Boulangerie Technique: How to knead dough (2024)

FAQs

Boulangerie Technique: How to knead dough? ›

Lightly flour your hands, work surface, and dough. Using the heels of your hands, gently push the dough away from you in a rocking motion, alternating hands as you go. You want to put some energy into it, to really stretch out the dough. The dough may get sticky as you knead, and that's fine.

Lightly flour your hands, work surface, and dough. Using the heels of your hands, gently push the dough away from you in a rocking motion, alternating hands as you go. You want to put some energy into it, to really stretch out the dough. The dough may get sticky as you knead, and that's fine.

Kneading can be performed by hand (the traditional way), with a mixer equipped with a dough hook, or with a bread machine. In hand kneading, the dough is put on a floured surface, pressed and stretched with the heel of the hand, folded over, and rotated through 90° repeatedly.

The diplomatic answer would be "There is no one correct way to knead dough, but many". That is essentially the truth. Many people knead dough in different ways and they are probably mostly correct. I think a better way to approach answering this question is by examining what the process of kneading achieves.

Take the part of the dough that is closest to you and fold it over the top of the dough. Then use the heal of your hand to push the dough down and away from you. Turn the dough and repeat. Continue kneading for the time specified in the recipe or until you achieve the consistency stipulated.

The Poke Test – Give that ball of dough a firm poke with your finger. If the indentation fills back quickly, you're good to go. If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.

Kneading dough by hand also makes it virtually impossible to over-knead, which will prevent your bread from becoming too dense. The key to unlocking all these benefits lies in mastering two basic kneading techniques: the French Fold and the Stretch and Fold.

To knead the dough, fold the dough in half and rock forward on the heels of your hands to press it flat. Turn the dough slightly, fold it in half, and rock into it again with the heels of your hands. Repeat for 10 minutes, or as long as the recipe tells you the dough should be kneaded.

Fold the dough in half toward you and press down. Then use the heels of your hands again to push down and outward, lengthening and stretching the strands of gluten and dough fibers. Turn the dough about 45 degrees and knead again with the heels of your hands. If it is getting sticky, add a little more flour.

Should You Knead Dough by Hand or in a Mixer? These two methods are the most popular ways to knead dough. (We'll show each technique in detail below). Kneading dough by hand can be messy, and many home cooks add a lot of extra flour, which can compromise the texture of the baked loaf.

What is the kneading massage technique? ›

Summary. Kneading is a massage technique applied with pressure by lifting the muscle in circular and upwards motions. Kneading is used to break down and realign collagen fibres to increase flexibility and range of movement in the muscle. It relieves tensions in the muscle fibres and improves deeper blood.

Smooth Dough – The dough will start out looking like a shaggy, lumpy mass and will gradually smooth out as you knead. By the time you finish, it should be completely smooth and slightly tacky to the touch.

Straight dough is a single-mix process of making bread. The dough is made from all fresh ingredients, and they are all placed together and combined in one kneading or mixing session. After mixing, a bulk fermentation rest of about 1 hour or longer occurs before division. It is also called the direct dough method.