Frequently asked questions with answers.

 

First of all, two tips: 

1. The first ingredient on the ingredient list should be: PATIENCE. Then the other ingredients. 

2. Never walk away from your machine! The movement of the machine can cause something to come loose or even 'walk' the machine off your workbench and fall onto the floor. A costly repair is then the result. And what is 10 minutes of fun with your dough. A kind of meditation, or moment to come to yourself!

 

 

Question:   

I have a Kitchenaid 5KSM125.......195, how do I know which dough hook, beater or pastry knife I need. 

 

Answer:

Kitchenaid machines actually come in 2 types. With tilting head and with a lift. For all machines with a tilting head you will need for the dough hook the JP12, JP12A or the kit with spring if it is not on the shaft of your machine. This is then the JP12set or JP12Aset. 

 

For the machines with a lift, there are differences in the bowl contents. 5, 6, 7, 8 liters or quarts per bowl. For these machines there is the dough hook JP1, JP1A and JP2..

  

Question: 

Early this year I bought the JP12A dough hook for my Kitchenaid Artisan through your website superdoughhook.com. The hook does its job very well and I am very satisfied with that. The only thing that does bother me is that my dough, especially at position 2, has a tendency to climb 'up' in the dough hook. It can even get so high that the dough gets into the mechanism. My solution now is to simply keep a sharp eye on my Kitchenaid while it kneads while I do something else in the kitchen. If it climbs too much, I stop the device and push my dough back to the bottom of the bowl.

 

Answer: 

You are worried about the dough creeping up with the Superdoughhook, check out the video I made for this. With a little patience, you will see the dough being pushed down again by the vertical action of the Superdoughhook. Check out the video: 

“With some patience/ With some Patience.... SUPERDOUGHHOOK JP12” 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQzcDGITzLY&t=12s

The hydration seems fine to me. You can always play around with the hydration. Water is the best bread improve and your machine will run smoother. First add the liquid as described in your recipe (usually this is 60% by weight of flour) and when it is kneaded, slowly but surely add more. All this with very small amounts, and always feel how the dough is developing. It should feel like your earlobe. 

If you need to clean the shaft, always turn off the machine first!

Cleaning the bottom of your machine, if the dough has crept in there, is very easy if you let it dry. Then you just wipe it off. 

The black fat that is on the shaft is food-safe fat, so it won't hurt your health.

 

A very important tip! NEVER WALK AWAY FROM YOUR MACHINE! We've had a couple of repairs from people that left the machine on its own. And when something goes wrong, for example the bowl comes loose, then you’re the hook gets stuck in the bowl and the whole gear box will break. This is a very expensive repair! Or the machine wanders off the counter and falls to the floor. 

 

As said before, the first ingredient on your list should be: PATIENCE. What are ten minutes in a human life?

 

Question: 

The dough stays on the hook like a ball.

 

Answer: 

I don't have enough information. I suspect you are asking a question about the original c-hook that came with the machine that only has a horizontal movement of the dough. Our spiral dough hook both has a horizontal and a vertical movement and pushes the dough down. See the video: 

“With some patience/ With some Patience.... SUPERDOUGHHOOK JP12” 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQzcDGITzLY&t=12s

This video is for a Kitchenaid but the same effect applies to the Kenwood kitchen robots or any other machine with our Superdoughhook. 

If you do have our Superdoughhook I have the following suggestion: 

First let the flour absorb the water (autolyse). So put the flour and water in the bowl. Mix that roughly  and let it stand for approx. 20 minutes, half an hour and sometimes even an hour (when I forget it). The flour absorbs the water and the gluten network starts to develop. This also means that you do not have to knead so long. Then add the salt and yeast or sourdough. Then knead for a maximum of 10 minutes on position # 2. Number 1 does not cool your machine enough!

A professional baker needs to go to school for a number of years to follow an education. We hobby bread bakers want the first loaf to be perfect....... I still remember my first loaf. I thought it was beautiful but it was a brick!

Another important aspect in bread baking is the protein content in the flour. Cheap flour has little protein (= gluten) and is good for baking cakes and cookies. For bread it must be at least 12%. You can also add separate gluten powder. Available from a supplier for bread baking products,  Take a look at this video about what gluten does: https://youtu.be/zDEcvSc2UKA 

Do you know the bakers formula? That is a standard recipe for making bread. 

The baker's formula for a simple bread is: 

100% flour/flour 

1% dry yeast 

1.5-2% salt 

60-63% water 

3-5% fat (butter/oil) Butter/oil is not included in the hydration and always add when the dough is properly kneaded/window pane test.

