The Need to Knead

Remember this post ?

Well. I don't mean to be a show off, but I've learned a little bit since then.

With a little help from watching Laura while I was sick (I love...love...Laura), a bit of Bernard Clayton, and some good old fashioned trial and error, I am now an intermediate kneader of dough.

Yes.

I searched google (probably not long enough) for a how-to-knead pictorial, and could not find one. So, I decided to make one. 

Bread making is exciting and wonderful, but it can leave you with a bit of a defeated spirit if your loaves aren't just as you hoped they would be. Kneading is one the most common reasons why homemade breads don't turn out just right, and it's a very easy problem to fix. So let's go.

1. Start with ball of dough. Table height is best for kneading:

(Make sure you have an apron on that's as fantastic as mine.)

2. Drive heel of your palm into the dough, with determination and gusto! ('Gusto' is a great word. I hope I'm using it correctly because I didn't bother to look it up. I'm stealing it from this super lady. The same super lady that just happens to be gracing us with a guest post tomorrow :) )

(This picture fails to demonstrate 'gusto'.)

3.Turn your dough a quarter turn to the right, and fold top portion of dough into the center:

(Big boned hands work best for the job of kneading.)

4.Repeat Step 2:

Continue steps 1-4 until the dough feels like a clammy (not sweaty) hand. Usually, this means about 10 to 15 minutes of kneading. It is quite the upper body workout, so ditch the fancy KitchenAid and opt to let your guns do the dirty work. It's quite rewarding and you'll feel rather accomplished when all is said and done.

I hope this helps if you've been experiencing less than stellar loaves. There are plenty of other reasons why your bread may not be rising to it's potential- but that's for another post on another day.

XO

thank you, brett, for the lovely photography on this post <3