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Kneading dough is definitely one of the most labor-intensive activities you can do in the kitchen. Kneading dough thoroughly simply takes a lot of physical effort. There is no other way around it, if you want to knead by hand.
Luckily, bread machines are a great alternative to kneading dough by hand. Bread machines are not made only for baking bread. In fact, they are also very useful when you just need to prepare dough for bread, cake, or any other type of baked goods.
Invalid table id.The 3 Best Bread Machines For Kneading Dough
1. Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker
There is one feature that places the Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker among the best bread machines when it comes to kneading dough: the dual kneading paddles.
Most bread machines have only one paddle for kneading dough, while the Zojirushi Virtuoso and Virtuoso Plus have two.
What’s the difference, you might ask? Well, with the two kneading paddles, the machine can knead the dough much more thoroughly, resulting in dough that looks and feels just like it was kneaded by hand.
Besides the dough setting, the Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker also brings you an amazing range of 14 pre-programmed settings. As we mentioned, this bread maker works amazingly well for making dough, but it also makes beautiful loaves of bread.
For example, you can choose the “European” setting to make light, fluffy, European-style bread (including French bread). There are also nice programs for whole-wheat and multigrain bread, as well as programs to suit any dietary requirements you might have such as Gluten-Free, Salt-Free, and Vegan.
You can go well beyond bread and dough too using the cake and jam programs.
- Various healthy course settings include Multigrain, Whole Wheat, Rapid Whole Wheat, Gluten Free, Salt Free, Sugar Free and Vegan
- Double Kneading Blades thoroughly knead dough for superior results; Dual heaters on the bottom and lid of the bread maker promote even baking and browning
- Rapid courses allow you to bake a loaf of white or whole wheat bread in just 2 hours and 25 minutes
- Large, easy-to-read LCD display with convenient key code on lid simplifies course selection; RAPID SETTING: Use Rapid setting to have your loaf ready to eat in under two and a half hours
- Electrical Rating 120 volts / 700 watts.Cord Length:39 inch
Last but not least, there is the “Homemade course” setting that allows you to customize all of the stages of the baking process to make any custom recipe you want, including custom pizza dough, pasta dough, and a variety of breads with tasty additions.
Now let’s talk a bit more about the technical characteristics of this bread maker from Zojirushi. It includes a baking pan that is quite easy to remove and covered with a non-stick coating. While it’s not recommended to wash the pan in the dishwasher, it is quite easy to clean by hand.
On the top of the unit, you’ll also find a large viewing window that is especially useful when trying out custom settings. We also love the fact that the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus includes dual haters – one at the bottom and one in the lid – for amazingly even baking, although this feature is not really useful when baking dough.
Finally, as a nice extra, you’ll also get some useful accessories when you buy this bread maker. More specifically, you get a measuring cup for liquids, a set of measuring cups that nest together, and a measuring spoon.
When making bread or dough in the bread machine it’s extremely important to measure the ingredients precisely, so these accessories really come in handy.
2. T-fal ActiBread Bread Maker
With 700 watts of power and some amazing features included, the T-fal ActiBread Bread Maker really brings the bread machine game to the next level.
Today we are talking about the best machine for kneading dough, so naturally we looked for bread machines that can knead dough that you can later bake in a conventional oven. The T-fal ActiBread Bread Maker can do just that.
All you need to do is choose the “dough” setting and you’ll have dough kneaded almost as if done by hand.
There is one more thing that is important to consider when choosing a bread machine for kneading dough – what is the size of the batch it allows you to make. With the T-fal ActiBread Bread Maker you can choose between three loaf sizes – 1, 1.5, or 2 lbs.
When just using the machine to knead dough, this allows you to choose which of the three sizes you want to use each time.
Once the dough is kneaded, you can shape it by hand and bake using any kind of heat source you like. However, there is no reason not to let the bread maker bake the dough too unless you’re going for a shape that can’t be made in the bread machine.
If you choose to, we’re pretty sure you’ll like the loaf that comes out of this T-fal bread maker. You can also choose between three different crust settings, so you can have your bread done just the way you like it.
