"Marcella Peek" > wrote in message
...
> 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.

Kneading produces gluten. It turns the raw protein into long strands hence
the elasticity.

Paul