Just found this blog and I love reading it! Very informative and fun to read. I have a question on breadbaking in general. I don't have a bread machine, but use a KA mixer. I find I ALWAYS have to add more flour than recipes call for--sometimes much more--or the dough is so sticky it doesn't cling to the dough hook. Any suggestions about what I'm doing wrong? PJ, your photos seem to show that you mix ingredients with the paddle. Do you use the dough hook only for kneading? Also, when I first take my loaves out of the oven, they have a beautiful, taut, domed top. But after cooling for a half hour or so on the rack, the top becomes crinkled or dimpled looking and that smooth dome is gone. Happens with all sorts of breads. I can't figure it out--but the bread tastes great. Thanks for any help you can give me! Hi Carol - Do you use King Arthur Flour? Using other flours, you'll always have to add more than our recipes call for, as they're lower in protein. Also, I've found that many, MANY bread recipes - for whatever reason - seem to have a flour/liquid ratio that's WAY out of whack, much too much liquid for the flour. This shouldn't happen with our King Arthur recipes, as we've made them here using our flour, and make sure the ratio is right. I use the paddle to mix the dough just till it comes together, then I switch to the dough hook. Sometimes, with a dough that's supposed to be sticky (like ciabatta), I stay with the paddle all the way through. And sometimes when I use the dough hook, the dough clings to the side of the bowl, at least partially. And that's OK; I usually scrape it off the sides of the bowl midway through kneading, and then it gradually works its way into being "clingy" again. And that obnoxious dimpling crust... happens to us all the time. ALL of us in the test kitchen. We've never quite figured it out. My best guess is it has to do with moisture migrating from inside the loaf to the surface; you'll notice with a dry loaf, like a baguette, it never happens. It's usually with sandwich loaves, which are much moister. I've had some luck taking the loaf out of the pan, setting it on the oven rack, turning off the oven, cracking the door open a couple of inches, and letting the bread cool completely in the cooling oven. This seems to take care of the moisture evaporation. Hope this helps - PJH

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