- Gluten free bread maker with 15 programmable settings: Gluten free salty, gluten free sweet, gluten free cake, rapid whole wheat, whole wheat, salt free, super rapid, rapid sweet bread, french, sweet, cooking, dough, cake, jam, and pasta
- 3 loaf sizes (1, 1.5, or 2 pounds); 3 crust settings (light, medium, or dark); 700 watts of power
- Digital LCD display with indicator light; Delay start upto 15 hours; Automatic keep warm
- Brushed stainless steel housing with black accents; Top loading lid with display window; nonstick coated inner pan and handle for easy cleaning
- Includes measuring cup and spoon, hook, kneading blade, and recipe book with 25 recipes
Moreover, this bread machine from T-fal has a pretty good selection of programs. There is a special program for French bread, for example, as well as whole-wheat and sweet bread. If you need fresh bread done quickly you can choose the “rapid whole-wheat” or “super-rapid” cycle.
On the other hand, there are also settings that allow you to make bread according to specific dietary requirements. There are as many as three different settings for gluten-free bread, for example: “gluten-free salty”, “gluten-free sweet”, and “gluten-free cake”
3. Hamilton Beach 29882 2-lb Non-Stick Bread Maker
The Hamilton Beach 29882 2-lb Non-Stick Bread Maker is another great bread maker with a special cycle included only for kneading dough. It is also a really functional and user-friendly bread maker. It has a large display at the top surrounded by large buttons.
Moreover, this bread maker also has a large viewing window at the top. The viewing window is actually really useful, because it allows you to monitor the kneading and/or baking process without having to open the lid and let the heat out each time you want to check.
The Hamilton Beach 29882 2-lb Non-Stick Bread Maker is called a 2-pound bread maker, but this doesn’t mean you can’t choose to make a smaller batch of dough if you don’t need as much.
This bread machine allows you to choose between two different loaf sizes – 1.5 pounds or 2 pounds. Of course, you don’t really have to make a loaf of bread – the size indicates how much dough you will get when you are using the dough cycle.
- FRESH HOMEMADE BREAD IN 3 EASY STEPS: Just add your ingredients to the bread machine, select the cycle and press start.
- YOU CONTROL THE INGREDIENTS & NUTRITIONAL CONTENT: Prepare healthy loaves of bread without preservatives or trans fat using this Hamilton Beach breadmaker.
- VERSATILE WITH 12 CYCLES: Make dough, bake cake, or make delicious mouth-watering loaves of fresh baked bread. Cycles include basic, French, gluten-free, quick bread (no yeast), sweet, 1.5 lb express, 2.0 lb express, dough, jam, cake, whole grain and bake.
- GREAT FOR DOUGH PREP: Prepare a variety of yeast doughs in the breadmaker machine for dinner rolls, pizza crusts, cinnamon buns and more, then bake in a conventional oven.
- MAKE BREAD THE WAY YOU LIKE IT: Choose to make either 1.5 lb. or 2 lb. loaves, and select from 3 crust settings for light, medium or dark crust. Easy cleanup
Now, let’s talk a little bit about the set-up of this bread machine. As most of the bread machines you can find today, this one has a removable baking pan. The pan is covered by a non-stick coating which makes clean-up super easy.
Moreover, unlike most of its competitors, the baking pan in the Hamilton Beach 29882 2-lb Non-Stick Bread Maker is also dishwasher-safe. When you buy this bread machine, you’ll also get two kneading paddles that are dishwasher-safe too.
The machine only uses one kneading paddle at a time, though, but it’s really nice to be able to use one kneading paddle while the other one is in the dishwasher.
Why Do You Knead Dough?
Before we review the three best bread machines for kneading dough, let’s consider a seemingly basic question – why is it necessary to knead dough? It’s true, without kneading (or a lot of time), you can not achieve the same results when baking bread.
This is because the dough needs to be elastic in order to rise and have the right texture at the end. The elasticity of the dough actually comes from gluten, which is formed with the help of physical pressure applied to the dough.
Final Thoughts
What is the best bread machine for kneading dough? The truth is, any good bread machine should be able to knead dough with satisfying results.
After all, the bread baked in the bread machine also needs to be kneaded, right? Nevertheless, we’ve chosen some of the best bread machines available on the market that also perform exceptionally well when kneading dough for our top 3 list.
We believe you can’t go wrong with any one of those, so it’s up to you to choose which one suits you best.