I do count egg in the hydration, although opinions differ on this. 

 

You can bake fine bread with a food processor, but if you want to bake a lot of bread, buy a spiral kneader.

 

Question: 

The head of the machine also goes up and down a lot. 

 

Answer: 

That's a normal reaction with this Superdoughhook because it also pushes the dough down, and you may know that every action produces a reaction. You could tighten it up a bit. First measure how much space there is between the hook and the bowl. About one and a half centimeters is sufficient. If you raise the head, you will see a bolt/screw. Here you can set the height of the head. Just look in your user manual. If it is a little lower, the head will also swing less. You have to decide for yourself whether this is still possible. Every machine is slightly different and we have taken an average for the length our Superdoughhook.

 

After 5 minutes, see if you can do the window pane test. Usually that is not enough. Knead some more. Do not over-knead, because then it will become soggy and you can bake pancakes of the dough.

 

Question: 

The dough does not become nice and smooth.

 

Answer: 

We watched the video and I immediately notice that there is butter in the dry matter. The fat of the butter envelops the flour particles, as it were, so that they can no longer absorb the moisture properly. Only add the fat last. By the way, why do you want to add fat? For a loaf you only need 4 ingredients: flour + water + leavening agent + salt. 

Water is the best bread improver. The longer you let your dough rise, the tastier and longer shelf life. 

A tip: Do an autolyse: let the flour absorb the water first.

For that I put the flour and water in the bowl. Mix that roughly and let it stand. A 20 minutes, half an hour and sometimes even an hour (if I forget it). Then the flour absorbs the water and the gluten network starts to form, so that you don't have to knead as long. Then add the salt and yeast/sourdough. You then have to knead a lot shorter to be able to do the window pane test. 

Your dough seemed very dry to me. Normally, 60% of the dry matter (= flour or whole wheat) is water. See the bakers formula above. I always use! a lot more water. I start with 62 to 63% anyway, so on 500 grams of flour 315 grams!!! water (weigh water!!! and don't measure unless you have lab beakers because the kitchen beaker measurements differ a lot!)

Then I let the mixture soak as described above. Then I often add another 50 grams of water with very small splashes. A bit more in the beginning then less and less only drops. The dough may feel a little sticky. It gets less and less sticky the further you knead. Eventually it will feel like your earlobe. Nice and soft. 

The amount of water also depends on the (air) humidity of your flour/wheat. So there is no hard and fast rule for this. Your sourdough also already contains water, so it is more moist as you wrote.

 

 

Question: 

Which food processor do you recommend? 

 

Answer: 

What you should always keep in mind is that every food processor is a compromise between whipping cream/egg whites, making cake batter and kneading dough. 

If you mainly want to knead bread with it, I would go for a spiral kneader. But you can ONLY knead bread with it. It is also slightly more expensive and heavier in weight, so not so easy to put on the counter. 

A matter of making choices. 

 

With the Kitchenaid Artisan you can bake a few loaves a week. Always pay attention to the maximum flour/wheat amount and never faster than setting 2. (Setting 1 does not cool the machine enough).

Your machine also likes some extra water. In addition, water is the best bread improver. The baker's formula says 60% moisture to 100% flour/wheat. I sometimes use 70%. That is quite wet dough, but with 63% or 65% you also come a long way. I then start with the 60% immediately and then little by little 'wash' with water until I find it a fine dough. 

If your choice falls on the Kitchenaid or another food processor, it is an option to buy a Superdoughhook. Check it out at www.superdoughhook.com

 

 

Question: 

What wattage should I take for a Kitchen robot? 

 

Answer: 

The difference in wattage of the different machines doesn't tell you much because it's the transmission of 'power to the dough hook' (ie how it is driven, with gears or with a belt) how strong the machine is. The Kitchenaid is driven through gears and therefore has less power loss. 

I have been using my Artisan for 15 years of which the last 8 years with a Superdoughhook and it still works fine. But…. Never more than 800 grams of flour or 900 grams of wheat and never faster than setting 2. Just look in the instructions for use. The newer machines, I believe, indicate less weight. A Kitchenaid safety. 

NEVER WALK AWAY FROM YOUR MACHINE!

 

If you cannot find the answer you are looking for, we are always willing to answer your questions. We would like to hear from you by phone on *-31-(0)416-336261 or by email. 

 

Sincerely, Jan