The success of your baking project depends on the dough. Unlike when cooking, everything has to sit right away. Therefore this mistake must not happen to you.
- When baking, you have to follow the recipe exactly.
- But it's not just the right amounts to stick to.
- The way you handle the dough is also very important.
There are different ways to process a dough. You can stir, knead, fold, beat and much more. Which type of preparation a recipe requires is crucial for the success of your entire baking project . While most types of processing can be explained well, which we will also do below, a note in the recipe is often a riddle: "Do not stir too much." How much is too much? It is important to know this, otherwise the dough will not work as you imagined. More on that later. First, let's take a look at what you need to do with the dough for which method of preparation.
How to stir a dough
When stirring the dough, the various solid and liquid components are mixed until a homogeneous dough is formed. You don't have to be very careful. Sometimes the recipe says that the ingredients should only be mixed roughly , for example with muffins or banana bread. Lumps are expressly desired here. Follow this rule, as this will loosen the dough.
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How to knead a dough
If you try a yeast dough * at the latest, you will not be able to avoid kneading. Not only do you have to press around in the dough a few times, but you fold and knead and fold and knead - at least ten, or even better, for 15 minutes . This is how the gluten structure of the dough is made, the dough becomes elastic and the yeast can "blow" it loose and easily. If you knead too little, the dough tears easily and is uneven. If you knead too much, it will become tough and hard . Then you just have to let it rest a little before baking, so that it relaxes and becomes softer again.
How to beat a batter
Air bubbles in the dough are actually good because it is so loose and light. However, these may not be too large, so that the dough does not become perforated. And this is where hitting comes into play. Pizza dough * is whipped after walking so that the air bubbles escape from the dough and make it more porous, uniform and elastic. Spaetzle dough, on the other hand, is beaten airily. It is repeatedly beaten in the bowl with the mixing spoon until the dough is smooth and bubbles rise as soon as you stop beating.
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How to put ingredients under a dough
Particularly fine doughs require particularly careful handling . If you have to fold in egg whites or other ingredients, this means that you use a spatula to add the ingredient to the previous dough and then use a spatula to fold the dough carefully and with great movements until all the ingredients have loosely combined. If you just stir, the airy structure would quickly disappear. Here too, do not fold in too long.
This is how long you should actually process the dough
But what does it mean to stir, knead ... for too long? This actually differs from recipe to recipe , since the consequences are varied:
Too much air in the batter
If you stir too long, too many air bubbles will get into the dough. The dough is not stable enough so it first opens and then simply collapses. For example, this is a problem with biscuit doughs.
Too much gluten structure
Gluten is the wheat glue and, in combination with liquid, gives the dough its structure and stability. Knead and stir the dough for too long, the gluten structure becomes firmer and makes the dough and with it the baking result tough and rubbery.
Butter too soft
Cold butter is used in some doughs, such as shortcrust pastry. It should make the dough flaky and tender. Knead the dough for too long, warm it with your hands and melt the butter. You can cancel the desired effect.
Depending on what your recipe is about, the time you have to spend stirring, kneading and beating differs. However, there is a rule of thumb: Process the dough as little as possible to combine all ingredients. In addition, some doughs are more fragile than others.
Doughs that you should never stir too much:
- muffins
- banana bread
- waffles
- pancakes
- Cookies
- Biscuit Dough
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