Professional bakers also use a slow-down technique for some yeast products, called

retarding. They do this after they proofed and shaped the dough. To retard, they place it in a

refrigerator designed for this purpose called a retarder. In the cold for several hours or overnight,

the yeast fermentation slows down while bacterial fermentation starts (yeast hates cold but bacteria

don't mind it). Lactobacilli from the air and flour produce lactic acid, other bacteria strains produce

acetic acid—the process is similar to sourdough fermentation. As a result, during retardation slight

pleasant sour flavor develops and texture changes. Bakers, for instance, retard bagel dough to

develop the characteristic flavor and texture. Without this process bagel dough bakes into good ring-

shaped bread rolls instead of bagels.

Can you over-knead a dough?

You cannot over-knead a dough by hand kneading, except if you are a passionate and

powerful weight trainer. Your hands will tire before you break the sheets of gluten which have the

strength of thin but strong rubber sheets. With a powerful machine you can indeed over-knead.

Eventually the sheets of gluten will reach a stage where they don't have enough strength and

elasticity to withstand the continuous punching of the dough hook, and all of a sudden they break

into small bits of molecules. The result is a thick fluid mass instead of a smooth, elastic dough.

At this stage the dough is no longer capable of reforming a gluten structure to retain the

carbon dioxide gas. This dough would bake into a heavy mass that resembles unleavened dough. If

you over-kneaded your dough, start the process again with a new batch of flour. Feed the ruined raw

dough to the cows. They never had a treat like that.

Shape it up

Ever wonder why bakers bake different-shaped breads? One reason is tradition. The shape

of the loaf, the color and shine, slashes and patterns on the crust, even seeds sprinkled on not only

vary the look, they also have an effect on the flavor.

Baking in a bread pan is somewhat old-fashioned, but it produces a square bread that is easy

to slice into uniform pieces suitable for sandwiches. A free-standing loaf is baked on a flat baking

sheet. It makes a prettier, crustier bread with less-uniform slices. This is ideal when you want a

pretty presentation on the table.

A free-standing loaf may be the traditional long cigar or oval shape, or you can shape it into

a round. You also have the choice of tapered and blunt ends. Even though different breads have

certain traditional shapes, you can do whatever you wish when you are on your own. That is your

own tradition.

Special narrow, trough-shaped baguette pans are perfect for French baguettes. Their design

allows to make the largest crispy crust possible. Anything larger would be a bread stick. Baguettes

are particularly delicious because of their crisp, thick crust, and you want as much of that crust as

possible. As soon as the baguettes start to brown and firm up, about two-thirds of the way through

the baking time, you can remove them from their pans and place them directly on the oven shelf or a

pizza stone for the rest of the baking for more crisp crust.

Shaping a loaf is simple if your dough is soft and pliable. If the dough is stubborn and

simply won't cooperate in your shaping effort after the last kneading, be patient. The gluten

structure needs time to relax, just like the cook does. Cover the dough with a moist towel so its

surface won't dry out and let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes, just long enough to prepare and sip a fresh-

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