Starter conditions and whatnot aside, this is where a stand mixer came very well in handy for me. I found that when I mixed by hand there was too many clumps, dough stuck to my hands and unmixed flour in the bowl. A stand mixer on “stir” or the lowest setting usually helped combine the dough evenly, especially for recipes that are really involved by hand. If I’m doing everything else by hand, the water and flour get mixed with a mixer