My neighbor told me my sourdough was too dense. She was right.

She said it looked great but felt like a brick, and asked if I was really kneading it enough. I was doing 5 minutes by hand, thinking that was fine. I started using my stand mixer on low for a full 10 minutes instead, and the difference is huge. The crumb opened up completely after just two tries. Has anyone else had a kneading time tip that fixed a stubborn problem?

4 comments

4 Comments

grant4131mo ago

Yeah, that stretch and fold method is the only thing that works for my wet dough. I gave up on timed kneading years ago. It's all about watching the dough itself, not the clock. You want it to feel smooth and strong, not just beat it for a set number of minutes. Maybe the mixer just helped you get to that point faster, but the real fix was likely hitting the right dough development.

dixon.mia1mo ago

Oh wow, I read that in a bread book once!

riverb131mo ago

Wait you were only kneading for five minutes before? That's wild to me, my arms would be falling off trying to get a windowpane in that time. I guess the mixer just does the work way faster, but ten minutes on low sounds like a long mix for sourdough. I'm with Cameron, I'm scared of turning it into glue. Maybe your old way just wasn't enough to build any strength at all.

garcia.cameron1mo ago

Honestly I'm surprised that worked for you. I've always been told you can over-knead sourdough really easy, especially with a mixer. My best loaves come from almost no kneading at all, just a bunch of stretch and folds during the first rise. Maybe your starter just needed more time to get strong, and the extra kneading wasn't the real fix.