On Sat, 31 May 2008 20:49:42 -0500, Janet Wilder
> wrote:

>I do remember giving my challah recipe to a friend. She complained that
>hers didn't taste like mine. I asked her if she kneaded it for a full 5
>minutes and she admitted that she was kneading it in the Cuisinart.
>
>With all due respect to your methods, what works for me, works for me
>and after making the same recipe for more years than I care to admit I'm
>old, I'll stick with mine.
>

Hi Janet,

I wrote nothing intended to convince you to change anything
in you own methods.

If something works for you, of course it makes sense to keep
doing it. (Though, in truth, that makes more sense provided
that you have also tried other methods, and prefer the
results of your initial method.)

My point was that you are suggesting to others that there is
some great significance to "sufficient" kneading, and, in my
opinion, (and based upon lots of experience) that is simply
not true.

There may be differences in taste, but those, I would
suggest, argue for the no-knead methods because they
typically slow down the fermentation, and with that, improve
flavors.

The more obvious difference is in the texture of the crumb.

Generally speaking, the more the kneading, the finer the
crumb, that is, the smaller the holes.

With no kneading, the crumb will typically be more coarse,
that is, will have bigger holes.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."