making bread dough in a food processor

[JillC]

I've seen several CL recipes where you can start the bread dough in your food processor. Has anyone done this? Do you use the regular blade or dough blade?
Thanks,
Jill

[Mandy]

I've wondered about this as well. Another question...does it make a mess in the FP? I've had a mess putting dry ingredients in my KA food processor. Maybe I'm just putting too much into it. But would a full bread recipe overfill the FP?

[Shirley Panek]

I've made a lot of bread using my food processor. (I learned this method from the book, Bread in Half the Time (Linda West Eckhardt and Diana Collingwood Butts).)I always use the blade. It never seems to have a problem.

If I have a recipe that calls for making bread in a bread machine (like the Asagio-Pepper Bread (J/F '01?) or really any recipe, here's what I do:

1) I put the dry ingredients in first and pulse.
2) Then I add the fats (i.e. butter) and pulse to mix until the fat disappears.
3) I combine the liquids, and with the motor running add it, holding back a little bit to see if the dough will form a "ball". (I say ball, but it's really like a long oval, that touches both the lid and bottom of the bowl. When the dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl (that's important), I continue processing for 1 minute. I only add the last part of the liquid if necessary.
4) I take it out and knead it for a couple of seconds.

You need to be careful not to let your machine labor too hard while "kneading" - if it does, you may kill your machine (personal experience - didn't kill it, but almost! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif). You can always divide the dough up and knead in batches, then combine when done.

Hope this makes sense! Good luck!

http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
Shirley

[Leslie w]

I make pizza dough in the processor all the time. Takes just a couple of minutes. No mess. My Cusinart book said use the dough blade for recipes calling for more than 3 cups of flour. I usually pulse the dry ingredients w/ the yeast first and then add the wet ingredients in a stream through the lid and mix for a min. Also don't walk away from the processor as it has a tendency to "dance" around on the counter and may end up on the floor! It's not as heavy as a KitchenAid.

[JillC]

Thanks everyone for the great tips! I can't wait to try it out.

[funnybone]

I have not done this, but I would assume a dough blade or hook, as the regular blade would cut the dough up, I assume. If you have a mixer, you are probably better off using that.

[mb]

i am pretty much a dough-novice, but i have used both my KA food processor and KA standmixer to make pizza dough. i had pretty much the same results. just use the dough blade in the food processor, that's all.

[Grace]

I make pizza dough in my food processor all the time. I have used both the regular blade and the plastic dough blade. I haven't noticed a difference at all, so I don't really think it matters. It's soooo fast and easy in the food processor. I highly recommend it.

[chefbec]

I'm with Grace. I've used both blades successfully.