Conference turris::cooks

    I'll tackle the first of your questions and touch on the latter ones:
    
    I've had the small KitchenAid for about six-eight months now, and I
    can't imagine living/working in the kitchen without it. It's the best
    single appliance going; I make bread with it every week and it works
    like a dream.
    
    By all means let the machine do the work for you - just use the dough
    hook and follow the times recommended in the recipes. If you have the
    order card that came with your machine, send off for the KitchenAid
    Cookbook - there are many good recipes in there, including some
    excellent bread recipes. (By the way, if you don't like waiting all
    that time for your yeast dough to rise, here's a neat trick: place your
    kneaded dough in a greased bowl, turn to coat it with the grease, and
    cover the bowl. Put one cup of water in a two-cup measure in your
    microwave and bring it to a boil (about five-six minutes); then put the
    bowl with the dough into the microwave with the water and microwave on
    your machine's lowest setting (on mine it's 10) for 10 minutes. Leave
    the dough in the microwave for another twenty minutes after that, and
    you'll find that it has risen to about double in bulk!)
    
    If you don't have the card to order the KitchenAid Cookbook I'll post
    some of my favorite bread recipes in here for you.
    
    As for the other attachments, the only KitchenAid one I have is the set
    of slicer/dicers. I do, however, have a separate meat grinder which I
    use to make sausage and pates with and I recommend them. Don't know
    about the pasta maker, but it's on my kitchen wishlist.
    
    Good luck, and enjoy!

    Okay, here's one I just tried for the first time last weekend and it
    was FANTASTIC; the taste and texture were really nice.
    
    Cheese Braid
    
    1 cup milk
    1/4 cup water
    4 - 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    2 tablespoons sugar
    2 teaspoons salt
    2 packages active dry yeast
    2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
    
    Combine milk and water in small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until
    liquids are very warm (120 to 130 degrees F). Place 3 cups flour,
    sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl. Attach bowl and dough hook. Turn to
    Speed 2 and mix 30 seconds. Gradually add warm liquids to bowl, about 1
    minute. Continue mixing an additional minute. Add cheese and mix 2
    minutes.
    
    Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until
    dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on Speed 2 for 5
    to 7 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
    
    Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm
    place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
    
    Punch dough down and divide into six equal pieces. Roll each piece to a
    14-inch rope. Braid three ropes together, tucking ends under, to form
    one loaf. Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ropes.
    Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk,
    about 45 minutes.
    
    Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from baking sheets
    immediately and cool on wire racks.
    
    Yield: 2 loaves.

    Here's another for an old New England favorite:
    
    Anadama Bread
    
    2 cups cold water
    1 cup cornmeal
    1/2 cup molasses
    1/3 cup butter or margarine
    2 teaspoons salt
    5-6 cups all-purpose flour
    2 packages active dry yeast
    2 eggs
    
    Combine water and cornmeal in saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir
    until thickened. Remove from heat and add molasses, butter, and salt;
    cool to lukewarm.
    
    Place 4 cups flour and yeast in bowl. Attach bowl and dough hook. Turn
    to Speed 2 and mix 30 seconds. Gradually add cornmeal mixture and eggs
    and mix 2 minutes. Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup
    at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead
    on Speed 2 for 3 to 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.
    
    Place in a greased bowl, turn to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm
    place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
    
    Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf and
    place in a greased 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2-inch loaf pan. Cover; let rise
    in warm place, free from draft, until almost doubled in bulk, about 45
    minutes.
    
    Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. Cover loaves with aluminum foil
    and bake 15 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on
    wire racks.
    
    Yield: 2 loaves.

    And one more for good measure (groan!); it's worth hunting around for
    the rye flour for this one:
    
    Three Grain Braid
    
    1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
    1-1/2 cups rye flour
    5 - 5-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    2 tablespoons sugar
    1 tablespoon salt
    2 packages active dry yeast
    1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
    2-1/4 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
    4 tablespoons molasses
    1 teaspoon caraway seed
    1 tablespoon cocoa
    
    Place 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl.
    Attach bowl and dough hook. Combine butter and water. Turn to Speed 2
    and gradually add liquid to bowl, mixing until blended, about 2
    minutes. Gradually add 1 cup all-purpose flour. Continuing on Speed 2,
    mix for 4 minutes. Remove 2/3 of batter from bowl and set aside.
    
    Add 2 tablespoons molasses and whole wheat flour to 1/3 of batter in
    bowl. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 5 to 7 minutes, until dough clings to
    hook and cleans sides of bowl. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover,
    and set aside.
    
    Place 1/3 batter, remaining molasses, caraway seed, cocoa, and rye
    flour in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 5
    to 7 minutes until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Place
    dough in a greased bowl, cover, and set aside.
    
    Place remaining 1/3 batter and 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour in mixer
    bowl. Attach bowl and hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 5 to 7 minutes,
    until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Place dough in a
    greased bowl and cover.
    
