Bread Making Kneading By Hand

There is no better place to start bread making than by kneading your dough by hand. It gives you a real feel for the transformation that takes place when wheat flour and water are combined. Even if you use a stand mixer or food processor to mix your bread dough or even if you try the no-knead method, you will learn a great deal about bread making from kneading by hand at least once.

Here is a step-by-step illustration of kneading by hand using our recipe for Butter Topped Toasting White Sandwich Bread.

: Place the water into a large bowl. Then add the yeast. Let it sit until the yeast dissolves, for about 5 minutes.

: Add the flour and dry ingredients to the water.

: Stir the flour into the water with a rubber spatula.

: Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula or dough scraper until the flour is moistened.

: Add the melted butter, if your recipe calls for it.

: To knead dough by hand, start by squeezing with your hands to bring it together into a loose ball.

: Continue squeezing and pressing the dough together to pick up all of the flour in the bowl.

: As the dough comes together, rub the ball of dough against the inside of the bowl to pick up every last bit of flour.

: Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly-floured work surface. Here I am working on a silicone baking mat that I’ve dusted lightly with flour.

: Dip your hand the flour. This light coating of flour on my hands helps keep the dough from sticking.

: Press down on the dough without squeezing. Pat it into a flat ball.

: To knead the dough, pick up one edge of the dough and fold it over.

: Fold the dough over onto itself. Repeat the last couple of steps several times.

: Once the dough feels somewhat firm under your hand, start to slap it onto your work surface. This is noisy fun and effective. First lift up the ball of dough.

: Then slap the dough back onto the work table.

: Fold the dough into a neat ball then lift it up and slap it down again. Do this for several minutes.

: When kneading bread dough by hand, time is your friend. Cover the ball of dough with the bowl you mixed the dough in or a with a kitchen towel. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.

: Once the dough rests, the gluten relaxes making it easier to knead. See how much smoother it is?

: Keep folding, turning and pushing the dough until it feels springy under your hand. The dough will be smooth and alive.

: Once the dough feels smooth and springy, place it into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.

: Let the dough ferment and rise in a draft-free place for the time suggested in your recipe. As it ferments, you may see moisture in the dough collect on the plastic.

: After 2 hours, the sandwich bread dough is alive. It has doubled in volume.

: The bread dough is silky smooth as you can see here.

: Press gently on the dough using the fingers on one hand. You’ll see the dough deflate. I press from the outside egdes and gather the dough up into a ball as I am doing this.