Making bread by hand

[Major Nikon]

I really like making bread completely by hand, and by hand I mean no machines or even implements to work the loaf. It's actually very easy to do once you get the hang of it and there's not really a lot of work to it. This recipe makes 2 loaves, but all the ingredients listed are in grams so it's easy to scale up or down as you like.

There's a few items which I use to do this. None of them are required, but they do make things much easier.

I really like the Cambro polycarbonate tubs. I do all my mixing, folding, and rising in this tub. It will greatly cut down on your mess and cleanup. Even if you use other methods, these work great if nothing else but a great vessel for your dough to rise. The markings on the side make it easy to judge how much your dough has risen. You can find these at most restaurant supply stores. Make sure you get the lid as it's sold separately.
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/cambro-rfscw6-camwear-6-qt-clear-round-food-storage-container/214RFSCW6.html

For most of my breadmaking, I bake inside of dutch ovens. I've found the 4qt size works best. If you already have a different size, you can certainly use it. You may want to adjust the size of your loaf to accommodate or your loaf could be too tall or short. For instance, for a 6qt dutch oven, scale the recipe down by 75% for one loaf, or 150% for two.
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Pro-Logic-P10D3-Dutch-4-Quart/dp/B0001DJVGK

I use cane bratforms to do my proofing. You certainly don't have to use them. A bowl lined with floured cheesecloth or linen works fine. However, provided you flour them liberally (and I mean very liberally) they work great and also give your finished loaf a very nice appearance. You want to match the size of the bratform to the dutch oven you are using. Simply measure the inside diameter of your dutch oven at the bottom, and buy that size bratform. The 8" size fits the 4qt dutch oven above perfectly. I generally do two loaves, so I have two of these.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006J7JWHU/

Ingredients:
1000g A/P flour
720g water
21g fine salt
4g instant yeast (if you can't find instant yeast, rapid rise is fine)

After the dough is mixed, you want it to be about 76-77F. If you miss this temperature by a few degrees, don't worry about it, but take note and make adjustments next time. 76-77F is ideal. In order to do this, heat your water to about 85-90F.

Mix the flour and water until just combined and allow to sit for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle the yeast and salt over the dough. To mix the ingredients use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the dough about 5 times along it's length about 1" apart. Fold the dough over and do it again. I do this for about 2-3 minutes. Cover and let sit for another 20 minutes.

I don't do any kneading, but I will fold the dough a few times. This is done by grabbing the dough on one side, stretching it until just before it starts to tear, and then folding it over on itself. After each fold, rotate about 1/4 of a turn and do it again until you've done about 4-5 folds. Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes, and then repeat. I will do this about 3-4 times.

Let the dough rest until tripled. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this will take about 5 hours but go by volume, not time.

Gently turn the dough out onto a floured surface. The idea is you want to keep as many of the bubbles inside the dough as you can so don't work it any more than you must. Divide the dough into two loaves, form into a ball, and place into a well floured bowl or bratform. Cover with plastic wrap and a rubber band or if you have any left over produce bags, place the bratform inside and tie. For a 70F kitchen, proof for 75 minutes. If your kitchen is a bit warmer or colder adjust the time somewhat to compensate. For a 75F kitchen, proof for about 60 minutes. If you only have 1 dutch oven, you can either scale down the recipe for 1 loaf, or just put one of the loaves in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. By the time the first loaf is done, the 2nd one will be ready to bake.

About 45 minutes before the proofing is done, heat the dutch ovens in a 475F oven.

Remove the dutch ovens and lids. Remove each loaf from the bratform, invert it, and with both hands hold the loaf just over the dutch oven and drop inside as gently as you can without burning yourself. If it's not perfectly centered, don't worry about it. It's better not to try and move it.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lids and bake for another 20 minutes.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. Like you, I prefer use my hands for breadmaking, but lately the mixing of the dough aggravates

the arthritis in my hands. I've used a stand mixer the last couple of batches I made for mixing and kneading, but I need more practice with that method. It's too easy to add too much flour when you don't actually feel the dough and I wasn't real happy with the results. I might start using the mixer just for the early mixing and finish the kneading by hand.

I made bread this past weekend with my 4 yo great-granddaughter. I let her help me knead and shape the dough and she told me that she "likes to push bread around". She enjoys helping Granny cook.

[Major Nikon]

2. I have a bit of arthritis in my hands as well

Probably not as bad, though. I just don't get in a hurry with it. The pincer method takes a few tries to really get it down. All of the action is being done with your thumb and forefinger, which doesn't seem to bother me all that much like gripping things with my entire hand. However, most of my arthritis seems to be more on my outside knuckles.

If you measure everything closely by weight with a good kitchen scale, you shouldn't have problems with too much or too little flour. I used to believe that you had to adjust the amount of flour based on the humidity, but I figured this was really due to measuring errors on my part when trying to go by volume instead of weight. Professional bakers go by hydration percentages in their dough. This one is 72%. Even very small changes in the amount of flour will throw off your hydration percentage, which is why bakers went by feel back in the old days. With cheap and accurate kitchen scales now readily available, this is not the problem it once was.

