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Re: Electrolux Assistent in FB Store
After much research, I got my Electrolux on Saturday. After unpacking and washing it, I got my ingredients out to make a 1/2 batch of bread dough, approx 7.5#. Some of the negatives I found on this mixer were people having issues with the 'roller' and large batches of dough, and the dough not mixing/kneading entirely. They had problems with the dough climbing the bowl and sometimes exiting the bowl
Most of what I read was that this mixer was a workhorse and could handle large batches. I found this gem over on at Detailed mixing procedure after 4 years of working with the Electrolux DLX
Here's the info.
From Scottr over at pizzamaking.com
"For years I have been under the impression that to make a really great dough in the DLX you need to finish the mix by hand. I know this sounds strange, but getting my Santos fork mixer and working with it for a while allowed me to go back to my DLX and perfect my mixing methods on that machine. I have learned that it is very easy to under mix in the DLX. It is such a gentle mixer, especially when compared to the Santos which is even more aggressive than commercial mixers. After more than three years of experimenting I finally have what has become a foolproof method for making pizzeria quality dough in the DLX, so I would like to share it with the forum. My typical batch size is based on 1L or 1000g of water. It is important to realize that smaller batches could take slightly less mixing time, and larger batches could take slightly more mixing time to achieve the same desired end result. Still, my guidelines below should cover anywhere from a 750g (water) batch up to a 1250g (water) batch. This methodology is meant to be used with the roller and scraper, not the dough hook attachment.
1) Add 75% of the recipe flour, and everything else in your recipe except for yeast. Stir with a spoon to incorporate, or do a 1-2 minute mix in the DLX stopping when the flour has been mostly absorbed. Let this slurry sit for 25 min or even a few hours if you wish. I have even made some doughs lately skipping this step and have achieved excellent results.
2) After this autolyse stage start the machine again on low and add your yeast. Next, sprinkle flour in the mixer adding larger amounts at first, then moving to a slower dusting as the dough starts to thicken. You want to add right up to the point just before a dough ball is about to form around the roller. You want to make sure as much flour is added as possible while still achieving a nice fluid mix flowing in the DLX. This can take anywhere between 3-6 minutes. Don't worry about gluten development yet because a DLX doesn't develop gluten very fast when set to low speed with a dough this wet.
3) When you are close to seeing a ball form around the roller (end of stage 2) set the timer on the DLX for anywhere between 10-14 minutes (its maximum setting). I tend to go longer with lower protein flours and shorter for high gluten flours. The machine is still on slow speed. I like to come back about 1/2 way through this phase of the mix and slowly add some more flour from time to time. After a few minutes of mixing the dough has more fully absorbed the flour and is ready for a little more. You have to learn how to gauge when it is about to get too dry in there and this only comes with some trial and error. The key is to keep it on the edge of being as dry as possible without adding so much flour that the mixing action slows.
4) After the 10-14 minute mix I like to stop the machine and feel the dough. It is very difficult to teach someone how to identify this dough point without being in the same room. There is a certain elastic quality I am looking for, but not too elastic. There is a certain way the dough resists taring. Anyhow, I more often than not still have an under mixed dough even after 20 minutes with the machine running during stages 2 and 3. If that is the case I turn the speed up all the way and give the dough another minute or two in the mixer. This really smoothes it out and can bring it to a nice elasticity level.
5) At this point I almost always have some recipe flour left to incorporate. Sometimes it's not much, and sometimes its a decent amount (depending on what recipe I am making and what type of flour I am using). I have found that the best way to incorporate the remaining flour is to pull the scraper into the center of the mixer for a second with the machine running on slow, and literally use it to cut the dough in two (or more) pieces. This exposes the inside of the dough mass to the flour that normally just spins around the outside of the ball. If the dough is still on the wet side it sort of fans out more than cutting into pieces. I pour a decent amount of flour in at this point. There is no need to sprinkle in tiny amounts like earlier in stage 3 when you need to avoid letting a dough ball form around the roller. Sometimes I reach in with a spoon or a finger and push the dough ball back down the roller as it tends to climb up. The idea at this stage is to get the remaining flour in there as fast as possible without over working the dough (which is on the edge of being perfectly mixed). It is during this stage where I am incorporating the last bits of flour that I often do a few rests. If you have reached stage 5 and have very little flour left from the recipe there may be no need to do rest periods, but if you are going for a dryer dough and have a lot of flour left you may need to do this in a few stages. I like to add a good amount, cut it into the dough, then rest 5 min before adding more.