    Note: All three doughs may not form a ball on the hook; however, as
    long as there is contact between dough and hook, kneading will be
    accomplished. Do not add more than the maximum amount of flour
    specified or dry loaf will result.
    
    Let doughs rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk,
    about 1 hour. Punch doughs down; divide each in half. Roll each piece
    into a 15-inch rope. Braid a white, rye, and whole wheat rope together
    to form 1 loaf. Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining
    ropes. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in
    bulk, about 45 minutes.
    
    Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from baking sheets
    immediately and cool on wire racks.
    
    Yield: 2 loaves.

    Just a couple of last-minute hints for you if you're new to making
    yeast breads:
    
    First and foremost: weigh your flour. One cup of all-purpose flour
    weighs four ounces. Get a good kitchen scale and use it and you'll
    never be disappointed by a loaf that's too dry or too moist.
    
    I use my microwave and its' temperature probe to bring my liquids to
    the specified temperatures. Yeast is funny stuff and doesn't like to be
    too hot or too cold; stay within the ranges. As I mentioned earlier, I
    also use the microwave to speed up the rising process.
    
    One other book that I've found very helpful is an oldie that I picked
    up only recently: Beard on Bread, by James Beard. It's got lots of
    useful stuff in there, including the reasons for why you need to do
    certain things in order to make a good loaf.
    
    Enjoy.
    
    	Harry

    On braiding bread (.3 & .5) I've seen and used the following technique
    which is recommended to avoid stretching the bread too much or getting
    a long end.  Start the braid from the middle toward one end and then
    work from the middle to the other end.
    
    ed

    Hello, Joanne.  I've never used my Kitchen Aid for bread, but now
    refuse to live without it!!!  I don't make bread that often, but use
    the mixer for every single thing you can mix!  I even carry it over to
    my parents' house (actually, I carry it to and from the car!) so they
    can use it at the holidays.  It's a tight schedule - we work for weeks
    before Christmas scheduling available days for the Kitchen Aid (it's
    kind of like trying to get a conference room in MRO1).
    
    DIR/TITLE=BREAD showed a *ton* of notes!  Some were for gingerbread and
    shortbread, of course, but there were an awful lot.  SHOW KEYWORD
    BREAD/FULL gave what looked like a thousand notes!  I've printed many
    in the past, but have only tried one, and it was fantastic and easy!
    
    It's note 325, Hawaiian Bread (which is really Portugese Sweet Bread). 
    It is excellent and easy.
    
    Have fun.  You and Harry have convinced me to use my Kitchen Aid for
    bread making!
    
    Susan

I've recently returned to French breadmaking with a passion, but this time
around I've got a KA.  Some tips:

I proof the yeast, then mix all ingredients together with a spatula until they
form a mass.  I let this hydrate for five minutes, then begin the kneading with
the KA (usually on #3.) I adjust flour/water to get the correct consistency; I
do it by feel, so I don't measure the flour accurately. For French bread, you
should be able to pinch a bit without it sticking, but if you leave it pinched
for a few seconds, it should stick to your fingers.  When the machine kneading
is done, I turn it out on a board and knead 50 turns by hand.  This is because
the mixing done by the machine is not thorough; this step produces a dough
comparable to hand-kneaded.

As far as pasta goes, the KA is limited to macaroni-type products; you can't
make lasagne or ravioli.  I have a similar extrusion-type machine, and it's not
the real thing at all; the consistency's not correct and it turns out uneven.

As far as the meat grinder attachment, go for it! The food processor definitely
loses here.  You can grind meat for sausage using the coarse plate, thereby
making it as lean as you wish. Ditto for ground beef for any purpose.  Cheaper
and fresher than anything you can buy. I use mine a lot. Lechmere sometimes
puts them on sale.

John

  I got my holiday gift a little early this year - when Lechmere's had their
sale on Kitchenaid mixers a few weeks back!

  I am now a very happy owner of a 5-quart heavy-duty Kitchenaid mixer!!

  I've noticed that when the mixer is pushing around something that's giving
resistance, there's a regular clicking noise - is this standard behavior?

--Sharon

    I don't get any noises from my 5 qt KA.  Thinkest thing I've made with
    it was double anbd triple batches of bread dough.
    
    ed

    	I have the same machine, I think the noise may becoming from the
    	bowl hitting the spring latch in the back center..
    
    	Frank

    
    I get no noises either - no matter how thick the dough.
    Hmmm.
    
    

    Hi Sharon -
    
    Congratulations! I got my KA last year for Christmas, and it changed
    my life  -- really. I never made bread before; now I make it almost
    every week.
    
