How do I knead dough properly and how long for?

Kneading is the step people are least sure about, because recipes say 'until smooth and elastic' and nobody knows what that feels like the first time. There is a definite test, and there is also a method that avoids the question entirely.

Step by step

1. Understand what you are developing.Flour contains two proteins that, with water and movement, link into gluten — an elastic network that traps the gas yeast produces. Without it the dough cannot hold its structure and the bread is dense.
2. Let the flour hydrate first.Mix to a rough shaggy mass and leave it fifteen to twenty minutes before kneading. The flour absorbs water and gluten begins forming on its own, which makes the kneading noticeably shorter and easier.
3. Knead by stretching, not squashing.Push the dough away with the heel of your hand, fold it back over itself, turn it a quarter, repeat. It is a rhythm rather than a struggle, and stretching is what aligns the gluten.
4. Resist adding flour.Sticky dough is usually correct dough. Adding flour to make it manageable produces a dry, dense loaf. Use a dough scraper and lightly oiled hands instead.
5. Knead eight to ten minutes by hand.Less than most people do. It is genuinely a sustained effort, and stopping at three minutes because it looks smooth is the most common cause of a dense loaf.
6. Use four to six minutes in a mixer.Dough hook on medium-low. Machines are efficient and over-kneading is possible, which is very difficult by hand. Watch it rather than setting a timer and leaving.
7. Use the window test to decide.Take a small piece and stretch it gently between your fingers. If it thins enough to see light through without tearing, the gluten is developed. If it tears immediately, keep going.
8. Judge by feel as well.Properly kneaded dough is smooth, slightly tacky rather than sticky, and springs back when pressed. Under-kneaded dough tears and stays lumpy.
9. Consider stretch and fold instead.For wetter doughs, leave it to rest and fold it over itself a few times every half hour across two hours. Almost no effort, and it develops gluten as effectively as kneading.
10. Or use the no-knead method.A very wet dough with a tiny amount of yeast, left twelve to eighteen hours, develops gluten on its own through time rather than work. It genuinely works and needs no kneading at all.
11. Adjust for enriched doughs.Doughs with butter and eggs take longer and stay stickier. Knead the plain dough first and add the butter gradually once the gluten has started forming.
12. Rest it if it fights you.Dough that resists being stretched has tightened up. Cover it and leave it ten minutes — the gluten relaxes and it becomes cooperative again.

Tips

• The rest before kneading is the single most useful trick here. Twenty minutes of waiting removes several minutes of work.
• A dough scraper is more useful than flour for handling sticky dough, and it costs very little.
• Wholemeal and rye doughs never pass the window test as cleanly — the bran cuts the gluten strands. Judge those by feel instead.

Common mistakes

• Adding flour to stop it sticking — It changes the hydration and produces a dry, dense loaf. Use a scraper and oiled hands — sticky dough is usually correct.
• Stopping when it looks smooth — Smooth appears well before the gluten is developed. The window test is the reliable check and it takes five seconds.

If it doesn't work

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