June 1, 2013 - 11:17am

Kneading- help!
So I have been baking bread successfully using the no-knead method, where you apply folds (3-4 depending on recipe) but when it comes to actually kneading the dough in other recipes, I am lost. I do all of my measuring by weight, so I don't feel that I have too much of anything, and i autolyse, but after kneading for a short while, say 7 minutes, my dough is very dense, springy, and hard to actually knead. And it doesn't pass the windowpane test. Any suggestions? Thanks
- Elaine
Let it rest for 10 minutes then test it. This will let the dough relax and you probably can stretch it to the thin membrane. I don't bother with the test when I make bread. I think you may have too much flour, if the dough is very dense and hard to knead.
Ford
The weight of water should be 65% or more of the total weight of the flour and that seems to work well.