    Did you get an order form for the KA cookbook in the box? I ask 
    because my husband sent away for it for me twice and never received
    the book. There's no phone number to call, so he finally gave up.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Kate
    

    re: .18:  The mailorder KA cookbook is about 4 times bigger than
    the wire bound one that comes with the KA.
    
    ed

  I called the Kitchenaid Customer Service number last night.  Spoke to a 
really friendly fellow who said that the clicking noise that I hear when
kneading dough is absolutely normal.  I commented that it would be useful
to indicate this in the instruction booklet - he said that there are
A LOT of things it would be useful to put in the booklet about expected
and unexpected behavior, but the company doesn't agree.  (I can understand,
given my experiences with Digital documentation ;-)

  So, I can now use my mixer without furrowing my brows in concern about the
health of my baby!!

--Sharon

    
    In general, (I'm speaking in generalities, because I don't
    know the Kitchenaid line of products) professional mixers,
    processors etc. are designed for heavy use.  All day, every
    day.  Domestic lines are not intended for that kind of work,
    and the motors can burn out if pushed beyond their limits.
    
    Domestic lines are adequate for most of your home use, even
    all day occaisionally, or every day for a little while.  If
    you're trying to start a business out of your home, and will
    be relying heavily on your mixer, buy a professional one from
    the start.  I think I burned out 4 mixers in a year when I 
    first got started!  (I _thought I was saving money!)
    
    dm
    
    

I don't think anyone really answered the question  regarding the pasta
attachment for the Kitchen Aid. Does it work as well as a hand crank
pasta machine?  Has anyone compared?  Thanks!

    I don't think any machine that extrudes noodles does as well as 
    a roller machine.  I had a lot more problems with noodles
    sticking to each other as they came out of the nozzle.
    
    ed

    as one who has tried the KA pasta attachment I'll simple say that
    my hand pasta mnachine is not close to retirement.
    
    -kevin
    

When I use my Kitchen Aide Pasta maker, the motor gets "really" hot.  I mean
probably enough to fry an egg on.  Therefore, when I use the pasta maker I 
try to take many breaks during the process to let it cool down.  For that
reason, I wouldn't buy any other attachements.  It might just be my machine,
or the style of my machine, which is the 4 1/2 Qt.  Anyone else have that 
problem?

Debbi

    Extruded pasta makers (pushing pasta through holes) heats up any motor.
    I think the Kitchen Aid can take the beating more than my cuisinart
    (which smelled like the motor was burning).
    
    ed

I'd think that the Kitchen Aid and the roller-type pasta machine would
make a perfect pair - let the KA mix/knead the dough and then use the
roller machine to make the noodles. (I hate hand kneading my pasta dough.)

-Jack

Or Food Processor and Roller-style Pasta machine.   Ingredients to cooked
pasta in 15 minutes.

--Sharon

    Rather late advice but we just bought the pasta attachment for the
    Kitchenaid and the directions explicitly state that the machine needs
    to rest between batches of pasta making.  I believe it said to let the
    machine cool for an hour or so....
    
    
                <<< PAGODA::DUB19:[NOTES$LIBRARY]COOKS.NOTE;5 >>>
                         -< How to Make them Goodies >-
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Note 2211.27      Kitchen Aid for Bread Making and Pasta Making         27 of 30
AKOPWJ::LANE "Don't assume I'm all I ever will be..." 8 lines  16-JAN-1992 16:11
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When I use my Kitchen Aide Pasta maker, the motor gets "really" hot.  I mean
probably enough to fry an egg on.  Therefore, when I use the pasta maker I 
try to take many breaks during the process to let it cool down.  For that
reason, I wouldn't buy any other attachements.  It might just be my machine,
or the style of my machine, which is the 4 1/2 Qt.  Anyone else have that 
problem?

Debbi

#1 daughter and I used the KA for pasta this past week and I was less than
impressed. I followed the directions in the pasta plate box to the letter
and found several problems.

The recipe calls for adding all ingredients to the bowl, beating on 2 (I
think) with the flat mixer for a mere 30 seconds and then beating with
the dough hook for two minutes (also on 2, I believe). This is to be
followed with 30 seconds of hand kneading. Well, none of these cycles
was anywhere near long enough and I bore the brunt of it in the hand
kneading. I've used the KA to knead dough for my roller machine in the
past and never needed to worry about following any timing guidelines -
I just let it run till I had a solid elastic mass. I wanted to follow the
directions just to see how well it worked - a waste.

Anyway, in extruding the dough (1 recipe) the machine did heat up quite
noticeably about half way into the batch. I ran it on empty for a few
minutes just to get some air circulating in the motor without a load
and that cooled it down enough so that I could finish the batch. The
extrusion process itself seemed pretty good. I was using the fine
spaghetti disc and the noodles were uniform. I didn't experience a lot
of sticking. The cooked pasta was OK but not exceptional. I really think
that the rekneading that takes place with the roller machine contributes
a lot to the texture of the pasta.

I'll be somewhat hesitant to try it for pasta again, although I would
like to see how macaroni turns out - especially since that's impossible
on the Atlas-Marcato. Next time I'll use my own judgement on the machine
kneading times.

Has anyone used the grinding attachment for meat grinding? How well does
it handle that load? (I'd guess better.)

-Jack