What equipment do you use for mixing dough?

[GrillinNC]

Fellow pitmasters,
We have been making a lot of pizza lately. My wife usually just used pita bread, but I've started making my own dough, and I've had some success. My question for those who do this also, what equipment do you use for mixing the dough? I don't have a food processor, nor a stand mixer, so it's just the hands for me. The hand method works, but as I watch some different videos, using a food processor or mixer sure does seem to save a lot of hassle. I'm leaning towards trying a Kitchenaid food processor, but hoping folks here can make some suggestions, or offer pros and cons of one way or the other.

Thanks, and I promise to post some pics from my next cook.

[RobertC]

A big bowl, sometimes my hand, sometimes a rice paddle.

[Michael_in_TX]

The KitchenAid is the gold standard, if you will, for home cooks. I am very lucky to have one. It was a wedding gift 24 years ago. We used it once to make cookies and then it sat in a cabinet for two decades until I started making pizzas about a year ago.

It is expensive and somewhat heavy, but the effort saved cannot be overstated, especially if you dislike kneading dough as I do.

I keep looking into getting the meat grinder attachment so I can get more use out of it.

[WayneT]

+1 for frequent home baking but not on a @RichardChrz scale.

[au4stree]

I use my wife’s kitchen aid mixer for all my doughs. The consistency I get from various breads helps. The dough hook is a game changer. Lastly, I bought the stainless meat grinder attachment years ago and love using it for grinding for sausage and burgers. I’ve entertained getting the pro series for more horsepower but always talk myself out of it.

[Kevin Fuess]

Check out Ken Forkish Elements of Pizza. His method you just use your hands. Not at all like kneading bread. Very simple

[MsTwiggy]

This 👆💯 and you don’t need a mixer, instead you invest in some instant yeast and Cambro containers. The rest will take care of itself if you have patience. For super high hydration dough a proofing box would be nice which i haven’t splurged on yet 🔥🔥🐿️

[captainlee]

Yep !

[captainlee]

I forgot one pose.

[CaptainMike]

Naughty boy.....

[captainlee]

You're mind must be in the gutter.

[scottranda]

Kitchen aid stand mixer. I use mine all the time.

[Smoker_Boy]

I sometimes use my KitchenAid, but have moved to using my old bread machine on the "dough" setting.

[CaptainMike]

I use my hands. I like to feel the texture of the dough, it gives me an idea of how it's going to cook. I feel there's a connection and communication between me and the food I'm preparing. I know that sounds a little "Zen", but it's pretty cool nonetheless.

[WayneT]

Alas, I’m just not gifted with this creative ability. I can understand and apply the science all day long, do the window pane test, poke the dough after proofing, etc., but being one with the dough is beyond my artistic capacity. I envy you guys.

[FireMan]

Cap’n Mikes Zen bread, has a ring to it.

[CaptainMike]

WayneT cooking is blending art with science. There's the ingredients, measurements, and thermal dynamics (science), then there is all of our senses and intuition (art). I like this old adage: Knowledge (or science, if you will) is knowing tomatoes are fruit, intelligence (the sum of knowledge, experience, critical thinking and intuition) is knowing tomatoes don't belong in fruit salad.

[RichardCullip]

I use my hands following the 72-hour pizza dough recipe from Baking Steel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_JGETcq0QQ

[Richard Chrz]

I started by using hands, then bought a KA 600, now incredibly happy with my Ankarsrum mixer, but if you only mix a bit, it would be an over kill, but if mixing a lot of dough, it’s top of the line, blows my KA out of the water. But I mix about 30 plus lbs of flour a week.

[Richard Chrz]

DavidNorcross, right, who would have thunk it,

[PaynTrain]

Richard Chrz this one? https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/it...kaAlUrEALw_wcB

[Richard Chrz]

PaynTrain, yep, that’s the one. There are a few others in here that have them as well, we all seem to have the same feeling about them, positive. I love the big metal dough hook, and bowl scraper, plus the direct drive it’s so powerful.

[Grillin Dad]

We make pizza fairly regularly (couple times a month) and I've always used our KA stand mixer. I've never done it by hand, as I'm generally too lazy. Alternatively, I know Cook's Illustrated has several pizza recipes where they use a food processor.

[skip4313]

I have used a food processor and stand mixer. I like the food processor because it is quick. You measure your ingredients into the bowl by weight and then zap it for 45 seconds and done. I usually only do dough for two pizzas at a time for fear of killing the motor. Stand mixer can mix more but it takes longer. I'm going to start mixing by hand according to the Ken Forkish book Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast, which I think will be more fun. Overall I think food processor if fastest/most convenient.

[radiodome21]

KitchenAid Stand mixer and we also have a bread machine that I bought a few years ago that also does pizza dough. It’s a cusinart and is cheaper than our stand mixer. I bought it a few years ago because I wanted to make homemade bread, which I don’t do enough which is a shame because it’s so much better.

[RonB]

I started out making dough by hand for breads, but that got old pretty quick. We already had a nice KA mixer, so I use that now. However, I do do a few turns by hand after using the mixer just to make sure the dough is right.

For pie dough, I use our blender - it came with a dough attachment. Using Kenji's easy pie dough recipe with the blender is hard to screw up, (but not impossible... ).

I make biscuits by hand.

[J-Melt]

I also love my KitchenAid stand mixer! We got it as a wedding gift 10 years ago and I kept saying it was a cheater's tool. I have now repented and admitted that I'm really glad we have it and almost a must for a baking addicted person like me.

We recently got the plastic grinder for it and it does the job. It definitely has it's con's, but having gotten it I think with points from my work's employee benefits hub or with a gift card from Christmas, I'm please with the bang for the buck.

[Smoker_Boy]

J-Melt - Are you referring to a meat grinder??

[J-Melt]

Smoker_Boy I edited it for more clarity. Talking about the stand mixer first, then the plastic grinding attachment in the second paragraph.

[Smoker_Boy]

J-Melt - Well, I'm still dazed and confused.
It's not important. LOL