How to Knead Bread Dough for Yeast Bread

Making white or whole wheat bread from scratch without a bread machine can be therapeutic. The process of kneading the dough is a stress-buster in and of itself, let alone the smell of the yeast bread once it has come out of the oven. Kneading bread takes a certain amount of effort, and you'll definitely get your hands sticky handling the bread dough. But it's worth it when you want bread that's been truly hand-baked. These instructions for how to knead bread dough are for white or whole wheat bread made with wheat flour.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• White or whole wheat flour yeast bread dough that has been mixed already
• wheat flour for dusting
• clean hard surface
• clean hands
• timer
• clean large stainless steel or plastic or ceramic bowl at least double the size of the dough
• wet towel or plastic wrap
• warm draft-free place (like the inside of a turned-off oven)

1. Dust the clean surface, which can be a counter top or large cutting board, with a light dusting of wheat flour. You can use whole wheat flour to knead bread dough if you like.

2. Roll the bread dough into a ball and put it on the floured area. Dust your own hands with the flour.

3. Set the timer for the length of time the yeast bread recipe specifies to knead the bread dough. This is usually ten minutes for white bread. Yeast bread doughs that are made with 100% whole wheat flour usually need twice the kneading time as white flour bread doughs or bread doughs that have mixed white and whole wheat flour.

4. Feel whether the bread dough has the texture specified in the recipe. Some bread doughs should be soft and easy to handle, others like rye loaf doughs should be quite stiff, while others such as English Muffin doughs might be very wet and sticky. Pat in more flour or water as necessary.

5. Knead the yeast bread dough by pressing one side of the dough onto another side and gently compressing. Kneading is not a violent activity. The idea is not to mix or punch the dough, but to stretch the dough to develop the gluten. Put your whole body into it rather than just your fingers and wrists, or you will quickly develop sore arms.

6. Rotate the dough and knead the dough again. Repeat. Keep kneading this way until the time is up, from five minutes to twenty minutes for 100% whole wheat flour dough.

7. Add a little more white flour or whole wheat flour so you can handle the dough easily if the bread dough is really sticky. But try to add as little extra flour as possible, as too much can make the bread too dry and dense. A better option is to use a dough scraper, which is a flat, blunt utensil you can use to scrape up sticky parts of your dough as you knead your loaf.

8. Stop kneading when the timer goes off and when the yeast bread dough is elastic and "soft as a baby's bottom." (At least, that's the way my mother taught me, and she learned it from her great-aunt.)

9. Form the yeast bread dough into a ball and place it in the greased large stainless steel, plastic, or ceramic mixing bowl. Cover the dough with a wet towel or plastic wrap to keep in the moisture. Put the yeast dough in a warm, draft-free place to rise as per the recipe's instructions.

Tips & Warnings

• The kneading process develops the gluten in the bread. Gluten gives the bread body and allows it to rise, with the help of the yeast or sourdough starter.
• Making bread without a bread machine is more time-consuming, but really rewarding. If you don't have the time to go through the whole process, consider using a bread machine in general, and making bread by hand just when you find it therapeutic!
• Don't add any flour at all to the yeast bread dough for the last half of your kneading time. Adding whole wheat or white flour to the dough late in the kneading process makes for a drier, flatter loaf.

Resources

• The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread