[I'm redirecting follow-ups to rec.food.baking, which is the best
group for this discussion. My comments are inline below.]

On 2005-09-13, I Knead the Dough > wrote:
>
> This post's about the hand-baking of white bread. I've made quite a few,
> now, and whereas I'm very happy with the *taste* of the finished product,
> it's in the *texture* department that I feel improvements could be made in.
>
> I'm from the UK, and I tend to use the 'Super Strong' white bread flour made
> by the Hovis company (though I've also used the standard-grade stuff by the
> same firm) ...

I'm in the US and know nothing about the particular flour you mention,
but I suspect it is a high-protein flour with strong gluten-forming
characteristics. The problem with this kind of flour for home bakers
is that it is very difficult to fully develop that strong gluten by
hand kneading -- certainly 10 minutes of hand kneading is not even
going to come close to fully developing the gluten, unless you're
quite strong. With good electric mixer with a dough hook, it's a
different story, but if you're hand-kneading, your results with
lower-protein flour may be about the same. High-gluten flours will
also tend to produce tougher, chewier loaves, which may or may not be
what you're after.

One thing you might try to get better gluten development with hand
kneading is to add a rest period to the process. That is, combine all
the ingredients until the dough just comes together, cover it to keep
it from drying out, let it sit 30 minutes, then knead it until it is
smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky. You will find
that this decreases the total amount of kneading necessary.

> ... and their 'Fast Action' yeast, which only requires one "kneading
> and proving".
>
> I always follow the instructions to the letter. Kneading takes 10 minutes,
> after which I let it "double in size" (that's *so* specific!). As it's still
> summer, that usually means I allow it to sit for about an hour-and-a-half,
> at room temperature, before I pop it into the oven for half an hour (230°
> C). In winter, I'll place the dough somewhere warm.

The idea of only one proofing cycle is marketing hogwash. Your loaf
volume, texture, and flavor will be markedly improved if you have one
"bulk fermentation", meaning that the dough rises in a bowl or on the
counter before being formed into a loaf shape (allowed to double, more
or less), then it is degassed ("punched down") and shaped into loaves,
then is allowed to nearly double again in loaf shape before being
baked. Note that for bulk fermentation, the increase in volume
("doubling", or whatever the recipe says) is less important than the
amount of time it takes. Time allows the yeast and enzymes to change
the chemistry of the dough, which has effects on the volume, texture,
and taste of the final bread. The final proof, however, is largely
intended to improve volume by letting the yeast create air pockets in
the loaf before it is baked, which then expand in the heat of the
oven.

Generally speaking, slower and longer fermentation will result in
better bread. Forget about putting it in a warm place, use half the
yeast, let it proof for twice as long, and you'll probably be pleased
with the results. I usually let my doughs sit 8-24 hours in the
refrigerator, in fact, which is a minor complication in the process
but can be used to good effect to make the process fit into your
life's schedule better, at least when advance planning is possible.

> Question is - is this possible? I wonder if a *second* kneading, or
> something, would result in a lighter product? Or perhaps letting the dough
> sit longer?

A second kneading should be unneccessary, although there is a
relatively new movement (or, perhaps, a resurgance of a very old idea)
usually called the "stretch and fold" method, which is in some ways an
extreme version of the mix-rest-knead approach I mentioned above. In
this case, you mix the dough briefly, but never really knead it.
Instead, you let it sit on the counter, and every 30-45 minutes you
stretch it and fold it in thirds on itself, just once, then let it sit
again. There are usually 2-5 repetitions of this process, depending
on the length of the bulk fermentation, and then the loaves are formed
and the final proof goes as usual. This process is especially suited
to the lower-protein flours and very wet, sticky doughs.

On that subject, you will also probably find that texture and flavor
get better with wetter doughs (higher ratio of liquid to flour). Make
it as wet as you can manage -- wetting your hands slightly is better
than flouring them for working with sticky doughs.

> Perhaps adding some ingredient that's not mentioned in the
> instructions, like sugar?

Sugar will not directly improve volume -- in fact it will weigh the
dough down somewhat -- but it will accelerate the yeast activity
(except in extreme quantities, which slows or kills yeast). It will
make the final bread softer and moister, but not any lighter. Ditto
for other enrichers such as milk and oil or fat.

> Anyone else use the basic methodology, above, and get a non-dense result? Or
> is that just the way of things?!

Dense bread, especially white bread, can definitely be avoided, even
without the tools of a professional baker. Some people, of course,
like dense bread, but most of those people are also looking for
whole-grain bread. (I happen to be one of them, not that I can't
appreciate a good white bread now and then.)

Hope that helps.

--
Randall