I have made it to the point where I no longer measure flour amounts, and go by feel instead. There are definitely days when I need more or less flour to achieve the same desired end result. If you have experience knowing what a fully mixed dough at your desired hydration should feel like, feel free to try my mixing method without measuring any flour at all.
This is a very time consuming and labor intensive mixing process, but the final product I have been able to achieve is of the same quality that I can achieve with my Santos fork mixer which costs more than double the price of the DLX. It is also just as good as what I have achieved with commercial spiral and planetary mixers in professional pizzerias.
I have found that both the DLX and the santos are only really good for making a dough above about 60% hydration. If I have a dough recipe for less than 60% hydration I use my Cuisinart. It is amazing for low hydration doughs. Good luck!"[/
It was spot on for my first use, although I did have the dough rise out of the bowl and make a little mess. Upon further review, it was my fault as I had the roller set improperly. The bread turned out fantastic, and I feel comfortable in saying that I could have made about 50% more without issue in this mixer. I don't think that it will handle the volume of a double batch or 15# of dough without coming out of the bowl. I didn't use the dough hook, as I was following the above, but the roller did a fine job of mixing everything together and the dough was pliable and silky. Since I have a new toy, I made a medium batch of pizza dough Sunday. Used the same procedures above without issue. My dough never felt this good. I don't think it is going to save me time, but I also won't have an issue producing 30# of dough in a morning, and baking in the afternoon.
After much research, I got my Electrolux on Saturday. After unpacking and washing it, I got my ingredients out to make a 1/2 batch of bread dough, approx 7.5#. Some of the negatives I found on this mixer were people having issues with the 'roller' and large batches of dough, and the dough not mixing/kneading entirely. They had problems with the dough climbing the bowl and sometimes exiting the bowl
Most of what I read was that this mixer was a workhorse and could handle large batches. I found this gem over on at Detailed mixing procedure after 4 years of working with the Electrolux DLX Here's the info.
From Scottr over at pizzamaking.com
"For years I have been under the impression that to make a really great dough in the DLX you need to finish the mix by hand. I know this sounds strange, but getting my Santos fork mixer and working with it for a while allowed me to go back to my DLX and perfect my mixing methods on that machine. I have learned that it is very easy to under mix in the DLX. It is such a gentle mixer, especially when compared to the Santos which is even more aggressive than commercial mixers. After more than three years of experimenting I finally have what has become a foolproof method for making pizzeria quality dough in the DLX, so I would like to share it with the forum. My typical batch size is based on 1L or 1000g of water. It is important to realize that smaller batches could take slightly less mixing time, and larger batches could take slightly more mixing time to achieve the same desired end result. Still, my guidelines below should cover anywhere from a 750g (water) batch up to a 1250g (water) batch. This methodology is meant to be used with the roller and scraper, not the dough hook attachment.
1) Add 75% of the recipe flour, and everything else in your recipe except for yeast. Stir with a spoon to incorporate, or do a 1-2 minute mix in the DLX stopping when the flour has been mostly absorbed. Let this slurry sit for 25 min or even a few hours if you wish. I have even made some doughs lately skipping this step and have achieved excellent results.
