Musings on Mixing…
Jun 28th, 2008 by SteveB
I’m a firm believer that >95% of the problems encountered by bread bakers originate at the mixing stage. The main objective of proper mixing is to develop the gluten sufficiently so that it can effectively trap the CO2 produced during fermentation. Overmixing should be avoided since it can lead to an overly strong dough which can result in a loaf with poor volume and a tough crumb.
It has also been emphasized by many professional bakers that overmixing can also cause the oxidation of compounds present within the dough which contribute to the flavor and color of the bread. While I don’t doubt that this can be a real concern at the commercial scale, where highly efficient dough mixers can quickly incorporate too much air into the dough if left unchecked, at the scale of the home baker I found that I had to look for ways to actually increase air incorporation. At appropriate levels, the air is beneficial in that it contributes oxygen which is used, albeit rather quickly, by the yeast during its aerobic reproduction phase. Small air bubbles in the dough also acts as nuclei for alveoli production during fermentation.
Not having a tabletop spiral mixer on hand (although I hope one day to be the proud owner of an SP5, http://www.tmbbaking.com/sp5.html), I turned to my trusty KitchenAid Pro 6000 stand mixer. Unfortunately, I found my KitchenAid mixer to have insufficient torque to properly mix bread dough and, with either the standard C-hook or the spiral hook, was unable to stretch or aerate the dough to the necessary extent.
I next looked at mixing my baguette dough with my Magic Mill Assistent (no, that’s not a mispelling!). These mixers are now available under the Electrolux DLX name. While the DLX has plenty of torque to adequately stretch the dough, in my hands I still wasn’t able to incorporate enough air to properly develop the small quantity of dough with which I was working.
After trying more approaches to mixing than any sane person would ever attempt (I even went so far as to construct a makeshift spiral mixer with the spiral dough hook of my KitchenAid mixer spinning within the bowl of my DLX), I was finally dragged, kicking and screaming, to the realization that the best technique for mixing small (and not so small) quantities of dough was to mix by hand, using a technique I first learned from Richard Bertinet in his book Dough: Simple Contemporary Breads. This technique can be seen below:
The idea here is to stretch the dough and then fold it over upon itself, trapping air within the dough in the process. When the hand mixing is begun, the dough starts out rough and sticky; resist the urge to add more flour. As the mixing proceeds, the dough becomes more cohesive, smooth and much less sticky. In Bertinet’s words, the dough begins to “feel alive”. Just 10-15 mins. of hand mixing in this fashion will produce a smooth French bread dough with just the right amount of development for a loaf with good volume, a tender crumb and a nuanced flavor.
Great to see this technique being demonstrated in a video. Not having access to a mechanical mixer of any description (and unwilling to make the investment) this technique has been essential for my bread making efforts.
FP
FP, If I knew then what I know now, I would have saved quite a bit of money on mixers. Not only is a mixer not required, but I’ve found that hand mixing produces a far better result than most tabletop mixers (although I’m still intrigued by the possibilities of the SP5 tabletop spiral mixer). I guess old gadget habits die hard.
I have also found this technique to be the best way to get the “silky” look that professional bakers describe. Aside from this method I have only seen dough of this strength made by machine. The only drawback is the inevitable mess on your hands in the early stages of kneading, before the dough decides to stick to itself and not you. Weighing your ingredients to get an exact hydration is also helpful. If after this kind of kneading your dough is still too sticky to work you can always back the liquid off a percent or two.
I forgot to add that the only drawback to this method is the noise. The other tenants in my building don’t appreciate the sound of a couple pounds of dough being slapped against a counter a few hundred times early in the morning. I usually stick to the standard fold and push method if it’s early. It doesn’t make much difference in most breads, but for baguettes it is noticeable.
There is also a helpful video of Mr. Bertinet demonstrating the technique here: http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough
It’s where I first learned it.
cb, Thanks for the link to the Bertinet video on hand mixing. It is quite similar to the video on the DVD included with his book, “Dough”.
I like this method of hand mixing also. You and I have come to different conclusions about the KitchenAid, though; with spiral hook, I find it works just fine for small quantities of dough.
I’m off to give it a try! I’ve got some baguette dough autolysing and I’m going to knead it only with this technique to see how it changes. I’ll let you know if it helps me with the holes!
Jane
Jane, good luck! Remember, the objective is to entrap as much air as possible within the dough while mixing.
OK, I think I’ll just end up in a deep bread depression. The technique is incredible! I loved it, it worked so well . But I wasn’t sure when to stop. I was doing Hamelman’s poolish baguette recipe and he calls for little kneading and then folding. So, I did this technique until it formed a very nice, together, smooth shape. Then I did one fold after an hour.
Well, they seemed ready to go in the oven. I baked them on the stone because I realized that each time I do it in my special baguette pan and that is probably NOT a good idea. They seemed to rise but the ears didn’t form properly. There are some holes but they are still dense. OK, they taste great… but still.
BTW, can you put your recipes in grams? The baguette one is oz. I haven’t looked a the raisin bread yet because we have company and I’m rushing around baking two types of bread, baking a b-day cake and preparing BBQ ribs and a vegetable tian. YIKES!!! Maybe I don’t concentrate on the baguettes enough, they know I’m doing it haphazardly.
Jane
Jane, keep your chin up! I’m sure you’ll get your baguettes to where you want them to be! There are just so many details that need attention when making baguettes. Mixing is one of the more important ones. I find that a tight but gentle shaping, a proper second fermentation time and proper scoring are also key for getting a light baguette with a nice ‘grigne’. I might do a video on scoring in a future post.
I’m just amazed that with five children, you manage to have time to bake any bread at all!
