Old school baker gave me grief about my mixer

Guy at the county fair last summer saw my stand mixer and laughed. Told me real bakers use their hands and a wooden spoon. I figured he was some grumpy old timer stuck in the past. Tried his technique for a batch of ciabatta and the texture came out way better. Still use my mixer for big orders but I get why he said it now. Anyone else have an old timer tell you something that turned out to be true?

2 comments

2 Comments

samward19d ago

Yeah 'feeling the dough better' is exactly what gets me. Last time I tried hand mixing I ended up with more dough on my apron than in the bowl. My cat still judges me for that one. Did you ever accidentally glove yourself in dough too or am I just that clumsy?

logan_thomas8720d ago

Honestly, the thing nobody talks about is how using your hands actually helps you feel the dough better. When I stopped relying on my mixer so much I started noticing stuff like when the gluten was actually done developing vs just looking smooth on the surface. That ciabatta thing makes sense too because wet doughs can get overworked real quick in a machine. Ngl, old timers might not have the gadgets but they've got a feel for it that's hard to beat.