Kitchen & Bar

On this phone

How to get around

The bar across the top scrolls sideways. These are the same stops, with the job of each one written out.

Dough

Bread dough

Developing gluten and letting fermentation do the flavor, which is mostly a matter of time rather than effort.

What you are actually controlling

  • hydration
  • gluten development
  • temperature
  • fermentation time
  • shaping tension

Naming the dials is most of the difference between cooking and following. Everything below is a way of moving one of these.

How it goes wrong

  • dense
  • flat
  • gummy inside
  • tore during shaping
  • over-proofed

If your result is on this list, the step it belongs to is named below and so is the way back.

The loop

Bread dough5 steps. Each step shows the cue that confirms it worked below the step, and above it the way it fails together with the correction that returns you to the same step.GOES WRONGYou are ten minutes intokneading a dry, tearingdough.1Mix, then leave italone for twenty…LOOKS RIGHTThe shaggy mass becomesnoticeably smoother andmore extensible.GOES WRONGA dough that has not movedin three hours.2Get the watertemperature right…LOOKS RIGHTThe water feels neutral onthe inside of your wrist.GOES WRONGIt tears immediately andthe surface stays rough.3Develop the gluten,by hand or by…LOOKS RIGHTThe windowpane: a piecestretched thin enough tosee light through without…GOES WRONGA dent that fillsinstantly, or one thatstays put and the dough…4Judge the first riseby size, not by…LOOKS RIGHTA dent pressed in springsback slowly and does notfill completely.GOES WRONGIt spread sideways insteadof upward, and the crustset before it could rise.5Shape with tension,then bake hot with…LOOKS RIGHTA taut skin before baking,and a loaf that opensalong the score.
Read down, not just across. Below each step is the cue that says it worked; above it, dashed, is how it fails and the correction that sends you back to the same step.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Mix, then leave it alone for twenty minutes

    Flour and water only, rested, hydrates the flour and starts gluten forming with no work from you.

    Looks right
    The shaggy mass becomes noticeably smoother and more extensible.
    Goes wrong
    You are ten minutes into kneading a dry, tearing dough.
    Way back
    Stop, cover it, wait twenty minutes and come back. An autolyse saves more kneading than any technique.
  2. 2

    Get the water temperature right, not just warm

    Blood heat is the target. Yeast starts dying around 60°C, and cold dough simply takes longer.

    Looks right
    The water feels neutral on the inside of your wrist.
    Goes wrong
    A dough that has not moved in three hours.
    Way back
    Move it somewhere warmer and give it more time. Genuinely dead yeast cannot be revived — but cold yeast is only slow, and slow is usually better bread.
  3. 3

    Develop the gluten, by hand or by waiting

    Knead until smooth, or do three sets of stretch-and-folds twenty minutes apart. Both get to the same place.

    Looks right
    The windowpane: a piece stretched thin enough to see light through without tearing.
    Goes wrong
    It tears immediately and the surface stays rough.
    Way back
    Rest it ten minutes and try again. Gluten relaxes and re-forms; more force at this point does nothing.
  4. 4

    Judge the first rise by size, not by clock

    Roughly doubled. A recipe's hour assumes a kitchen temperature nobody wrote down.

    Looks right
    A dent pressed in springs back slowly and does not fill completely.
    Goes wrong
    A dent that fills instantly, or one that stays put and the dough sighs.
    Way back
    Springs back fast means under-proofed — wait. Stays put means over-proofed — reshape it, do a short second rise and accept a flatter loaf.
  5. 5

    Shape with tension, then bake hot with steam

    Pull the surface tight over the dough. Bake in a covered pot or with a tray of water for the first fifteen minutes.

    Looks right
    A taut skin before baking, and a loaf that opens along the score.
    Goes wrong
    It spread sideways instead of upward, and the crust set before it could rise.
    Way back
    Steam and a hotter oven. A crust that sets in the first five minutes caps the loaf, and no amount of good dough gets past a cap.

Watch somebody do it

Third-party video. Opens in a new tab — nothing is embedded and nothing is fetched from a video platform until you click.

Reviewed video for this technique. Reading a cue is one thing; seeing it is faster.

Others in dough