9 Instant Pot Bread Recipes You KNEAD in Your Life (2024)

FAQs

Why does no knead bread work? ›

But first, how the no-knead method works

“Agitating your dough through folds and stretches creates an overlapping network of proteins called gluten. This strong mesh-like network traps the gas produced by yeast, allowing dough to rise.”

Quick breads definitely live up to their name. They're so quick and easy because they don't require yeast, kneading, or extra time to rise. Instead of yeast, they use leaveners like baking powder or baking soda to create the bubbles in the batter that makes the bread rise as it bakes.

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

Perfect Your Yeast Levels

Carbon dioxide is responsible for all the bubbles that make holes in bread, making it lighter and fluffier. Because gas is created as a result of yeast growth, the more the yeast grows, the more gas in the dough and the more light and airy your bread loaf will be.

In addition to adding flavor and moisture, fat combines with sugar during “creaming”, to add lightness by trapping air that expands during baking. This lightness makes the quick bread tender, forming a finer grain in the baked quick bread.

Muffin and Quick Bread Ratio of Ingredients

Sugar, in addition to its interaction with fats, adds flavor, color, and aids in the tenderization of the batter. Eggs provide structure and act as an emulsifier by surrounding fat particles and helping trap air contributing lightness and volume.

The first way to check is to simply poke the dough with your finger. If the dough bounces back without sticking to your finger, it's been kneaded enough. If it doesn't, you need to keep kneading.

Make kneading a pleasure

An easy way is to hold the dough with one hand and stretch it out over the work surface with the other, then bring it back to a ball and repeat with the other hand. Keep kneading until it has a smooth texture and can be stretched without tearing – this typically takes 10 minutes.

What is the best kneading technique for bread? ›

Simple Steps for Kneading

Begin kneading the dough, pushing it down and then outward, only using the heels of your hands. Fold the dough in half toward you and press down. Then use the heels of your hands again to push down and outward, lengthening and stretching the strands of gluten and dough fibers.

No-knead (Passive): In this mix-to-combine, long-fermented method, time is used to maximum effect for developing both flavor and strength. Pros: Dough develops flavor during extended fermentation. Easy. Cons: Uncontrolled fermentation may cause variable impacts to crumb structure and flavor.

No-knead doughs use time to develop gluten instead of kneading the dough to speed up the process. Long slow fermentation also produces better flavor in breads. Bread doughs ferment in the presence of water, certain grains, and yeast. Salt also plays a role in the rate of fermentation.

Your no knead bread will not rise if: You add no yeast or starter containing wild yeast. You yeast is dead or your wild yeast starter is not sufficiently viable. You add waaaaay too much salt to your dough.

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.