In article >,
Cheryl > wrote:

> I've never mastered the art of bread making but have been trying some
> lately since getting my new oven. I made some crusty french bread the
> other day and the recipe I used made two big loaves so one is in the
> freezer after the second raising but is uncooked. The first loaf turned
> out really good but not light. Is french bread supposed to be that way?
> Very little in the way of holes but there were some in the seams. I
> used a method that said to pinch all of the seams including the ends.
>
> How exactly do you knead bread? My ball didn't turn out smooth like the
> picture before I let it rise for an hour, actually a bit more, but it
> more than doubled. I let it rise another half hour after forming the
> loaves. I guess french bread will be different since there is no oil or
> eggs.

Kneading organizes the gluten. The more you knead the tighter the crumb
and the less likely you will have the large irregular holes of french
bread.

>
> What's a good method for kneading?

I do like the Peter Reinhart stretch and fold method that a link was
posted to.

marcella