I have a brand new KitchenAid 5 qt that I use mainly for making Rose’s incredible soft white bread. The problem I have is this: in the KitchenAid manual, it states quite firmly that you should never knead yeast bread at anything more than a level 2. But Rose suggests to knead it on level 4, and it does make a difference in the dough. Oh man, the dough kneaded at level 4 is incredibly soft and pliant. Exactly the best bread dough you’ve ever seen.

The dough kneaded on level 2 is almost as good, but not quite. If you want it to be that good, you have to use level 4.

So the question I have is this: if I use level 4 am I going to kill the motor in my baby as the manual states so firmly, or is it going to be all right?

Help!

BeeMama

Sadly, KA will only warranty their mixer if you follow their guidelines.  Search the blog, there has been quite a bit of discussion on this.  You might also like to visit the KA website - the same topic has been discussed there as well. http://www.kitchenaid.com.

Ok, so the question is…do I do it the 20 minute way, or do I trust in my baby to do all right with a 10 minute foray into 4? It does make for a hotter engine, but not really that much, and I have heard no straining.

Mind you I wouldn’t do this with any wheat bread or rustic bread doughs. I am only looking (so far) to use it on 4 for the incredibly soft sandwich bread.

So what do y’all think?

BeeMama

I suppose that will up to you to decide.  I haven’t had any trouble mixing bread dough on speed 2 in my new KA… it takes a little longer, but the newer KAs don’t seem to be as sturdy as the older ones, so I personally don’t want to push my luck.  However, I wouldn’t hesitate a moment to mix on speed 4 with my 12 year old KA.

Patrincia is correct, and this issue has been discussed many times.

The 5qt Artisan doesn’t have a speed limit that I know of for kneading bread, if it does then it is an updated users manual.  The user manual that came with my mixer doesn’t!  So I do go to speed 4.

The 6qt does have a speed limit of 2 for kneading bread, and it is stated on the users manual.

Make friends with your local kitchen aid repair center.  It isn’t too expensive to repair your KA, and parts are readily available since these are the most sold machines.  The 5qt Artisan has nylon gears, which makes them more flexible but less powerful.  The 6qt has metal gears which are more powerful but get grinded when abused.