Have you ever made bread that just didn’t raise like you wanted it to? You know your yeast was active and you didn’t kill it. What went wrong? One possible answer is that it wasn’t kneaded well enough.
This post isn’t on how to knead, but rather how to know when you are done kneading. If you don’t know the technique for kneading, that is better shown in a video, and I don’t have one made. But will put one up for you another day.
Especially when kneading by hand, it can seem hard to know when the gluten has been developed enough to raise the bread properly. You usually stop when your arms are about to fall off or you get really tired of doing it. Recipes may not be a bit help by giving a certain number of minutes, considering that one may knead very vigorously and another just half heartedly or just plain without the strength.
Actually it is very easy to tell when the gluten is well developed, no matter how you knead. Pinch off a small ball of dough, about the size of a walnut. Gently stretch it out into a square/rectangle (in 4 directions, not just side to side in 2 directions.) If you can stretch it out until it is thin enough that you can see light through it without it breaking, the gluten should be good and stretchy enough to give you a good rise. This is called the window pane test. And it is an easy way to know if you need to knead more or not.
Another tip that may help those that are kneading by hand. You don’t have to do all of the kneading at one time. If your arms are getting tired, or if you need to attend to other things before the dough is completely kneaded, you can stop for a few minutes and come back to it.
