to knead
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to knead
To repeatedly press, squeeze, and fold a soft, moldable mass such as dough or clay with your hands.
Bevor der Brotteig gehen kann, muss man ihn kräftig kneten.
Before the bread dough can rise, you have to knead it vigorously.
'Kneten' (to knead) is a transitive verb and almost always needs an accusative object. You always knead 'etwas' (something).
Die Kinder kneten bunte Figuren aus Knetmasse.
The children are kneading colorful figures out of modeling clay.
In this meaning, 'kneten' (to knead) is typically used with moldable materials such as 'Teig' (dough), 'Ton' (clay), or 'Knetmasse' (modeling clay).
Nach dem Töpferkurs musste sie den übrigen Ton wieder weich kneten.
After the pottery course, she had to knead the remaining clay soft again.
To express an intensive massage, the separable verb 'durchkneten' (to knead thoroughly) is often used. It means that the entire area is massaged thoroughly.
Lass dir mal die Schultern richtig durchkneten, dann geht es dir besser.
Have someone really knead your shoulders thoroughly; then you'll feel better.
to mix
'mischen' and 'kneten' can both be used with dough or other soft masses. 'mischen' means that different ingredients come together and combine. This can happen with a spoon, a mixer, or your hands. 'kneten' means pressing, folding, and working a soft mass with your hands. So it describes a specific kind of movement. The words can be confused because when you knead, you often also continue mixing ingredients. When the focus is on combining the ingredients, you say 'mischen'. When the dough already exists and is being worked with the hands, you say 'kneten'.
Meine Freundin knetet den Brotteig zehn Minuten lang mit den Händen.
My friend kneads the bread dough by hand for ten minutes.
Milan mischt Zucker und Kakao, bevor er die Milch dazugibt.
Milan mixes sugar and cocoa before adding the milk.