How Easy is it to Overmix Bread Dough? Can you do it by Hand? - ChainBaker (2024)

FAQs

Can you over-knead bread dough by hand? ›

Letting a stand mixer do the work can potentially lead to over-kneading the dough. It's a lot harder to over-knead dough with your hands, because you get a good feel for the dough, and will notice as the texture changes.

It's possible to under-knead the mixture by a small amount, or over-knead it and still yield a delicious loaf of bread. Doughs usually flop when they are severely under or over-kneaded. That being said, it is quite easy to over-knead dough.

While some enjoy the rhythmic motion of kneading by hand, there are advantages to using a stand mixer. Using a stand mixer takes less time because you can mix and knead the dough in the same bowl. Machine kneading is also easier on the wrists and hands.

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.

If you end up over-mixing or -kneading, you'll notice that your dough flops around when you try to stretch it and feels extremely tight and "bouncy." Over-kneading is common when using a stand mixer to mix your ingredients, so it's especially important to keep an eye on your dough if you aren't hand-kneading it.

On a practical level, it takes up to 25 minutes—and some well-developed forearm muscles—to knead dough by hand, and just about 8 minutes to knead in the stand mixer with the dough hook. However, if you do not own a stand mixer, you can still mix dough by hand and make a good loaf of bread from most doughs.

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

Too much flour can make your dough stiff and dry. And we all know what happens if there's not enough liquid for the yeast to use: It doesn't work how it should. So, be mindful of your measurements and how much flour your dough picks up in the kneading process.

Kneading dough in a stand mixer is more efficient than kneading by hand. The fast, efficient kneading rhythm used in stand mixer bread dough recipes helps develop gluten strands that give structure to the bread when baked.

For example, you'll notice improved texture in your final product due to better gluten formation that occurs while hand kneading. Kneading dough by hand also makes it virtually impossible to over-knead, which will prevent your bread from becoming too dense.

What is the hand tool for mixing dough? ›

What is a Danish dough whisk for? The open, stiff loops of a Danish dough whisk are designed to mix flour into water for bread dough, but it can also be used for folding batter, or stirring porridges or grits. Because the loops are big and open, batter and dough can move between them easily and won't stick.

Depending on the dough, this can take anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes of kneading. Avoid over-kneading, which can make the dough tough. Over-kneaded dough feels tight and difficult to work with. The type of flour, amount of water, and any added ingredients can all impact kneading time.

Knead it two to three times before forming your desired shape or placing it into a bread pan.

Some recipes have you “punch down” the dough one or two times. Some recipes do not have this step at all. If your recipe asks to do it, do it! From my experience making regular yeast breads, I punch down once after first rise and then once again before forming into loaves.

On a practical level, it takes up to 25 minutes—and some well-developed forearm muscles—to knead dough by hand, and just about 8 minutes to knead in the stand mixer with the dough hook. However, if you do not own a stand mixer, you can still mix dough by hand and make a good loaf of bread from most doughs.

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.

The quantity of the dough is often kneaded so that it can last for two days since it is a tedious task to knead it fresh for every meal. But what we need to keep in mind is that the dough remains fresh for the 24 hours. It tends to turn stale when it starts to look greyish-black.

Stretch a section of dough between your fingers. If the dough tears, it needs to be kneaded more. If it stretches without tearing (making a windowpane of sorts), your dough is ready. Once you've determined that your dough has been kneaded enough, it's time to allow it to rest.