KNEADING

'Kneading' is a process in the making of bread, used to mix together the ingredients and add strength to the bread. Its importance lies in the mixing of flour with water. When these two ingredients are combined and kneaded, the gliadin and glutenin in the flour expand and form strands of gluten, which gives bread its texture^[1]. The kneading process warms and stretches these gluten strands, eventually creating a springy and elastic dough. If the dough is not kneaded enough, it will not be able to hold the tiny pockets of air created by the leavening agent (such as yeast or baking powder), and will collapse, leaving a heavy and dense loaf.
Kneading can be done with a breadmaker, a mixer, a dough hook or by hand. The typical process of making a dough is performed (for a typical bread dough this will involve mixing flour, salt, water, oil and yeast). The dough is put on a floured surface, pressed and stretched with the heel of the hand, folded over, and rotated through 90º repeatedly. This process continues for around 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly elastic and smooth. The dough can then be proved.
Once baked, this will allow a strong, well-risen bread with many small air pockets. If the dough were to be proved and baked without kneading, the ingredients would not mix very well and the resulting bread would be very weak and full of large air pockets. For a similar reason, it is better to use strong bread flours rather than normal plain flour.
Similar to kneading is 'knocking back' or 'punching down', which is sometimes performed to the dough after it has been proved. The dough is punched once or twice to knock out any air, after which it is kneaded for a short time. The aim of this is to remove any large air pockets which have formed in the dough and create an even texture in the bread. The dough can then be proved a second time.

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Footnotes

Footnotes

1. Scientific Insight into Breadmaking