What to do if you don’t have a Dough Hook?

What can I use as a dough hook alternative?

A dough hook makes your work easier in the kitchen when making bread. A dough hook is an attachment for a mixer with much less contact area with your dough than normal the paddle attachment. This enables you to work with very thick dough without your mixer motor overloading and failing.

Dough Hooks knead your dough.

There are times when you may be using a mixer with no dough hook available.

Don’t fret; we have some tried and true dough hook alternatives.

What Mixers Have or Use Dough Hooks?

All mixer types can use dough hooks:

• Stand Mixers
• Hand Mixers
• Planetary Mixers
• Spiral Mixers

If you don’t have a mixer or the mixer’s dough hook, here are some dough hook alternatives:

Kneading by Hand

Making dough by hand is not something that many chefs and bakers want to do. It’s a lot of work, can take extra time, and may cause the chef to use too much flour.

However, if you are extra careful, hands can come in handy when you do not have a dough hook and a mixer.

It takes about 25 minutes to knead an average batch of dough by hand.

The important thing is to be gentle with your dough. With the dough on a counter dusted with flour, gently press the dough away from you, then lift it by the furthest edge and fold it back towards you.

Repeat this rhythmically for about 25 minutes and the dough will become smooth and supple. You will actually start to see results after just a few minutes.

Once the dough is to the desired consistency (you will know that it is done when the dough is “as smooth as a baby’s bottom”), form a doughball and move forward with your recipe!

Food Processor

Food processors usually include a dough blade. With this attachment, your dough can be prepared in a matter of minutes.

Bread Machine

Most bread machines have a “dough only” setting, which will allow you to make dough with practically no effort at all!

Dough Whisk or Danish Dough Whisk

Also called a brodpisker, dough whisks have a three hoop shape made out of sturdy wire. While still driven by your elbow grease, Danish dough whisks are considered to be the best non-powered tool for dough making. Yes, this is an obscure hand tool for making dough indeed! However it works really well…take a look…

Summary

What to do if you don’t have a dough hook? Try one of these:

• Hands
• Food Processor
• Bread Machine
• Danish Dough Whisk / Brodpisker