In short, no, you don’t need a stand mixer to make good sourdough bread. If you’ve read my post about sourdough baking equipment, you’ll probably already know how I feel about this. You don’t really need any type of specialized bread making equipment to make good bread.
The role of a stand mixer is to speed up the rate at which the flour contacts the water, which helps the gluten to develop faster*. It is more convenient and saves your arms from quite the workout. However, the same thing can be achieved by hand mixing. If you knead dough by hand, you are doing the same thing; increasing the contact between the flour and water.
The reason that a lot of bakers chose to get a mixer is because it is much for convenient. It may take a mixer 10-15 minutes to knead a dough to the point of windowpane with a mixer. But, if you were to knead this dough by hand, it may take 25-30 minutes.
This isn’t necessarily the case for all types of dough. Here, I will talk about developing gluten, the different types of dough and more!
Why is gluten so important?
Gluten is a protein that develops in bread when wheat proteins comes in contact with water. This is what we are after in bread making. Gluten strands form a network of fibres throughout your dough. When they are properly developed, you dough becomes strong enough to undergo the fermentation process. During fermentation, the yeast metabolizes the sugars and releases carbon dioxide gas. This gas is what gives your dough rise. The dough needs to be strong enough in order to hold all this gas in*. Think of it as little balloons of dough where the dough walls can stretch as the gas fills it up.
You know your dough is strong if it can be stretched thin without tearing. If you shape a strong dough into a ball, it will hold that ball shape relatively well. A weak dough will be floppy and tear easily. It is almost like a pool of slime. Weak doughs don’t have a nice rise in the oven and are dense.
Lean doughs
A lean dough is one that contains flour, water and salt, like a basic sourdough loaf. These doughs are the simplest ones as they contain only the basic ingredients. Most lean doughs do not require super extensive kneading. In my sourdough recipe, all you need to do is combine the ingredients. The autolyse and stretch and fold are enough to develop that gluten.
This is because the wheat proteins can interact normally with the water without the impact of fats. Extended contact with the water is enough for gluten to develop sufficiently. You will notice in the stretch and fold that after each round, the dough will become smoother and more elastic. Kneading can speed this process up and certainly won’t hurt, but it just isn’t necessary.
What about enriched doughs?
Enriched doughs are ones that contain sugar, eggs, milk and/or fats, like butter or oil. These doughs usually have a soft, tender interior and rich flavour. However, they often require more extensive kneading because the of the effect of these enrichments on the flour proteins. The fats coat the gluten strands and shorten them*. This gives that tender crumb, but it also means you need to knead the dough more to ensure there is enough gluten developed.
It is especially important in an enriched dough to develop enough gluten. Were really need the dough to be strong enough to hold those air pockets, especially now with the added influences of the fats. An enriched dough often needs to be kneaded for a longer period of time. Many bakers will use a stand mixer to do this for two reason. One, an enriched dough is usually much softer and stickier, making it more challenging to knead by hand. And second, an enriched dough takes longer to knead to windowpane.
You can knead an enriched dough by hand, it will just take some patience. The dough may be very floppy at first but just keep working it and it will come together. Adding extra rounds of stretch and folds can also help the process along.
So if you do not have a stand mixer, don’t worry. You can make perfectly good bread, it just may take a bit more time.
Happy baking!