Quick bread update

[eveglass]

In the end, the bread turned out very dense, but tasty. I don't know why it was so dense: too much kneading, not enough kneading, wrong amount of some ingredient or another, wrong temperature in the oven... really, not a clue. My ignorance on this matter knows no bounds.

On the other hand, I happy to be a fan of very dense breads, so it worked out all right. And it was still tasty, even more so with a little butter on top.

Was it worth the time I spent making it? Maybe. Ask me again when it's not so hot out. I suspect I'll need someone to show me how to make bread properly before I do this again. I've really got absolutely no frame of reference to know whether it looks and feels right at the various stages before it goes into the oven.

Edited to add: In doing a bit of googling, I suspect my problem is: 1. I didn't knead it properly, and 2. I didn't knead it enough. It's supposed to be quite fast in the foot processor, but by hand it's clearly a longer proposition.

Comments

[joane.livejournal.com]

I've never made this kind of bread, but I know when I'm making challah and coffee bread I need to knead for a good, solid ten minutes before the texture changes and I can let the dough rise. And I find it's a distinct change, at least with those two breads - enough of the flour proteins get broken down that it goes from feeling like playdough to feeling like a soft stress ball. If that helps at all? It'd definitely be better to do an apprenticeship run with someone and feel the stages for yourself so you know what to look for.

[eveglass.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's the sense I'm getting. My bread never really got past the playdough stage. But perhaps it would have if I'd continued to work it.