Bread – Are you supposed to get most of the air bubbles out of dough before the second rise

bread

I am confused about the air bubbles in my dough. Some of the recipes that I have say to get most of the bubbles out. I have other recipes that say nothing about the bubbles. The way I understand it the more air bubbles you have the lighter the bread will be. Which will make the holes in the bread. So I was wondering should I try to get most of the bubbles out? Does it really make that much of a difference? I know French bread has a lot of holes in it. But I don't want holes in my loaf breads.

Best Answer

Whether or not to get the bubbles out is a matter of what type of bread you are making. Something with a tight crumb structure, like a milk bread or bagel will probably have a pretty vigorous punch-down before a second rise, but something like a ciabatta might just have a gentle fold.

Any air bubbles left in your bread for the second rise are only going to get bigger (and eventually collapse). If you want a fine crumb, punch it down and get rid of them. If you want an open crumb, try to keep them