Tips for almost-following a specific bread recipe

[HowardLi]

I'd like to do CI's Rustic Italian Bread, but a stand mixer is required. Can this recipe be done by hand, and if so, any tips for doing it?

[djyee100]

Is the recipe like this one? http://www.cookography.com/2008/rustic-italian-bread

As long as you do a good job of hand-kneading, I foresee no problem. If you use a bread flour with high protein content, the dough will be harder to knead, but you can still do it with good results.

[ScoopKW]

An easier way is to knead the dough as well as you are able, then wrap the dough with plastic and toss it in the fridge overnight. The glutens will develop all by themselves, if you give them time to do so.

As someone's signature reads, "Either it works or it doesn't. But it's bread. Not birth control."

I'd be looking real hard for a Kitchenaid for Black Friday. I've seen them at "Wow, if I didn't already have one, I'd be all over that" prices for Black Friday.

[piracer]

Craiglist is your friend. I managed to get a 5 quart kitchenaid with all the standards attachments and a meatgrinder attachment for $150. Best kitchen buy ever IMO.

[HowardLi]

Is the recipe like this one? http://www.cookography.com/2008/rustic-italian-bread

As long as you do a good job of hand-kneading, I foresee no problem. If you use a bread flour with high protein content, the dough will be harder to knead, but you can still do it with good results.

Yep, that's the one.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

If you use bread flour with a high protein content, the key to kneading by hand is to allow to dough to relax for 15-20 minutes when it gets too hard to knead it. It's a slightly longer process, but allowing the relaxation will actually make the bread more tender.

[Joe Blowe]

Correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't searched recently), but the stretch-and-fold technique rarely gets mentioned 'round here:

http://www.sourdoughhome.com/stretchandfold.html

You can disregard the recipe and just follow the videos for the process. This method can be used for almost any recipe, low or high hydration.

With stretch-and-fold and no-knead, anyone can make great bread without a electric mixer...

[HungryC]

Stretch and fold is the heart of Robertson's Tartine bread methodology. It works for any wettish, not-too-yeasted dough. I've used it successfully on plenty of other doughs, including a 65% hydration pizza dough. It won't work on a typical American white bread recipe (a bit too dry, and usually has too much yeast--the bread won't be sufficiently kneaded before it over-rises), but it's definitely a good tool for a baker w/no mixer.

[HowardLi]

Correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't searched recently), but the stretch-and-fold technique rarely gets mentioned 'round here:

http://www.sourdoughhome.com/stretchandfold.html

You can disregard the recipe and just follow the videos for the process. This method can be used for almost any recipe, low or high hydration.

With stretch-and-fold and no-knead, anyone can make great bread without a electric mixer...

Interesting - thanks for the link.

Is it possible to stretch and fold too many times?

[HungryC]

I read the linked recipe, and it only calls for 4 minutes of machine kneading. This is very easily left out---just use a big spoon, bench scraper, or your (wet) hands. Make sure all of the flour is hydrated before you stop mixing, and don't worry about the 4 minutes. With a 3-hour bulk rise and 1-hour shaped rise, the dough will have ample time to develop its own gluten. What the linked recipe calls "turning the dough" is the same thing as the aforementioned stretch and fold technique. It can be done inside of a large lidded container--no need to remove it from a big bowl or dough bucket to perform the turns.