All of the bread I make is no knead. Kneading works the dough more vigorously for gluten development and is more suited for when you want to use more yeast for faster rise times. If you use less yeast and let the dough rise more slowly, kneading is not required because the yeast do it for you. Folding just allows the gluten to develop layers which strengthen the dough. What's really nice about folding every 20 minutes is you really get to feel the changes in the gluten structure as the dough develops.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Kneading bread dough is tough on kitchenaid mixers

Last edited Tue Apr 15, 2014, 04:12 PM - Edit history (1)

but it's just as tough on older hands, and unlike the hands, the plastic gear inside the mixer is cheap to replace.

[Major Nikon]

5. I have a kitchenaid mixer, but I don't use it to make bread anymore

When I first heard about making bread completely by hand, I was a bit skeptical because I knew how much work the machine was doing for me. However, once I found out the proper method to do it completely by hand, I wouldn't want to do it any other way (short of a commercial dough mixer which is a very different animal than a kitchenaid mixer).

Kneading is really an unnecessary operation. Yeast and time have an inverse relationship. The less yeast you use, the more time it takes for the dough to rise. If you use an entire packet of yeast to make one or two loaves, then you're going to have to knead the dough because the shorter rise time won't develop enough gluten. I prefer to just let the yeast do the work for me. Dough that rises slower also develops more flavor (up to a point).

Like professional artisan bakers, I separate my mixing into two different operations. First I mix the yeast and the water just enough to incorporate the two. After 20 minutes, the flour will absorb the water and make mixing the yeast and the salt much easier.

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. I'm going to have to try your recipe.

bookmarking.

[Major Nikon]

8. As mentioned downthread, pick up a copy of Flour Water Salt Yeast

It explains all the methods in great detail and is accompanied by some great youtube videos.

[Auggie]

4. You sound like Ken Forkish

I've been baking my way through his book, "Flour Water Salt Yeast." Your post is identical to his methods, which I also really like. It makes fabulous bread.

[Major Nikon]

7. That's it

I've tried a number of different methods and read a lot of books by various bakers. I like his methods the best by far. He does a great job of explaining commercial artisan methods and tailoring those to the home cook.

What I really like about his book and methods is that once you get them down, you can very easily develop your own recipes using different types of flours.

[Auggie]

9. My only problem is I'm eating too much bread

[Major Nikon]

11. I wind up giving most of it away when I really get on a baking kick

If you haven't tried making sourdough using his method, be sure and give it a try. I no longer have a starter going right now, but I'll probably start one up again sometime this spring. I was even making rye pancakes with it at one point.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/115724348

[Auggie]

14. Sourdough will be coming soon

White bread with 80% biga is next -- might begin tomorrow afternoon. I'll use some of that for pizza too.

Recent effort (I think this is 10% whole wheat). That dutch oven makes the best damn crust ever.

[Major Nikon]

15. I always throw at least a little whole wheat flour into the mix

About 10% rye or buckwheat flour makes the dough just a bit sticky and a little easier to fold.

I learned a few things from using his method to make sourdough. I generally use King Arthur flour for baking, but to feed the starter I use the cheapest a/p flour I can get. I wait for it to go on sale and then buy in bulk. Then I use a mix of 80% of the cheap stuff and 20% rye flour for the daily feedings. You will go through a lot of flour feeding your starter, so make sure you stock up before you begin.

Another trick when you are beginning your starter is to fill a pitcher of water and leave it on the counter overnight. After a few hours the chlorine content drops to near zero. Using chlorine free water seems to get your culture going a bit faster and should result in a useable culture about a day or two faster than you'd get otherwise. In the morning I just measure it out and heat it up in the microwave to get it to the target temperature.

[Auggie]

16. Mmmm … never considered the chlorine content

First starter I made (last year) was following techniques advocated by Peter Reinhart. Reinhart called for springwater which sounded odd to me, but now I know why. Thanks for the tips.

[Warpy]

10. My arthritic hands made me need a Kitchen Aid.

The Danish whisk, while helpful, turned out to be much better for mixing things like feather light meatballs and terrines.

The Kitchen Aid does all the bull work and I retrieve the dough once it's no longer sticky and do the final couple of minutes of kneading by hand, the most tactile and wonderful part as the dough turns into a living thing.

I do agree about Dutch oven baking, the crust is sublime.

However, people do what they can and some people can only manage to dump a package of mix into a bread machine. While you and I would find it unrewarding in terms of process, they find it rewarding in terms of product.

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. I hear that. Food is for eating. I find it entirely unrewarding in terms of process.

That said, bread machine bread is not rewarding in terms of product and isn't *that* much easier than the kitchenaid variety.

