How to knead dough with a KitchenAid stand mixer (2024)

FAQs

How to knead dough with a KitchenAid stand mixer? ›

Knead on speed 2, and let the dough hook further incorporate the ingredients together. If unincorporated ingredients are sticking to the sides of the bowl, turn off the machine and scrape down using a spatula. Continue kneading until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl and is smooth and elastic.

Attach your flat beater, add your ingredients to the stand mixer bowl and mix to combine the ingredients whilst kneading on speed 1. Remove your flat beater and attached your dough hook, and knead the dough for 5 minutes on low speed (1 & 2). Always ensure that you knead on low speed so as not to overheat the motor.

Properly kneaded dough should be smooth, slightly tacky (but not sticky), and elastic. When you press it with your finger, it should spring back.

If using a KitchenAid^® model, combine bread dough ingredients in a stand mixer bowl using the beater attachment or mix by hand for no more than 2 minutes, then knead according to your recipe. You'll need to decrease the hand-kneading time in your favorite recipes so you don't over-knead.

A dough hook is the best tool you can use to knead dough. It does everything your hands would do, but more quickly. Not only does a stand mixer and dough hook do all the work—but you're more likely to get better results if you use them instead.

For best results, you should only use speed 2. Using a lower speed won't provide enough momentum to knead the dough properly, and a higher speed may quickly overwork the dough.

It's hard to over-knead dough by hand, but easy to do so by machine. Over-kneaded dough will be dense and rip easily, baking into a dense and flat loaf. If over-kneaded, you'll want to start over.

The Poke Test – Give that ball of dough a firm poke with your finger. If the indentation fills back quickly, you're good to go. If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.

A dough hook is a stand mixer accessory designed for kneading bread and certain pastry doughs. The dough hook helps to promote gluten strand development for quick and easy kneading. Depending on your mixer and mixing bowl, the dough hook will be shaped like the letter C or a spiral.

When the dough climbs up the hook, this is typically an indication that the kneading process is complete. A sticky dough will tend to climb the dough hook, and may even climb over the collar of the dough hook. Note that dough that contains eggs tends to be stickier and so climb the hook more easily.

Is it better to knead with a dough hook or paddle? ›

As the name suggests, dough hook attachments are best for kneading together bread doughs and pizza doughs, but they can also be used to mix pasta dough. While this tool is not as versatile as the flat beater attachment, it drastically reduces time and effort spent kneading dough.

As the name suggests, dough hook attachments are best for kneading together bread doughs and pizza doughs, but they can also be used to mix pasta dough. While this tool is not as versatile as the flat beater attachment, it drastically reduces time and effort spent kneading dough.

A dough hook is a stand mixer accessory designed for kneading bread and certain pastry doughs. The dough hook helps to promote gluten strand development for quick and easy kneading. Depending on your mixer and mixing bowl, the dough hook will be shaped like the letter C or a spiral.

A food processor kneads dough faster

A good, sturdy food processor has a powerful motor, often two to three times stronger than a stand mixer's. Compare, for instance, the 720-watt motor on the Cuisinart 14-cup food processor (my preferred machine) to the 275 watts of a standard Kitchen Aid tilt-head stand mixer.

KitchenAid^® commercial stand mixers feature an 8 quart bowl to easily mix recipes with up to 16 cups of flour, 13 dozen cookies or knead dough for 8¼ loaves of bread in a single bowl. They also have 5 and 7 quart bowls for smaller jobs.