Post #2157717

2026-05-07 07:04 UTC

Baking question for fedibrain. I am cooking a recipe for instant baguette bread that involves 450 g bread flour, 360 ml water, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp yeast. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the water, lightly incorporate for maybe 5 mins with the back of a spoon, cover, and leave to rise overnight. Then gently divide and shape (no flattening etc), and bake for 30 minutes on fan at 200° C. It makes nice French bread. Question: Where&#39;s the kneading? I thought kneading was an essential step in bread making? #fediBrain #baking #askFedi

Replies (3)

@pdiff1@mastodon.sdf.org 2026-05-07 14:19

@SecondUniverse@autistics.life I believe there are two things at play here. Kneading does a couple of things. It helps gluten strands form and also aligns them for structure, which helps the bread rise when baked. This is important for breads that go from initial mix to final bake in a few hours. Wetted wheat flour, however, will form gluten strands on its own if given enough time, hence, your overnight rest. The shaping in your recipe is adding the alignment and structure.

Open ##2340077
@elfkin@woof.group 2026-05-07 15:07

@SecondUniverse@autistics.life While not as quickly as the physical agitation of kneading, yeast itself will develop the gluten through fermentation. They do the job best in wet doughs which is why the high hydration of a baguette is perfect for this trick.

Open ##2340078
@anantagd@ieji.de 2026-05-07 15:17

@SecondUniverse@autistics.life 1 hour autolyse, then 3x stretch and fold with 30 minutes rest. That way, no kneading involved, yet the gluten strands will be nicely arranged.

Open ##2340079