My thoughts on related to this topic (mostly from reading, not from personal experience):
New kneaders often work too much flour into the dough during the kneading process, just trying to keep the dough from sticking. The result is an overly-dry and dense bread, since the moisture has been absorbed by the extra flour, and therefore is not able to spring in the oven and create a lighter texture.
Artisan-style breads like baguettes and other hearth breads are made with a very wet and sticky dough that can be difficult to handle. Their high moisture content is in some way related to their uneven and very open crumb, but I'm not sure exactly what the relationship is there.
More kneading seems to result in a more even crumb. I believe that more kneading also can result in a lighter bread, since the extra gluten development allows the bread to hold together better during oven spring. The guideline that I've heard is that a 2 lb loaf of whole wheat bread should get 600 strokes of kneading by hand. I have been making 4 lb batches of dough (for 2x2lb loaves), and kneading just half of that (600 strokes, or 300 strokes per loaf) noticeably improved the texture of my bread compared to less-kneaded loaves. The well-kneaded loaves had an even crumb that held together remarkably well when sliced or when butter was spread on it. It wasn't crumbly AT ALL.
If you're kneading in the mixer, I highly recommend kneading at least one loaf by hand. Get somebody to show you how to knead if you don't know how, because it's more than just shoving the dough around. I found hand-kneading to be really informative. One thing I learned was that it takes a surprising amount of manipulation to thoroughly integrate ingredients in the dough. I'd put some flour in, then knead for 100 strokes, and just when I got to thinking that the dough was too dry, all of the sudden, it would get moist and sticky again as I uncovered a "pocket" of wetness that had previously eluded me. Another thing I learned was just what a dramatic difference there was in the texture of the dough as the gluten developed. I currently recognize at least three distinct stages in gluten development: none, which is what the dough is like right out of the bowl; some, which is when it first starts to get tight and "push back"; and enough, which is when the dough gets VERY springy and it takes lots of muscle to really knead it. "Enough" usually only occurs in the last 150-200 of the 600 strokes. I can only imagine what would happen if I did another 300 strokes... I never would have been aware of that if I had been mixing exclusively in the Kitchen-Aid.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2008-02-07 10:09 pm (UTC)New kneaders often work too much flour into the dough during the kneading process, just trying to keep the dough from sticking. The result is an overly-dry and dense bread, since the moisture has been absorbed by the extra flour, and therefore is not able to spring in the oven and create a lighter texture.
Artisan-style breads like baguettes and other hearth breads are made with a very wet and sticky dough that can be difficult to handle. Their high moisture content is in some way related to their uneven and very open crumb, but I'm not sure exactly what the relationship is there.
More kneading seems to result in a more even crumb. I believe that more kneading also can result in a lighter bread, since the extra gluten development allows the bread to hold together better during oven spring. The guideline that I've heard is that a 2 lb loaf of whole wheat bread should get 600 strokes of kneading by hand. I have been making 4 lb batches of dough (for 2x2lb loaves), and kneading just half of that (600 strokes, or 300 strokes per loaf) noticeably improved the texture of my bread compared to less-kneaded loaves. The well-kneaded loaves had an even crumb that held together remarkably well when sliced or when butter was spread on it. It wasn't crumbly AT ALL.
If you're kneading in the mixer, I highly recommend kneading at least one loaf by hand. Get somebody to show you how to knead if you don't know how, because it's more than just shoving the dough around. I found hand-kneading to be really informative. One thing I learned was that it takes a surprising amount of manipulation to thoroughly integrate ingredients in the dough. I'd put some flour in, then knead for 100 strokes, and just when I got to thinking that the dough was too dry, all of the sudden, it would get moist and sticky again as I uncovered a "pocket" of wetness that had previously eluded me. Another thing I learned was just what a dramatic difference there was in the texture of the dough as the gluten developed. I currently recognize at least three distinct stages in gluten development: none, which is what the dough is like right out of the bowl; some, which is when it first starts to get tight and "push back"; and enough, which is when the dough gets VERY springy and it takes lots of muscle to really knead it. "Enough" usually only occurs in the last 150-200 of the 600 strokes. I can only imagine what would happen if I did another 300 strokes... I never would have been aware of that if I had been mixing exclusively in the Kitchen-Aid.