2) After this autolyse stage start the machine again on low and add your yeast. Next, sprinkle flour in the mixer adding larger amounts at first, then moving to a slower dusting as the dough starts to thicken. You want to add right up to the point just before a dough ball is about to form around the roller. You want to make sure as much flour is added as possible while still achieving a nice fluid mix flowing in the DLX. This can take anywhere between 3-6 minutes. Don't worry about gluten development yet because a DLX doesn't develop gluten very fast when set to low speed with a dough this wet.
3) When you are close to seeing a ball form around the roller (end of stage 2) set the timer on the DLX for anywhere between 10-14 minutes (its maximum setting). I tend to go longer with lower protein flours and shorter for high gluten flours. The machine is still on slow speed. I like to come back about 1/2 way through this phase of the mix and slowly add some more flour from time to time. After a few minutes of mixing the dough has more fully absorbed the flour and is ready for a little more. You have to learn how to gauge when it is about to get too dry in there and this only comes with some trial and error. The key is to keep it on the edge of being as dry as possible without adding so much flour that the mixing action slows.
4) After the 10-14 minute mix I like to stop the machine and feel the dough. It is very difficult to teach someone how to identify this dough point without being in the same room. There is a certain elastic quality I am looking for, but not too elastic. There is a certain way the dough resists taring. Anyhow, I more often than not still have an under mixed dough even after 20 minutes with the machine running during stages 2 and 3. If that is the case I turn the speed up all the way and give the dough another minute or two in the mixer. This really smoothes it out and can bring it to a nice elasticity level.
5) At this point I almost always have some recipe flour left to incorporate. Sometimes it's not much, and sometimes its a decent amount (depending on what recipe I am making and what type of flour I am using). I have found that the best way to incorporate the remaining flour is to pull the scraper into the center of the mixer for a second with the machine running on slow, and literally use it to cut the dough in two (or more) pieces. This exposes the inside of the dough mass to the flour that normally just spins around the outside of the ball. If the dough is still on the wet side it sort of fans out more than cutting into pieces. I pour a decent amount of flour in at this point. There is no need to sprinkle in tiny amounts like earlier in stage 3 when you need to avoid letting a dough ball form around the roller. Sometimes I reach in with a spoon or a finger and push the dough ball back down the roller as it tends to climb up. The idea at this stage is to get the remaining flour in there as fast as possible without over working the dough (which is on the edge of being perfectly mixed). It is during this stage where I am incorporating the last bits of flour that I often do a few rests. If you have reached stage 5 and have very little flour left from the recipe there may be no need to do rest periods, but if you are going for a dryer dough and have a lot of flour left you may need to do this in a few stages. I like to add a good amount, cut it into the dough, then rest 5 min before adding more.
I have made it to the point where I no longer measure flour amounts, and go by feel instead. There are definitely days when I need more or less flour to achieve the same desired end result. If you have experience knowing what a fully mixed dough at your desired hydration should feel like, feel free to try my mixing method without measuring any flour at all.
This is a very time consuming and labor intensive mixing process, but the final product I have been able to achieve is of the same quality that I can achieve with my Santos fork mixer which costs more than double the price of the DLX. It is also just as good as what I have achieved with commercial spiral and planetary mixers in professional pizzerias.
I have found that both the DLX and the santos are only really good for making a dough above about 60% hydration. If I have a dough recipe for less than 60% hydration I use my Cuisinart. It is amazing for low hydration doughs. Good luck!"[/
It was spot on for my first use, although I did have the dough rise out of the bowl and make a little mess. Upon further review, it was my fault as I had the roller set improperly. The bread turned out fantastic, and I feel comfortable in saying that I could have made about 50% more without issue in this mixer. I don't think that it will handle the volume of a double batch or 15# of dough without coming out of the bowl. I didn't use the dough hook, as I was following the above, but the roller did a fine job of mixing everything together and the dough was pliable and silky. Since I have a new toy, I made a medium batch of pizza dough Sunday. Used the same procedures above without issue. My dough never felt this good. I don't think it is going to save me time, but I also won't have an issue producing 30# of dough in a morning, and baking in the afternoon.
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