39
votes
Kneading bread with arthritic hands-any tips?
There are a few options:
Most bread machines have an option to knead/mix only - you can then take the dough out and shape and bake as you would if you were doing things by hand.
You can also get "...
- 14k
25
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose and effect of using knuckles when kneading bread dough?
I don't think that it is really necessary to use your knuckles. Rather, there are ways to knead dough well, and ways to knead dough badly. I have seen ineffective people pinching the dough, or turning ...
- 137k
15
votes
Kneading bread with arthritic hands-any tips?
I found that autolysing the dough before kneading reduces necessary kneading time drastically.
I do the following:
mix flour with water with spoon (just coarse, so that no flour stays dry)
let it sit ...
- 752
14
votes
Accepted
Over kneaded dough: what can I do with it?
In addition to @rumtscho's answer, there is another option:
Dough that has active yeast in it can be used as a starter culture for future doughs. This is the method by which bakers used to propagate ...
- 14k
12
votes
Accepted
Challah Loaf Tearing
That's definitely good, I'd happily have a piece of your Challah.
It looks to me like you under-proofed your dough after you braided it, what you are seeing is a lot of oven spring in action. Next ...
- 75.4k
11
votes
Kneading dough by hand
Time and stretching will do the trick as well. Full on kneading or using a mixer is not necessarily required. There are other techniques, such as "stretch and fold" or "slap and fold", which are ...
- 73.8k
11
votes
What is the purpose and effect of using knuckles when kneading bread dough?
This may not be the primary reason but I have hot hands and my knuckles are noticeably cooler than my palms or even the insides of my fingers. It's less of an issue with dough than with pastry but I ...
- 43.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Long-rising/no-knead enriched breads?
This is a wonderful occasion for a cold rise!
There are two main methods to prepare yeast doughs, warm or cold. The first is probably what you are familiar with - lukewarm liquid, a cozy spot for the ...
- 58.8k
9
votes
Accepted
Should enriched doughs pass the windowpane test?
Yes it should - sort of.
Your observation is right on point, a very rich dough will tear more easily. (I did the same experiment once myself.) But it will still show some characteristics of the ...
- 58.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Tiny beads/flecks of uncooked dough all through my bread
I think the real answer is this: cutting into the loaf too soon is the problem. When it's straight out of the oven it's still very moist and soft inside. A bread knife hooks tiny bits of the bread and ...
- 271
7
votes
Avoiding injuries from kneading
I see two questions here that are connected.
The right height of a kneading surface.
As a rule of thumb, the surface for kneading should be about 10 cm / 4 inches lower than for chopping. You want ...
- 58.8k
7
votes
Making overnight bagels - may have underkneaded, can I knead it tomorrow?
The given recipe is a very dry one - the author points it out herself - and it’s hard to get a good windowpane test with a low-hydration dough.
Gluten develops in two ways, either by kneading or over ...
- 58.8k
7
votes
Accepted
When stretching and folding dough and it gets tight, is that time to let it rest?
In my experience, yes, the stretch and fold is about 3 - 4 times. It doesn't need more than that. I only do 3 to 4 sets of stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart, then leave alone for the rest of bulk ...
- 73.8k
6
votes
Why isn't my dough doubling?
From your comment that the dough does not rise at all, it is almost certain that your yeast is dead.
Poor kneading will not cause the dough not to rise.
I suggest proofing the instant/active dry ...
- 765
6
votes
What are the impacts of common pizza dough errors?
Using old yeast or too much/too little yeast (I assume that using old yeast is the same as using too little yeast?)
Instant yeast is pretty well preserved as it's encased in a starch binder, and I've ...
- 2,765
6
votes
Kneading bread with arthritic hands-any tips?
Adding to the already mentioned, technique similar to those advanced by Hetzberg and Francois in blogs and their 5 Minute Artisan breads require no kneading, in fact most of their recipes and similar ...
- 8,673
6
votes
Kneading bread with arthritic hands-any tips?
There is a technique called stretch and fold that requires remarkably little active kneading time. The way I do it is:
Form the dough into a rough triangle or square.
Fold the corners in twice.
Flip ...
- 605
5
votes
What does it mean when you feel bubbles pop when kneading bread dough?
This is completely normal and actually what you want bread dough to do, the bubbles mean that your yeast is active, and your bread will rise. However, bubbles that are too big can be undesired in your ...
5
votes
Bread baking: dough has little holes after first rise
What kind of whole wheat flour are you using? An organic supermarket near me offers a mill to use on-site, and I once bought a package of wheat and milled it there, to see how bread tastes with ...
- 137k
5
votes
Accepted
Kneading Bread After Rising
The purpose of kneading is to develop gluten in the dough. Gluten is made of long strands of protein — it makes the dough stretchy, so it can contain the bubbles created by the yeast or sourdough ...
- 2,709
5
votes
Avoiding injuries from kneading
Speaking as someone who does a lot of kneading*, not only of dough but of clay as well (where it's called "wedging"), ideally you want your kneading counter a few inches lower than your ...
- 61.4k
5
votes
Large milk dough for pizza; doesn't seem to knead at all
Probably a combination of causes. You're using whole wheat flour, which really does not knead like white flour, even used in moderation with other flour: in addition to having less gluten, the shards ...
- 27.2k
4
votes
Tiny beads/flecks of uncooked dough all through my bread
Keeping to the very simple - if the crust is too brown and the interior is not cooked, the oven is too hot. Reduce temperature, increase time (or reduce loaf cross section; thinner loaves cook faster.)...
- 16k
4
votes
What are some pros/cons of restarting a bread machine mid-cycle?
I'm not familiar with how bread machines even work, so I'm not sure if you mean that you are restarting the cycle and that means that (A) you are just mixing the dough longer, or (B) the dough mixes, ...
- 5,801
4
votes
What is the purpose and effect of using knuckles when kneading bread dough?
The writer is telling you a method for kneading. They can't the skill level of the user.
This is from my knowledge not books:
Fingers only give 8 points of impression, which is a small area.
...
- 41
4
votes
Is there any benefit to mixing bread dough by hand?
You can achieve great results by hand or using a machine, it's a matter of technique. I prefer kneading by hand as it has the advantage that you can feel the texture of the dough change, and through ...
- 75.4k
3
votes
Bread baking: dough has little holes after first rise
Garlic, dried herbs, and the bran of whole wheat can all "poke holes" in your dough. You have gluten, but you also have a bunch of "knife equivalents" poking holes and cutting gluten strands.
You ...
- 16k
3
votes
Accepted
Kneading difficulties with rye flour
Rye and whole wheat flours contain bran and the germ of the wheat, which absorb more water than white flour, so your dough became too dry to stick to the dough hook. I would bet that the bread turned ...
- 75.4k
3
votes
Bread baking: dough has little holes after first rise
Its hard to tell from the photos, but it looks dry. Dough will have holes like that and will tear easily if you make it too dry. If the exterior is dry, you also will need to make sure its covered ...
- 931
3
votes
Accepted
When kneading bread dough, how sticky is 'too sticky'?
Having dough stick to your hands is not a sign of failure.
Stickiness is related to the hydration in your dough, no more and no less. A focaccia dough is going to be very sticky, and it is meant to ...
- 75.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible