The Science Behind... kneading

Hello all,

Moving right along in our series, "The Science Behind...", where we break down the process of baking into the component steps and explain why it's important and what it contributes to the overall success of the bread.

In this post, I will discuss:
1. What is kneading?
2. What does it do?
3. When should I knead my bread?
4. How do you do it?
5. How long do I need to knead?
6. When I'm kneading, should I coat my hands and work surface in flour, water, or oil?
7. Can I skip the kneading process entirely?
8. When can I skip it?
9. What is stretch and fold?

Before I get into the what and why of kneading, here is a bit of background about bread.

All wheat bread relies on the relationship of three ingredients: flour, water, and yeast.  More specifically, 1) the relationship between the gluten net created by the flour and the water, and 2) the production of carbon dioxide as the yeast eats the sugars in the flour.  A successful bread is one in which the gluten net successfully traps the carbon dioxide.  These two processes must work in tandem.

Gluten has gotten a bad rap in the news and in our culture, but most people don't know what it is.  Gluten is the long protein strands created when two proteins present in flour, glutenin and gliadin, relax and expand when exposed to water.

Gluten is essential to a successful rise and big holes in your bread, which is why most gluten free bread is dense- the flour does not form gluten strands.  Innovations have been made to GF flour that provide structure in other ways, but it will never have that chewiness that gluten provides.  The gluten strands create a net all around your dough which traps the carbon dioxide released by the yeast, creating pockets of air that result in your bread rising.

1.  So, what is kneading? It's the act of working your dough with your hands or a stand mixer to promote the development of gluten.

2. What does kneading do?   By gently working or massaging your dough, you create a stronger gluten net, and thus more structure and greater rise, as the net is able to trap more carbon dioxide.

gluten is what makes it possible to score your bread in a pretty pattern without it falling apart

3. When should I knead?  There are two situations where you definitely want to knead your bread (I'll discuss when you might be able to skip the kneading process below, in section #7).

1) If you really want that gluten formation either because you are using low-protein flour or want extra gluten formation for a chewy texture, or 2) if you need the gluten net to form quickly because you are adding a lot of yeast to your dough.

• Different breads and different flours require different levels of gluten formation.  For example, you don't want a banana bread to have a lot of gluten formation, because that would make it too chewy rather than soft.  You do want french bread or pizza to be chewy and have structure, so you would want the maximum gluten development through kneading and use a high-protein flour.  You want to knead your  whole wheat dough as well, because whole wheat flour is low in protein so it needs some extra help.
• The more yeast you use, the faster they will eat the sugars in your flour and release carbon dioxide gas.  If you add lots of yeast, you want your gluten net to form right away.  By kneading your dough, you give your dough a head start in forming gluten strands.

4. How do you do it?
There are a lot of theories out there about the best technique.  Pictures simply cannot do these techniques justice.  I'm going to throw out an assortment of videos of different techniques, then tell you what I recommend.  Here is Julia Child's method for kneading her french bread (she starts kneading around 4:03; at 5:22 she accidentally throws her bench scraper across the room!):

A more gentle approach is here, on King Arthur Flour's website:

In both of these videos, the hosts knead their bread on the counter.  But you don't have to!  I'll share my method a little later in the post.

5. How long do you have to do it?
Let's get one thing clear: it is nearly impossible to over-knead your dough if you do it by hand.  There is also no down-side to kneading, if that's your thing. 

However, with two kids, time is precious to me.  In my bread baking, there is no room for extraneous steps.  I just don't have the time to expend the effort on hand-kneading my dough (which is why I never knead my dough unless I absolutely have to!)  If I have to knead my dough, I outsource the job.  First, I let time do some of the work.  After mixing my ingredients, I cover the bowl and let the dough relax for about 10 minutes.  Then, I use a dough hook on my stand mixer and let it go for about 10 minutes on low or medium speed.  If the dough seems sticky, I'll coat the dough hook with oil.  That's it.

Watch the gluten form as the dough hook does its thing.

6. When I'm kneading, should I coat my hands in flour, oil or water?  If you're going to knead by hand, I would say either dry hands or water.  Keep a bowl of water nearby and keep putting your fingers in to keep them wet. People tend to over-flour their cutting board and the dough just absorbs all that flour and becomes dry.  By using dry hands or water, your hands won't stick to the dough and you won't mess up the hydration level of your dough.   It's ok for dough to be sticky.



7. Can I skip the kneading process entirely?  YES!  This is my secret bread ninja tactic.  When no-knead bread catapulted onto the scene in 2006 with this article, I knew my baking would never be the same.  By cutting out the kneading step and letting time do the work, bread baking is more convenient and easier than ever.  I can mix up the ingredients on one day, let the dough sit for 12-24 hours, and bake the next day when I have time.  So easy.

What happens when you don't knead your bread and you leave it to rise for 12 hours?  An amazing thing occurs- the gluten forms NATURALLY.  That's right - given enough time, the gliadin and glutenin react with the water to form long gluten strands by themselves, no man-handling required.

8. When can I skip it?  Basically, any bread can become a no-knead bread.  The only necessary adjustment is cutting the amount of yeast you add, to about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of yeast.  You also might not want to leave a dough enriched with milk and eggs on the counter unrefrigerated for that long. 

Once you let go of the kneading, you'll learn the art of the "stretch and fold."


9. What is stretch and fold?
Stretching and folding your dough, more commonly known as the "stretch and fold," is the way bakers gently encourage the development of gluten without kneading the dough.

It takes a deft hand, but only a few seconds of your time, to perform the stretch and fold.  Then, as far as your dough goes, it's "set it and forget it" for as long as you need.

So what does the stretch and fold look like?

What you'll notice is that both videos I posted above require you to knead the dough on your countertop.  This gives you a messy, flour-y counter that you then have to clean up.  Instead, I stretch and fold the dough IN THE SAME BOWL I MIXED THE INGREDIENTS IN.  Clever, right?

You can see the baker in this video doing the same thing.  Starting at minute 7:30, she uses the tips of her fingers to separate the dough from the side of her bowl, then folds it on top. (bonus- she uses the same bowl showercap hack that I do!)

  
 So, to put it all together:

1. I don't knead my dough unless I have to.  If I have to, I let the dough rest for five to ten minutes after mixing the ingredients together, then I use a stand mixer and a dough hook for 10 minutes or so.
2. For most of my breads, I let time do the work for me in developing the gluten.  I cut down the amount of yeast to about 1 teaspoon so that the yeast isn't going crazy before the gluten net has a chance to develop.
3. Once the ingredients have been mixed together, I let the dough sit for five to ten minutes.  Then I use clean or wet hands to perform a series of folds IN THE BOWL until the surface of the dough feels taut and smooth.

Here are some pictures of the process, using my favorite dough as an example.  It's the simplest dough ever: my 2-3 (or 1-2-3, if you're using sourdough starter) dough, which is 2 parts water to 3 parts flour by weight (hence, 2-3 bread).  Doing some simple math, you can see that 2 parts water to 3 parts flour = 2/3 = 66% hydration.  It also requires yeast and salt to round things out.

You can check out my recipe for 2-3 bread here.

Mix the ingredients together like so.  Fingers are always better than a tool.

At this point, the dough is shaggy.  Set it aside for five minutes.  You will be amazed when you return - the dough has become much smoother during its "bench rest."

See?

 

Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a food-grade showercap and let rise for 12-24 hours.  If your dough is very wet (hydration 80% or higher), you may want to do a second or third series of stretch and folds to make sure the gluten is developing correctly and to redistribute the small amount of yeast throughout the dough.

After the dough has risen, you will want to shape it for its second rise.  But that's another post.  Thanks for reading!  If there's anything you think I've forgotten, please let me know in the comments. 

The Bread Maiden's essential ingredients guide

Hello all,

As a follow-up to my list of tools every kitchen needs, I decided to create a list of ingredients that are useful for many different baking applications.  I'm limiting this list to ingredients that work in breads, rather than ALL baked goods.

For the TL:DR list of ingredients, scroll to the bottom of this post ;)

• To start us off, the most important ingredient in baking... flour.

You can do most things with all-purpose, bread, and whole wheat flours.  If you're feeling ambitious there are other flours to try, such as buckwheat, rye, graham, cake, or pastry flour, but the three mentioned earlier have wide-ranging capabilities.  The other flours are more of an accent.

I wanted a picture of a box of salt but I didn't have one.  So instead here is a picture of our salt cellar which predates me in Mr. Bread Maiden's life

• Next is salt.  I use kosher salt.  Kosher and fine salt are not interchangeable in recipes because fine table salt is going to have a great volume at the same weight as kosher, resulting in a saltier bread.  But that's fine if that's your thing, just be aware of the difference.  Salt is a minor player as far as successful bread goes, but it brightens the flavor, evens out the fermentation, and helps with caramelization during baking.

• Next is yeast.  I buy the bulk container of yeast and store it in my fridge.  I save money buying in bulk because I can choose how much yeast to add to my dough instead of the 2 1/4 teaspoons in each packet.

• Rounding out the list of essential ingredients is water.  Water is important because hydration makes gluten formation possible when the gliadin and glutenin proteins from the flour are exposed to water. The softness or hardness of your water determines how successfully your gluten forms.  The harder your water is, the better the gluten will form.  However, water that is too hard can make your bread dry and need more water than a recipe might call for.  Likewise, water that is too soft can result in a sticky loaf, where more flour or kneading is needed to correct this.

• Next are sugar and honey, our sweeteners.  Sugar aids in fermentation because yeast eat it and release carbon dioxide.  Americans don't tend to like the dark, bitter flavors that are more common in Northern European breads.  By throwing a bit of sugar or honey, whole wheat and rye breads are more palatable.

• Next are milk, butter, and oil, our softeners.  Milk, butter and oil are hydroPHOBIC, meaning they don't contribute to the gluten formation the way water or hydroPHILIC elements would.  Because they don't factor into the formation of the gluten net, they allow the dough to relax during the rising process.  They also give your bread a longer shelf-life.  Use the highest fat content for your milk, butter and oil.  This is not the time or place for fat-free, since that defeats the purpose of adding these ingredients in the first place!  Another benefit of oil is to prevent your dough from sticking to the bowl during the first rise.  By splashing a tablespoon of oil in the bowl and rolling the dough in it to coat the outside of the dough completely in the oil, your dough is free to rise to its greatest capacity.

• Another element that I think is key: eggs.  Besides the yolks, which serve the same emulsifying function as the milk, butter and oil that I mentioned above, the whites also contain protein which helps strengthen the loaf in a similar way to the gluten net made from proteins in the flour.  Another benefit to eggs is that brushing an egg wash onto your loaf before it goes in the oven creates a lovely shiny crust.

• You will also want baking powder and baking soda.  Not so much for yeast breads, but they are good to have on hand for biscuits, Irish soda bread, pancakes, cakes, muffins, cookies, and most other baking applications.

Other ingredients that are not necessarily essential but I think make for good bread are:

• Spices.  In particular I like cinnamon and nutmeg.  These can easily add flavor to an enriched dough.

• Cooked and uncooked grains.  I think these are awesome for providing flavor.  If you have some leftover oatmeal, rice, quinoa or other cooked grain, throw 1/4 to 1/2 cup into your dough before the first or second rise.  If you choose to use uncooked raw grains, they should be quick cooking (you don't want to add something that requires long cooking and then NOT cook it).  Also remember that uncooked grains will absorb some of your liquid so you will want to add more water than the recipe calls for.  You might consider adding the raw grains to the flour, water and salt BEFORE adding the yeast and letting them sit to allow for some water absorption and so you can tinker with it before the yeast gets a chance to go to work.  Peter Reinhart uses this technique (which he calls a soaker) to good effect in his Whole Grain Breads book.

These are "spent grains," a byproduct of brewing beer.

• Seeds.  This includes sesame seeds, flax seeds, poppy seeds or pumpkin seeds.  Again, throw a few tablespoons into your loaf or brush your loaf with egg white and then throw a handful of seeds on top before putting it in the oven.  The egg white will act like a glue to hold the seeds in place.  They are tasty and nutritious.

• Another element that does double duty is stock.  Any kind will do, although I'm partial to chicken stock. Chicken stock is so easy to make; just buy or roast a chicken and boil the carcass for a few hours then strain. It can be used in place of water while adding flavor and a little bit of fat for softness.  Yum!

• Molasses.  This dark syrup can transform your white sugar into brown sugar.  I never have brown sugar on hand because 1) it dries out so quickly, and 2) I can throw 1 teaspoon of molasses into 1 cup of white sugar and have brown sugar in the time it took for you to finish reading this sentence.

• White vinegar.  By adding a tablespoon of this to a cup of milk, I can transform it into buttermilk.  Like molasses, having white vinegar on hand means I have one less perishable ingredient I have to buy.

• Dried fruit.  These really add something to an otherwise unremarkable dough, and can add sweetness without extra sugar.  They go great in muffins or an enriched bread.

Here are some things I don't think are necessary for good bread:

• Self-rising flour.  I like to know what I'm putting in my dough so I can tweak the flavors.  I also want my rising element to be the freshest possible for maximum effectiveness.  Leave this one out.

• Vital wheat gluten.  As you can tell from the name, this ingredient adds a boost of gluten protein to your loaf to assist with the structure.  Some people use it for whole wheat breads baked in a bread machine, since whole wheat flour doesn't have as much protein as all-purpose or bread flour.  However, I feel like my long-rising technique allows gluten to form naturally, and I don't like the taste vital wheat gluten imparts.  Another pass.

I hope you enjoyed my list of must-have ingredients for a well-furnished baking kitchen.  If there's anything you feel I've left out, please let me know in the comments.

And, as promised, here is the list of ingredients, in case you didn't have time to read the post.

Must-haves
all-purpose, bread, and whole wheat flour
yeast
kosher salt
water
milk, butter, and oil
eggs
honey and sugar
baking powder and baking soda

Nice to haves
spices (nutmeg and cinnamon)
cooked and uncooked grains (rice, quinoa, oats, barley, wheat berries)
molasses
white vinegar
seeds
dried fruit
chicken stock

Thanksgiving hangover muffins

Hello all,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My rolls turned out awesome and I hope yours did too!

But enough about yesterday.  Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I always feel a bit sluggish and bloated from all the rich food I ate the day before.

These muffins are perfect for, um, helping your digestive process along.  They have bananas, prunes and whole wheat flour (or wheat bran) which are healthy and helpful.  I also cut some of the sugar so they're (mostly) good for you.

Sorry, I didn't clean my counters before taking pictures.  You know, sluggish.

You will need (for 12 muffins):

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour or wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
2-3 ripe bananas (about 1 1/3 cups), smashed
1/2 cup white granulated sugar + 1 teaspoon molasses (or instead of sugar + molasses, 1/2 cup brown sugar)
6 (or more) tablespoons cooking oil
1 splash vanilla extract
1/2 cup prunes, quartered

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and position an oven rack in the center of the oven.  Line a muffin pan with liners or use butter.

Or hire a lovely assistant like Little Bread Boy to line the pan for you

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and molasses with a fork.  Add the prunes and toss until the prunes are coated with brown sugar.  Use a colander to sift out the prunes, retaining the sugar.  Set the coated prunes aside.

4. To the brown sugar, add the smashed bananas, egg, cooking oil, and vanilla.  Stir to combine with a fork or whisk.

5. Add your brown sugar mixture to the flour mixture.  Use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine.

At this point, take a look at your batter.  Is it watery?  Add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Or does it look like this?

If it looks like this, there's only one thing to do.  Add more oil.  I'll explain why in a "The Science Behind..." post.

I added another 1/4 cup of oil until it looked like this:

I added the prunes then corrected with oil

6. Add the prunes into your batter last.

Now we're ready to bake.  For regular muffins and muffin cups, I use 1/4 cup of batter for each.  As with rolls, it's important for all the muffins to be the same size so they cook evenly.

Taking your 1/4 measuring cup, scoop some batter and then SCRAPE the top of the measuring cup along the side of the bowl so it's a level 1/4 cup.  Then use your finger to get all of the batter out of the cup into your muffin pan.

Now- have you ever made a recipe that called for 12 muffins (or however many the recipe calls for) and you end up running out of batter, or conversely having too much batter left over after filling the muffin tin?  There's an easy way to fix that - using bread (muffin) math!

You want 12 muffins, and you are using 1/4 cup of batter per muffin.

12 muffins x 1/4 cup = 3 cups of batter.

This is easy to check - just pour the batter into a large measuring cup.  Is it about three cups?  You're good to go.  Muffins are very forgiving- taking two minutes to measure your batter is not going to mess them up.

7. Now pop those bad boys in the oven for 18+ minutes.  I say 18+ because the recipe says 18 minutes, but I had to bake them for an additional 5 minutes for them to set up and get a nice brown top.

When they're ready, take them out and let them cool for about 10 minutes.  Then peel the paper off and enjoy your healthy, post-Thanksgiving health tonic in edible form.

If you want to know the science behind these muffins, check out this post!