No knead or knead ???

[barryman]

I have been making bread for about a year using the same recipe where I knead the dough for around 5 minutes. Recently I have been using a couple of recipes that state, categorically, DO NOT KNEAD !!! The bread turns out just fine. So, if kneading the dough is so vital to gluten content etc, how come the No-Knead recipes work out ok. And what would happen if I did, in fact, knead it. Please explain as no-knead seems as good as the normal methods.

 

[Bananacreameclair]

Hello! Are you referring to no-knead artisan bread recipes that sit overnight? If so, those don’t need to be kneaded because allowing the dough to rest overnight creates gluten strands (and exchange of kneading).

for example, I don’t knead my French bread because i do 4 folds and turns through a 4 hour period (which strengths the gluten). However, I always knead my white sandwich bread because I don’t do folds or overnight fermentations on it. I hope that makes sense!