Knead

A hands-on technique to develop the gluten in dough and turn the sticky mix into a firm, workable mass.

Kneading by hand should be a slow, gentle process and is done with a pressing-folding-turning action performed by pressing down into the dough on a lightly floured workbench with the heels of both hands, then pushing it away from the body. The dough is folded in half and given a quarter turn, and the process is repeated. It takes about 15 minutes to knead one kilogram of dough. Well-kneaded dough is smooth and elastic.