pigtail, whisks.
4. Possibility to attach a mincer.
5. Bowl size (is bigger better?).
6. Weight. As the table space is limited, it should be portable (for me at least).
7. Optional: Ice cream bowl.
8. Mount for:
   • Slicer (meats, vegetables, etc.)
   • Meat grinder
   • Grater (cheese, etc.)
   • Sausage stuffer
   • Pasta maker
9. Orbital movement.

Apart from these elements, what am I forgetting?

Apart from these uses, are there any other interesting ones?

Answer

I've got one of the professional series Kitchen Aids (and my parents have the traditional version to compare and contrast). If money isn't a huge deal, then getting the professional series comes with a more powerful motor and a heavier base that will stop the mixer from "walking" around the counter if you put dough or something dense in the mixer.

One odd thing that I didn't expect is that the mixer is really inconvenient for small things. It can whip up like a triple batch of whipped potatoes, but it has the darnest time whipping up a little bit of whip cream or a little merangue.

Kitchen Aide's attachments are pretty rock solid... One of our more "fun" attachments that we have is the ice cream bowl. Freeze the bowl, dump the ingredients and set the paddle on low. Again, with the professional model, the motor is strong enough to churn a bit longer than traditional other ice cream churns...

IMO, if you're a big dough cook, go w/ the stronger model, otherwise the smaller models should be great.

EDIT In an interesting note, my sister has one of the smaller models and it did infact "walk" off the counter a few weeks ago... The whole machine went crashing to the ground... She picked it up, dusted it off, but the only damage was a small piece of plastic broke off... Gotta give it to Kitchen Aide

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What features are important in a hand mixer?

Question

I've always used the cheapest hand mixers (around 10 Euro). But I damaged a beater of my current one when I tried to make whipped canache - it was obviously too hard. So I plan to get a new one. Strangely, on paper there isn't much difference between 10 Euro models and 50 Euro models. They all come with foam beaters, dough hooks and 5 speeds.

1. What are important things to look for in a good mixer?
2. Can I use the watt numbers to make a meaningful comparison between models by different manufacturers? How important are they? I know that the watt numbers are supposed to indicate motor power. But I don't know if they have a meaning in the world of hand mixers, or if they have fallen prey to senseless inflation, the way loudspeaker watt number have. And if they are still meaningful, what is their relative importance as compared to other features?

I don't have a food processor or stand mixer, so the hand held mixer should be capable of doing a lot.

Answer

What I look for in a good mixer are:

• A comfortable grip (I'm sure we've all have painful wrists after whisking up eggs whites or similar)

• Well made, sturdy parts. (some whisks are strong others are just thin wire.)

• Variable speed control

• The Watt rating.

To answer your No.2 question, watts are important. They measure how much power the machine uses. Higher watts will mean the machine does more of the work and your wrist does less of the work. The cheapest machines on the market are only good for whipping light foods like cream and mayonnaise. If you plan on mixing up heavy fruit cakes or bread doughs, you should choose a higher wattage machine.

Paying for a good quality machine, if you can afford it, will save you money in the end. My mother has had the same hand mixer for over 35 years. She paid for a good one and it lasted. I however, like you, opted for a low price machine because I was on a budget, I am now on my third and this time I bought a sturdier model and I am much more satisfied with it. If I'd bought the better machine at first, I'd have saved myself £50 or so over the time.

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Can jasmine rice and basmati rice be cooked together?

Question

I only have one cup of jasmine rice left, but plenty of basmati. Can I just mix them together in the rice cooker?

Answer

It shouldn't be a problem, since their cooking times are similar.

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