A layman's tip for shaping practice
Hi!
I'm a former lurker, and so far I've only posted once or twice and I'm still in awe of all the knowledge gathered in this forum. It's really pretty amazing. To honour that, I've decided to share what little knowledge I have when it comes to learning how to shape dough in different forms. Too many times I did everything right up to the final shaping, which I of course botched. Enter life hack:
Practice shaping technique when you knead your dough. Try to form a perfect boule, loaf, roll, whatever, while you're in the kneading stage. You get a thousand tries, and you're not messing anything up! It's as good as any kneading technique, and less drone-like to boot.
I don't know if I'm just stupid not to have thought about this before, and I'd love to know if someone else does this too - but it's really a good way to get practice without messing up a potentially great bread.
Over and out,
J
J
Even tho it might not be a one to one equivalent with shaping a final dough, I think that's a pretty good idea. Essentially just kneading, after all.
Over and out? Roger that Cap.
dobie
... but better late than never, right?
Yeah, there are some more or less crucial differences in the handling when dealing with a risen dough (always get zombie associations whenever the word 'risen' is used). If you adore an open crumb with big holes, I've learned through reading and trial & error that the handling needs to be gentle for the final shaping - even moreso if you plan to shape twice before baking. On the upside, I find that final shaping X 2 doesn't require as much finesse.
Anyway, I think practicing shaping in the kneading stage has the advantage of teaching you the right move, which for me is the most important part to getting it right later. If I know the correct movement for getting a desired shape, I can vary the force and handling depending on the dough.
Thanks for chiming in :)
Jaaakob
Later is way better then never. We all have our own schedules and I don't flinch for at least a week on TFL. I appreciate the appreciation.
Just to point out, I'm an old fart. So to me 'zombie' relates to 1950 and 60s flicks, that quite honestly, I never much enjoyed or 'got' back then. So the current Zombie fascination goes on without me. No big deal.
You did teach me something, as usually the only times I have done what you recommend was in desperation to correct a failure, rather than being intentional.
I think it is a very good point, one that I will now use more often (intentionally), and as you allude, leads to more crumb control as desired.
Thanks
dobie
Zombie fascination, that's a term I'll want to use some day!
Good luck with the experiments! My current project for this 'method' is learning how to roll dough into an actual square. Since I keep a very firm starter, I can practice this on a dough more or less everyday, but I try to keep my obsessive personality in check. My biggest woe is that I can't practice laminated dough in the same way. It's challenging to get up and try again after so many batches of less-than-ideal croissants (zombie might actually be the right choice of word here).
All the best,
J
Hi Jaaakob,
"even moreso if you plan to shape twice before baking." I hope that I'm addressing your point here. If not, please correct me.
Does "shaping twice" refer to the pre-shaping and the final shaping? I think that in almost all situations a pre-shape should precede a final shape. The pre-shape will "tell" the dough what shape it expects to be in post-fermentation, and allows the dough to get used to being in that shape and then relax a little. Final shaping is, of course, what you want the dough to look like when it proofs and gets baked. As far as I know, there is no such thing as "final shaping x 2". Final is final, and performed one time only.
Pre-shaping should not be as tight as final shaping, and final shaping still requires the dough to have surface tension on it to give the outside a nice tight envelope. How gentle you will be to get there is a matter of practice. The fine line between manhandling the dough and treating it with kid gloves. The adage around these parts is to employ "a velvet glove with an iron hand". Couldn't be simpler :-o .
alan
alan
Difficult to get, but well said.
By 'get', I mean to actually learn to do.
dobie
ps - edit - sorry I had called you Mike, brain fart.
You're getting me right, I'm talking about pre-shaping and final shaping. I wrote final shaping X 2 because that's the way I think about it - doing the same thing twice, but you're right. Final is final!
I think that adage is a good picture of the desired handling, but personally I find that thinking "swift and decisive" leads to better results for me. Most of the time, I find the movement that gives roughly the right shape and -then- I find the right speed and force to polish the result. Though, to clarify, I'm still a beginner and have lots to learn - my croissants are still more bread than vienoisserie ;)
out that her favorite TV show is coming to the season end - Monster Alien Swamp Zombie Vampires Behaving Badly is tough to recover from for sure.
I do like the idea of shaping during kneading and it might actually take the place of the 3 sets of stretch and folds which are way more gentle than the beginning slap and folds and more suited to actually practicing shaping as Alan points out. I will have to give it a go.
Happy baking