Hello,
I bake Challa once a week but suddenly have almost no time on my hands
so I wondering how I can divide up the recipe into stages so I can do
it over a few days perhaps. IT takes me say 20 minutes to mix the
ingredients and then 2 hours letting the dough rise and punching it
down every 20 minutes or so (can this step be left out?), I then shape
the challas and let them rise for around an hour followed by baking.

How important is the punching part? If I didnt' do that I could leave
for the 2 hours and come back afterwards.
Can I freeze the dough after the 2 hour rise. How would I procede to
defrost and continue?
Would it be better to shape the challas first and then freeze?

How much flexibility do I have with this recipe?

Thanks all.

On 19 Oct 2006 07:01:38 -0700,
> wrote:
> I bake Challa once a week but suddenly have almost no time on my hands
> so I wondering how I can divide up the recipe into stages so I can do
> it over a few days perhaps. IT takes me say 20 minutes to mix the
> ingredients and then 2 hours letting the dough rise and punching it
> down every 20 minutes or so (can this step be left out?), I then shape
> the challas and let them rise for around an hour followed by baking.
>
> How important is the punching part? If I didnt' do that I could leave
> for the 2 hours and come back afterwards.
> Can I freeze the dough after the 2 hour rise. How would I procede to
> defrost and continue?
> Would it be better to shape the challas first and then freeze?
>
> How much flexibility do I have with this recipe?

Since I haven't actually seen your recipe, it's hard to say. I've
also never seen a Challa recipe, only Challah recipes.

However, I make a sourdough Challah and the process is something like this:

Refresh the starter
Mix the dough
Let the dough rise for about 2 to 4 hours (this could be retarded by
putting the dough in the fridge for up to a day, after the dough was
out for an hour or so)
Scale the dough.
Roll the dough into strands.
Braid the strands.
Wash with an egg wash.
Let the dough rise for 1 to 2 hours (this can also be retarded by
putting the dough into the fridge for up to 24 hours after the dough
has been out for an hour or so)
When the dough is risen, brush with an egg wash again, sprinkle with
poppy or sesame seeds and bake.

It is not necessary to punch dough down. Ever. Simply folding it or
kneading it has the same effect, but punching it down tends to damage
the gluten structure.

If you have to punch it down every 20 minutes, I suspect you used too
much yeast. WAY too much yeast.

Hope that helps,
Mike

Hi,

I can't tell you exactly, as I don't have your specific recipe, but I
bake a lot of challah. My family loves it, and I also bake for
friends. My specific recipe calls for the dough to rise for an hour
after it is mixed. Once the dough has risen, I then make it into
loaves and let it rise for another hour. When it has risen a second
time, I remove the loaves, brush them with egg wash and bake for 25
minutes in a 350 degree oven. I do have to handle the dough after the
first time, but don't necessarily "punch it down". There are many
challah recipes of course, so many ways to bake them.

In one of the cookbooks I use, there is the choice to mix the dough and
let it rise in the refrigerator over night. I don't usually do that,
but if time is really short, that could spread the work out for you
into a two day process. Also, bread freezes really well, so I often
will bake a double or triple batch and then freeze the leftover loaves
to use the following week. As long as the bread is totally cooled and
wrapped well before freezing, it should keep fine in the freezer.

Hope it helps.

Claire
wrote:
> Hello,
> I bake Challa once a week but suddenly have almost no time on my hands
> so I wondering how I can divide up the recipe into stages so I can do
> it over a few days perhaps. IT takes me say 20 minutes to mix the
> ingredients and then 2 hours letting the dough rise and punching it
> down every 20 minutes or so (can this step be left out?), I then shape
> the challas and let them rise for around an hour followed by baking.
>
> How important is the punching part? If I didnt' do that I could leave
> for the 2 hours and come back afterwards.
> Can I freeze the dough after the 2 hour rise. How would I procede to
> defrost and continue?
> Would it be better to shape the challas first and then freeze?
>
> How much flexibility do I have with this recipe?
>
> Thanks all.