I had a bread maker and it drove me batty, it was like Schrodinger’s bread box. Put ingredients in, and then no control over what happens. Maybe bread, maybe brick, no way to adjust it. I gave it to the neighbor because it was causing anxiety.
Now, for quite a few years I do make sourdough.(long enough my high school age kids can’t remember before I did) . That is bread making. A long runway to adjust the timing, and really at any point you can throw it in the fridge and go to work, start again when you have time. And plenty of opportunity to touch the dough to understand what it needs. Near 100% success with this, vs. about 60% with yeasted dough and bread maker.
Yeah sometimes I use the mixer, finally got one big and strong enough to handle the 2 kg of dough I am usually working with (for 2 big loaves) and I love it!
But then rest the dough, stretch it a couple of times, let it rise, shape into baskets and either rise again and bake, or retard it in the fridge overnight or even longer, depending on schedule.
I had a bread maker and it drove me batty, it was like Schrodinger’s bread box. Put ingredients in, and then no control over what happens. Maybe bread, maybe brick, no way to adjust it. I gave it to the neighbor because it was causing anxiety.
Now, for quite a few years I do make sourdough.(long enough my high school age kids can’t remember before I did) . That is bread making. A long runway to adjust the timing, and really at any point you can throw it in the fridge and go to work, start again when you have time. And plenty of opportunity to touch the dough to understand what it needs. Near 100% success with this, vs. about 60% with yeasted dough and bread maker.
A stand mixer is just fine. It’s really not the much more difficult to move the dough from the mixing bowl to the oven.
Yeah sometimes I use the mixer, finally got one big and strong enough to handle the 2 kg of dough I am usually working with (for 2 big loaves) and I love it!
But then rest the dough, stretch it a couple of times, let it rise, shape into baskets and either rise again and bake, or retard it in the fridge overnight or even longer, depending on schedule.