[Warpy]

13. The machines eat counter space and I don't have any in my 1946 kitchen

The mixer shares a shelf on a baker's rack with a food processor and two pottery vases full of cooking gear.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

17. On a similar note

I have been making my own pasta by hand. I use only eggs, egg yolks and flour -- I start with 250 grams of flour, 3 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs (reserve the whites). The exact ratio of flour to eggs can vary, depending on the weight of the individual eggs, the size of the yolks and the humidity in the kitchen.

I can tell by feel if the dough is too wet or too dry. If it is too wet, I add flour; if too dry, I add some of the egg whites by teaspoonfuls. One thing to point out is that it is impossible to over-knead pasta dough.

Let the dough rest before rolling it out: 15 minutes is the bare minimum, half an hour is even better, and I have seen recipes calling for two hours. I just put the dough on the counter and put an upside-down bowl over it so it won't dry out. The reason for the rest is not to "relax the gluten", but rather to let the flour absorb the liquid.

I do use a pasta rolling machine, an Atlas 150 that I've had for years. It does an excellent job, quite quickly. Make sure the pasta dough is well floured so it does not stick to the rollers. DO not immerse the machine in water to wash it, this will rust the gears.

[Major Nikon]

18. I do use the machine for pasta

I had a manual pasta roller that I used for years, but it got to be too much of a hassle to get one of the kids to turn the crank. I bought the set that hooks up to the Kitchenaid and I really like it.

[csziggy]

19. I used to make my bread by hand alone

Mostly because I didn't have a mixer strong enough to do more than mix the starter.

I'd mix the yeast, sugar (when included) and wet ingredients in a large stainless steel bowl, then stir in flour until it got cohesive enough to turn out on a well floured board. Then I'd knead in the rest of the flour and work the dough until it was the right consistency.

Back then I didn't have a recipe or a set routine. I just made my bread by feel and instinct. It was good bread - just right for sandwiches and toast and spectacular for French toast the few times there were left overs.

Then one of the horses snatched my arm and destroyed my rotator cuff. I couldn't mix the bread at all for over a year and got out of the habit of making bread. Years later I stopped at a thrift shop and they had a bread machine for $10 so I bought it. I let the machine do its thing exactly once. After that I let it mix the dough and keep it warm through the first rise, then did a little hand kneading and put the dough in bread pans for the second rise. It wasn't as good as my early bread, but it was better than store bought.

One day I found a KitchenAid mixer on Craigslist for $40 - I had to spend another $40 for a dough hook, but making bread with it is better than making bread with the bread machine. But since getting my new knees in 2012 I haven't gotten back in the habit - while recovering from the knee replacements, the carpal tunnel syndrome got acute and I've had both wrists done plus ulnar nerve relocation. Making bread by hand even with the machines to help has not been on my list of things to return to.

But your post reminds me of how much I loved it. Maybe I'll try it again soon!

[Major Nikon]

21. Here's a couple of videos which demonstrate the method

If you try to mix all the ingredients at once by hand, it can be physically demanding, but using the methods described it's not bad at all. It doesn't particularly bother my arthritis to do this, but I've never had to worry about carpal tunnel or shoulder injuries, so I don't know what kind of affect that will have. Keep in mind there's a rest period of about 20 minutes between these two operations. The first incorporates the flour and water and the second incorporates the yeast and salt.

[csziggy]

22. Thanks

These days I am not interested in doing anything that will re-stress my wrists and hands. I have far too many other things that use them to wear them out on bread making. While my shoulders and wrists have been repaired, I've simply lost too much arm and hand strength.

The method I've worked out with my KitchenAid lets it do the heavy work. I mix everything up, let the dough rise, knead lightly, shape the loaves (my recipe makes two long loaves), put it in the pans and let it rise. Then I bake the bread.

It only takes a total of about a half hour of actual work, and from start of mixing to when the bread is cooled and ready to slice, it's about four hours. It's efficient for my life style since I can go off and do other things while the bread is rising, baking and cooling. I carry a timer in my pocket or have it sitting on the desk so I get "called" when I need to pay attention.

[spinbaby]

20. I've been doing 5-minute-a-day bread

It's easy and no kneading. You can find recipes all over the Internet, but this is how I do it:

Dissolve 1 teaspoon salt and a scant tablespoon yeast in three cups of bottled water (not tap water). Stir in 6 cups of all-purpose flour to make a soft dough. Put the dough into a covered container, leaving the lid loose enough to let air escape. Let rise overnight. Refrigerate.

Over the next two weeks, anytime you want to make bread, pull off a lump of the dough, and arrange it in some kind of a loaf shape on a piece of parchment paper. About an hour later, pre-heat the oven to 450° with a baking stone in it. An hour after that, slash the top of the loaf in some decorative fashion, and shove it and the parchment paper into the oven on top of the stone. After 20 minutes or so, pull the parchment paper out from under the bread and bake it another 10 or 20 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf. Let it cool for an hour or so before digging in.

Some versions of this recipe call for a pan of hot water in the oven, some call for baking in a Dutch oven, but I just bake on a pizza stone and it comes out fine. This dough also makes a fine pizza, BTW.