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Just discovered this post of yours, Steve. I’m sorry I hadn’t read it before, I’m going to mention this post in Makanai.
Bertinet doesn’t seem to be the inventor of that mixing method, is he? It seems to me that it is the method taught to the apprentices in France. That’s what Anis Bouabsa recently told me, for example. Do you know more about that?
Steve, I just found a superb video here : http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough
Flo, thanks for the mention in Makanai. I think I can confidently state, and Bertinet may be the first to admit, that this mixing method is nothing new, although it has only recently come to the forefront of artisan baking consciousness. In fact, I saw something very similar being performed during a baking demonstration put on by a representative of the King Arthur Flour Company over 5 years ago. I would venture to say that this mixing method is pretty much in the public domain, with no one person able to claim it as his/her own.
Thanks for the link to the Bertinet video. It is very similar to the video on the DVD that was included with his book, “Dough”.
Steve,
I am about to finally invest in a DLX but see you wrote:
“If I knew then what I know now, I would have saved quite a bit of money on mixers. Not only is a mixer not required, but I’ve found that hand mixing produces a far better result than most tabletop mixers ”
Well, I was wondering:
1. Is there any merits to the DLX or is it catagorically worse than hand mixing?
2. I work in a pro bakery and am aware a lot of muscle and joint issues can be avoided by mixers. Do you find using your DLX at home is easier on your body? Or is baking one or two loaves a week OK without your DLX?
3. While Hamelman advocates slow / minimal mixing and prolonged fermentation sometimes using folding, my understanding is some doughs which benefit from regular and tighter crumb holes (sandwhcih bread) benefit from a longer mix at higher speed … Does the DLX help here?
4. Does the DLX benefit difficult to shape breads (baguettes, pizza?)
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
As my response to your questions would probably take more space than I have available here, please look for my response via e-mail.
Just ran across your blog. Like you, I tend to take a scientific approach to my dough and baking. To me, bread is the perfect mix of chemistry, biology, and physics.
I was interested in this particular post on mixing because there is no mention of a bread machine. Of the three methods, stand mixer, hand mixing, or bread machine, I have not found any method that works better for mixing than a bread machine. I never bake in it; I just use it for kneading. Watching the video on this page, I would have to say that the bread machine’s action produces a similar kind of stretching and folding, an action that is quite different from what I observe in a stand mixer. The stand mixer seems to be rather brutal on dough.
The uncontrolled variable in all my testing is my skill level. Perhaps the bread machine kneads dough so well because I don’t know how to knead dough by hand “correctly.”
Thoughts on bread machines for kneading?
Rick, I’ve never owned a bread machine so I can’t speak to its advantages/disadvantages from a personal perspective. I know of a number of people who, like you, use one just for kneading. I also have a recollection of an old King Arthur Flour catalog where they show the greater loft they get from a loaf by kneading the dough with a bread machine vs. a stand mixer.
I’m of the opinion that for the home baker, of the methods I’ve tried (hand mixing, planetary mixing or DLX-style mixing), hand mixing works best. It is by far the gentlest means of dough development. Perhaps one day, if I can get my hands on a bread machine for a day or two, I’ll be able to make a side-by-side comparison.
I just found your site today, and am very interested and pleased that you found the best way of ‘working’ your dough to be the method used by Richard Bertinet. I use the word ‘working’ because that’s what he calls it, he doesn’t use the term ‘kneading’. I was lucky enough to be a student at one of his bread courses last May, attending his school/kitchen in Bath, Somerset, England. I have both his books, Dough and Crust and find them excellent especially as they both include a DVD, and excellent way of teaching his methods.
I am not an experienced bread maker and find it interesting you say you get the best results by hand mixing as usually I do too, but I didn’t realize it until you mentioned it, but all the breads I’ve made using hand methods DO turn out better than when using my Kenwood mixer. Thank you for that thought!
Hi Jeannette and welcome to Bread cetera!
You are truly lucky to have had the opportunity to attend Monsieur Bertinet’s baking school. Bertinet is performing an invaluable service by introducing this traditional French method of hand mixing to a wider audience of home bakers.
Since this post was written, however, I have worked out a technique for dough mixing using a stand mixer which I find aerates the dough even more efficiently than the hand mixing method described here. This double flour addition technique can be seen here. For those with access to a stand mixer, I highly recommend this approach. I now use this technique almost exclusively.
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Steve
Heres a link to a Julia Child show that demonstrtates an interesting mixing technique for batards and baguettes called “frisage” that employs a slap and fold method.
Its a fairly thourough instructional.
http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/free/baguette.html
(link does not load in Firefox so use IE)
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Hello,
“This technique can be seen below: ”
I can not see the method, could you repair the page please?
Thank you
Daniel, I’ve checked on this end and there doesn’t appear to be a problem with the video. Perhaps you may want to check your browser and your QuickTime plug-in to make sure it’s properly installed.
Hello Steve, I should have tested it wit Firefox, thanks. It never occured to me that IE7 could be allergic to bread.
That woman’s mixing and “frisage” techniques in the Julia child video really look like a pain in the ass. However her variation on the french kneading looks to be good for stiffer doughs. Bertinet’s version of it works well with wetter dough, but I think her’s might be something to switch to when it’s not wet enough to work well with his method.
I want to followup my comment on that frisage technique. It seemed like such unnecessary effort to me. However I recently tried a flour meant to replicate french T55 flour, and found after mixing it together with the water, salt, and yeast, it seemed to form a number of little lumps of flour that didn’t easily blend in, as I’m used to with your typical American flours like King Arthur. With such a flour, I can see that such a frisage technique makes a lot of sense! Funny how “best” techniques tend to be so dependent on the particular ingredients as well as the other techniques we may be using.