> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> The bread I'm getting is quite good but remember I'm a newbie so I
> don't claim to be able to judge whether it's a good as it reasonably
> should be.
>
> The reason I believe it should form a complete ball is that I believe
> I'm getting excessive sticking (ie. much of the entire mass of the
> dough -up to a level of about 3" in the bowl- is sticking ...that's
> alot of surface area). I believe that what I'm seeing is a
> considerable amount of tearing of the dough and it's this tearing that
> I'm really concerned about rather than an absence of a ball-shape.
> It's my understanding that proper kneading implies that there be little
> or no tearing.

One thing that I have observed here is that people get upset about the
smallest things. Sometimes it is good to look around and see that people
are starving, there are several wars going on, and our government seems to
think it is fine to torture people. If your bread tastes good, don't worry
about "tearing." It's bread after all, not rocket science.