Can stretch and fold replace kneading?

The stretch and fold method is the most common for a reason – it’s easy for just about everyone, and doesn’t require any special equipment. Stretching and folding is what replaces kneading in many sourdough recipes.

What are the two types of kneading a dough?

There are two ways to knead bread dough:

• Hand Kneading: Takes 10–30 minutes to reach the optimal gluten matrix by repeatedly folding and stretching the dough.
• Mechanical Kneading: Takes 8-12 minutes and is the most efficient way to knead flour doughs.

What is stretch and fold in bread making?

Why stretch and fold? Folding helps add strength to bread dough through a very simple series of actions: stretch the dough out and over itself. This act of stretching and folding, which takes just a few moments, helps develop the gluten network in the dough. Each fold has a significant impact on dough strength.

What is the purpose of stretching dough?

First and foremost, these sets are performed to strengthen the dough. The act of stretching the bread dough up and over further develops the dough’s gluten, bringing increased elasticity. But these sets also give you a chance to equalize the dough’s temperature.

Why do you not knead sourdough?

The theory behind a no-knead bread is that there is more than one way to make gluten. If you have a wet enough dough (and you’ll notice that no-knead bread doughs are very wet), the glutenin and gliadin are free to float around on their own, and left to their own devices, they’ll form gluten on their very own.

Whats the difference between folding and kneading?

Kneading is traditional for stiffer dough risen for shorter times. Stretch and fold is used for wetter dough which may be too sticky to knead and often left to rise longer. Folding develops gluten gently and can produce breads with an open crumb from the elasticity.

How many types of kneading are there?

Table of kneading methods

What is stretch bread?

Like many bread doughs, the stretch bread starts with a simple list of ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt. In the Edible Finger Lakes story, Radke describes how Holland experimented with “flour-to-water ratios to produce bread with big, interesting holes and a coarse crumb.”

What is the difference between kneading and stretching bread dough?

Both are ways of developing the network of gluten that gives bread its structure. Traditional kneading actually involves stretching and folding, it’s just done all at once and a bit more vigorously. Stretch and fold is used with wetter doughs, because they are difficult to knead in the traditional way.

Is it necessary to stretch and fold the dough?

As other answers have mentioned, with really sticky high-hydration doughs, stretch-and-folds are often the only way to “knead” the dough. But there’s really no reason why not to do stretch-and-folds with most bread doughs during the first rise.

What is the stretch and fold method?

The Stretch and Fold, Coil Fold, and my favorite the “Wrap” is how we build structure during the bulk fermentation phase with sourdough bread. “Structure” is strengthening the gluten strands so they hold shape and are strong, but are elastic, too.

Can I substitute stretch-and-fold for a long knead?

It’s a relatively minor effect, but substituting stretch-and-fold maneuvers instead of a long knead will introduce less oxygen into the dough initially, which can make a slight flavor improvement on the final loaf.