"Bernie" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Your suggestions were very helpful. In fact, I did not knead the dough
> very well as the recipe only called for mixing the ingredients.

Hmpf on your recipe.

You should knead a yeasted wheat-y bread for at least 10 minutes, and 15 is
better. It's hard to overknead dough by hand. Press with the heel of your
hand, then make a quarter turn and/or fold it over. After awhile, you get
into a rhythm. The idea is to stretch the glutens so that the bread can more
effectively rise. You knead until the dough starts to feel satiny, soft,
stretchy. If you poke a hole in it, the indentation remains.

They often say to use a floured board for kneading. I just thoroughly wash
the kitchen counter, dry it, and then sprinkle flour on the counter, and
knead there. When I'm done, the whole counter gets completely re-washed,
this time to get stuck dough off. For me this is less hassle than a floured
board. Others might disagree. Take off your rings, and then flour your
hands, too, so they don't get sticky.

If the dough is too sticky, you can work in more flour. Typically a bread
recipe will say something like "3 1/2 - 4 cups flour" because the exact
amount of flour depends on the humidity of the kitchen and for all I know
the phases of the moon. Yeast breads are much more forgiving compared to
quick breads in terms of the ingredients. But the challenge is to keep the
thing kneaded without packing too much flour into the dough, which will also
make it too heavy in consistency when baked.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky