You may recognize these 2 kitchen tools. But if you don't -- they are food processor blades. The silver one to the left is the regular chop/puree blade. I use this tool most often in my food processor. The plastic tool to the right is the bread dough blade. It's for mixing and kneading yeast bread dough.
I find this blade to be most helpful when I need to get a loaf of bread made quickly, with minimal time spent on my part. I add the ingredients to my food processor bowl, then mix and knead with this blade. I allow the dough to rise right in the processor. Once it has risen one time, I pulse the processor to punch down the dough. Again, I let the dough rest in the processor while I grease my baking sheet.
The only actual hands-on work that I need to perform with this blade is forming the loaf. French bread is the easiest and fastest bread in my baking repertoire, so I mostly make this variety when I'm using my fp.
The other day, I saw that we were running low on sandwich and toast bread, a staple for those taking their lunches with them during the day. I also knew that I had to leave the house in just over 2 hours (and get ready to go in that same time frame). That's not enough time for me to make whole wheat sandwich bread. However, with my fp and the dough blade, I was able to make a loaf of French bread, from start to finish, in almost exactly 2 hours, using a slightly warm oven to raise the formed loaf before baking. I was also able to do many tasks around the house and get myself ready during that same time period.
I just wanted to share this bit of information about the dough blade because I've had friends say they never knew what that one tool was for. If you don't have a bread machine, but do have a fp with a blade like this, you can bake bread, with minimal hands-on time.
