I Knead the Dough wrote:

>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), and their 'Fast Action' yeast, which only requires one "kneading
>and proving".
>
>
>
I'm not familiar with flours in the UK, so I can't comment upon your
flour. However, if your results are similar with both products, I doubt
you need to pay extra for the super strong bread flour. These flours
are generally formulated to allow doughs to tolerate the abuse that is
inherent in an industrial bread making environment. They are intended
to make the ultra-light breads that most people in this forum would
rather avoid.

If you are trying to make a bread as light as the white fluff in the
market, the best way to obtain such a bread is to purchase it. It is
very difficult to duplicate in the home.

>I always follow the instructions to the letter. Kneading takes 10 minutes,
>
>
Oddly enough, the time of kneading is not terribly exact. You are
looking for a resultant dough condition, not to have put in xx minutes
of kneading. Sometimes 5 minutes is enough. Sometimes 20 are
required. With a wheat bread, the windowpane test gives a good
indication that the dough has been kneaded enough. You can google the
windowpane test to spare my a lot of typing.

Also, there are variations in flour from batch to batch. It's not a
chemical produced in a sterile environment. Variations exist between
farms, varieties of wheat, and so on. As a result, using 100 grams of
water and 250 grams of flour will not always give the same results, even
when the brand and type of flour are the same. Note the feel of the
dough, observe how the bread comes out, note the correlations... and
then go for the optimum feel in the dough.

Lastly... for this section.... many beginning bakers add flour as they
are kneading. This isn't bad per se, but it is fraught with peril.
When you add flour, you really need to start your kneading time again.
Also, many people have heard things like, "knead until the dough is
satiny and no longer sticky." The "easy" way to get rid of the sticky
is to add flour. Which leads to a dense loaf. Dough would rather be a
bit too wet than a bit too dry. And sticky isn't a bad thing anyway.
Just get the dough to the point where it would rather stick to itself
than to you or the kneading board.

In the US, home bakers typically measure by volume, which is inherently
inaccurate. So, recipes tell the baker to use "4 to 6 cups of flour".
I suggest that my students stop measuring by volume... but if they can't
break that bad habit, they should start with 2/3 to 3/4 of the flour the
recipe calls for and then grudgingly add more, a tablespoon at a time.
"Pretend you're Ebeneezer Scrooge and flour costs as much as saffron,
the most expensive spice in the world" is what I tell them to get them
into the right mind set. Put the flour on your hands, not the dough.
Suddenly the student's bread gets lighter.

>after which I let it "double in size" (that's *so* specific!).
>

Actually, that is VERY specific. However, many people don't understand
that the doubling should be in volume, not in height. The two may or
may not be related, depending on how the dough is constrained during its
rise. If the loaf is in a bread pan, doubling the height (I assume you
have access to a ruler) doubles the volume. With a free-form loaf, the
length and width can increase at the same time as the height, depending
on the firmness of the dough and how the loaf was formed. In the worst
case with a freeform loaf, doubling the height can mean an increase of
8x in volume. Some people let bread rise in a graduated container so
they can tell when the dough has doubled.

However, doubling is not a holy grail. You want it to rise fully. A
good test is to let it rise until it no longer springs back when poked
with a finger. Or you can gently rest your hand upon it and feel if
there is still tension in the surface of the dough. If there is, let it
rise a bit longer.

>When finished, it looks good, and tastes good. The problem is that it tends
>to be a little . . . . well . . . . "denser" than the uncut loaves I can buy
>from a baker. Nothing wrong with that, as such, but I'd really like to try
>and aim for something a little lighter, while still keeping the great taste.
>
>
Dense has different meanings to different people..... your dense could
be my too light. Your just right could be my too dense. Perhaps you
could elaborate a bit.

>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? Perhaps adding some ingredient that's not mentioned in the
>instructions, like sugar?
>
Sugar is usually added to dough to help feed the yeast. They don't
need it. If the amount of sugar is small, 20 grams or less per loaf,
its yeast food and can be eliminated. Larger amounts are for taste.
And larger amounts can slow the dough's rise.

Lightness and softness of crumb are often confused. Adding milk or oil
will give a softer crumb, but lightness is a separate matter. You may
be after lightness, you may be after softness, you may be after both.
Once you decide upon your goals, it will be easier to fine tune your recipe.

Mike

--
....The irony is that Bill Gates claims to be making a stable operating
system and Linus Torvaldis claims to be trying to take over the world...

Mike Avery mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
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