The growth echoed so loudly by means of my small condominium, I actually jumped in shock. And I knew instantly what had triggered it: my longtime stand mixer.
I had left it to knead a batch of challah dough, and once I stepped into one other room, the over-taxed mixer wobbled and shook and ultimately walked itself proper off the counter, crashing into the ground with great drive. That’s once I lastly admitted the reality to myself: This stalwart mixer wasn’t the most effective software for kneading bread dough.
However fortunately, my fellow employee-owners had clued me in to a stand mixer that was as much as the duty: the Ankarsrum Authentic Stand Mixer. This highly effective Swedish equipment has a novel design harking back to an expert spiral mixer, with a big, secure base and extensive bowl. In case you’re used to a normal mixer design like a KitchenAid, it may be slightly disorienting at first — I used to be actually thrown off. Nevertheless it’s that unconventional design that makes this mixer so nicely suited to bread dough.
As a result of the motor is on the base of the machine, reasonably than the highest, the mixer is way steadier — it may possibly deal with even the stiffest bread doughs, which gained’t trigger it to wobble and shake throughout vigorous kneading. The identical goes for enriched doughs that take a very long time to knead, like brioche. And it may possibly simply deal with a lot bigger quantities of bread dough with out a lot as a shiver, good when you’re a big-batch bread baker seeking to scale up recipes with ease.
Pictures by Danielle Sykes; meals styling by Liz Neily
As a result of the motor is on the base, the mixer rotates from the underside, reasonably than the highest, and the bowl’s opening is unobscured. Because of this, you possibly can clearly and simply see your bread dough because it mixes, which is particularly useful since visible clues are so important to nice bread. It’s additionally a lot simpler so as to add substances to the dough because the machine mixes.
However how, precisely, does this machine knead? As a substitute of the traditional curved dough hook attachment, the Ankarsrum consists of two attachments for kneading bread dough: an elongated wire hook and a tubular, ribbed dough curler. I discovered the latter attachment, a novel form that I’ve not seen replicated in different stand mixers, to be an extremely light approach of kneading dough that mimics the motion of hand kneading: It presses the dough towards the facet of the bowl in a clean rolling movement, growing energy in your dough with out tearing. (The accompanying bowl scraper, in the meantime, ensures all the things is nicely built-in and no dry substances find yourself on the backside of the bowl.) The machine ensures completely kneaded doughs each time, with sufficient energy to seize carbon dioxide throughout proofing and rework into strong, ethereal breads.
Talking of proofing: One tiny-but-mighty element of this mixer is its accompanying bowl cowl. This accent means I can knead my dough within the mixer bowl, then slip on the duvet and let it proof immediately within the bowl. (And everyone knows how essential a correct hermetic bowl cowl is for excellent bread!)
The Ankarsrum, after all, shouldn’t be solely constructed for making bread dough: It’s additionally fitted to anything you’ll use a stand mixer for, similar to cookies, truffles, and even no-churn ice cream. (Be taught extra on this earlier publish: How a mixer made me a greater (and extra assured!) baker.) At round $750, it’s an funding. However when you’re a passionate bread baker who often turns to your stand mixer to get the job performed, this machine was made for you.
The Ankarsrum is available in a variety of colours — and it at the moment has free delivery!
Ankarsrum Authentic Stand Mixer
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