> wrote in message
oups.com...
> What I continue to see is that the dough gets to the "Ball stage" and
> then no matter how much flour I add it reverts to what might be called
> the "Pre-ball-stage"; meaning that about 25% of the dough is clinging
> to the dough hook while the remainder is in a level mass clinging to
> the sides of the bowl. The part clinging to the hook rotates around
> while the remaining mass doesn't move very much.
>
> Tonight I made my standard recipe ("Honey Whole Wheat from Beth
> Hensperger's 'Bread Made Easy' ") and even though I added 40% more
> flour than the recipe called for the situation described above
> occurred. It reached the "Ball Stage" then reverted back to the
> "pre-ball-stage" within about 90 seconds even though I had given the
> first portion of flour about 20 minutes to hydrate. In other words, I
> added enough flour to the liquids to make a very thick paste then left
> it to hydrate for about 20 mins.
>
> I'm assuming that in order to properly knead the bread it's important
> for it to be in the form of a ball which is being crushed or squished
> by the hook as it rotates ...otherwise there's a danger of a tearing
> action developing if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl while
> the hook is rotating with a small partial doughball clinging to it.
>
> I just can't believe that this isn't happening to anyone else. What do
> you do about it? I even tried to add flour to the sides of the bowl in
> an attempt to keep it at the ball stage but when it gets to 40% over
> the recipe I figured I didn't want to go any further.

It has happed to me. When things go wrong with the mixer, the best thing to
do is to remove the dough and work it by hand. If you are having this
problem on a regular basis, I would try another brand of flour. High
protein flour will absorb more water and you will need less and visa-versa.
In the end, it doesn't matter what the recipe says, it matters what the
dough feel like. If you need more flour and the final product is good, then
use more flour and don't worry about it. I have that book and I don't
recall having any major problems with the recipes, although I do think that
I tend to use more flour than she calls for.