I was reading a 1970s bread pamphlet from the Kansas City flour mill and it said they used to recommend a 'double knead' method for rye that I've never seen anywhere else.

Has anyone here ever tried a double knead, or is that just some weird old-school thing that died out?

3 comments

3 Comments

Sounds like a lost art. I've never seen that method either, but old pamphlets are full of forgotten tricks. Makes you wonder what else we've let slide.

ivangrant2mo ago

Yeah, that's a weird one... I'm trying to picture the steps. @allen.victor is right about lost tricks, but was this just kneading, resting, and then kneading again? Or something more specific with the rye flour mixed in at different times?

coleman.christopher1mo ago

So what if it was a workaround for old, weak home mixers? My grandma's stand mixer from the 60s could barely handle a stiff dough. You'd do a first mix to get it going, let the gluten relax so it wasn't fighting you, then finish kneading. That second pass was way easier on the motor. Maybe they just stopped teaching it when machines got better.