I am a novice at making bread from freshly milled flour. I have a kitchen aid mixer and am using the dough hook to knead bread. Do I need to:
- Knead it more by hand once I turn it out? how long
- Put it in an oiled bowl to rise for 1 hour?
- Form loaves and let loaves rise again slightly above pan (about 30 minutes or so)?
Most directions I find are for a BOSCH Universal mixer….I'm just not there yet!
Best Answer
Knead it in the machine until it is ready. No further kneading by hand necessary. If you don't know how to recognize dough which is ready, make one small batch with high hydration (75-85%) by hand, kneading without stick prevention (flour, oil or water). Just take the goo in one hand, stretch and fold onto the other in the air, and continue. Try doing it until it actually goes over the best point and starts getting worse (may take you well over an hour). Pay attention to the changes in the dough all the time. Now you will know what good dough looks and feels like. The next time, you can let the mixer mix a small batch until it gets reasonably close.
Put it in a bowl to rise until it has doubled in volume. Don't measure by the clock.
Knock down by hand, back into the bowl, second rising. Again, wait to double.
Form it into the desired shape. You can place it in pans at that time if you're going to bake in pans. For this final rising, wait until it looks ready, time is again not a good criterion. Doubling can happen, or not.
This assumes commercial yeast bread. Sourdough needs a different process.