How long to knead for?

[DaFonz]

Ok, I made again using tips from this thread (thanks guys!).

I added more water than last time, which I think might have been a little much. The dough was MUCH closer to what I wanted and much less dense than last time, but looking at these photos, it seems like I either.. a) added too much water or b) didn't cook them long enough?

The crust this time was noticeably improved and much thinner than last time. It wasn't super crispy though this time I did notice some blistering on the crust (though not as much as I think it should have).

For the rising, I just shaped the loaves and then let rise and then bake instead of letting rise, punch down, shape, rise agian.

I also noticed that it rised.. then went down a little... should I have let it rise, let it fall and then let it rise again?

[prasantrin]

I wouldn't worry so much about window-paning until you gain experience with your bread-baking.  Go for the consistency of dough and knead until your dough is a nice round ball that holds its round shape on its own and doesn't fall back down into a shapeless mass.

Hope this helps some,

←

Ditto about the window-paning. When I was taking a bread-baking class, I would try the window-pane thing and not be able to get it (and would therefore want to knead longer), but then my teacher would try it, and the dough was fine. Window-paning is a technique in itself, and it takes practice to do it properly.

[DaFonz]

Played around some more and got a little more blistering, but I think the lack of a cast iron pan is hurting me here.

Another thing I noticed was that the loaves .. kinda got flat after a while... does that mean I gimped up the dough with not enough flour..?