Typically associated with dough – pasta, bread, pastry, pizza – kneading is a technique for forming malleable solids out of a combination of liquids and solids. Using the palm of one’s hand, a ‘kneader’ pushes the ingredients together in a constant motion, over and over and over until they achieve a substance that is one phase – uniform and consistent. Since kneading typically involves grains and protein, one can say that the more you knead, the tougher the mixture will become. If you knead a bread dough too much, it becomes very dense; pastry will become cracker-like; pasta like a rubber band; hamburger very chewy. Practice is key as with all of these techniques. You will learn what is too much kneading and too little. Fortunately, the dishes that require kneading are typically comprised of inexpensive ingredients, so you can experiment with less worry.
Share this article...
