Over-kneading.

Is there a way to tell if you have overkneaded a dough?
Is there a time when you know when to stop kneading?

And what are the consequences?


thanks,
Dee

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:50:29 -0500, "Dee Randall"
> wrote:

>Over-kneading.
>
>Is there a way to tell if you have overkneaded a dough?
>Is there a time when you know when to stop kneading?
>
>And what are the consequences?
>
>
>thanks,
>Dee
>
>

Howdy,

I don't know about over-kneading, but I do know that kneading is
over-rated...

In fact, for many breads, we are better off with no kneading at all.
Generally, more kneading leads to a finer (smaller hole) crumb. That
is just the opposite of the goal for many breads. I have found that my
mixer (a 20 Quart Hobart) is so efficient, that for many of the breads
I do, it "over-kneads" if I run it only long enough to moisten the
ingredients.

Hydration alone will create the gluten strands we want for bread...

All the best,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

"Dee Randall" > wrote in message
...
> Over-kneading.
>
> Is there a way to tell if you have overkneaded a dough?
> Is there a time when you know when to stop kneading?
>
> And what are the consequences?
>

I know that technically it is possible to over-knead dough and I believe
that Roy addressed this a while back. That said, I doubt that you could
over-knead by hand. Kneading too long in the food processor would soon
overheat the dough and that would cause problems. In Cookwise, Corriher
describes a phenomena that she calls "unmixing." She says that this occurs
when you alternate between fast and slow speeds on a mixer while kneading.
This results in a degradation of the gluten network.

You can see the previous discussion he http://tinyurl.com/ystgm