Fixing Mistakes | Paul Hollywood (2024)

FAQs

How many times can you knock back dough? ›

Some recipes have you “punch down” the dough one or two times. Some recipes do not have this step at all. If your recipe asks to do it, do it! From my experience making regular yeast breads, I punch down once after first rise and then once again before forming into loaves.

Problem: Your Pastry is Soggy

Pastry being soggy in the middle is a result of the pastry being undercooked. Don't place the pastry on too high a shelf in the oven. One way to prevent soggy bottom pastry is to blind bake the pastry – This means partially or completely bake the pastry before adding the filling.

Two reasons: By keeping the outer surface of the bread moist, it delays crust formation. This allows the bread to expand (or “spring”) for longer and develop the nice round shape. Without water, it might form a crust early on, but then as the middle bakes, it will expand and burst the crust.

If the dough isn't punched down, the carbon dioxide will continue to be released, which can cause big, uneven air pockets in your bread. Additionally, if you don't knock back the dough, it can lead to a weaker gluten structure, meaning your bread may not maintain the desired shape.

Knocking back

This is a technical term for punching or pressing down on the dough after the bread's first rise. This process bursts the tiny air bubbles that have formed in the dough and then forces them to reform again in the final shape you want, which results in a smoother texture.

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Bake a foil-wrapped pastry until it springs back when you gently press down on the top (about 10 minutes). Peel back the foil to expose the top of the pastry and bake until crisp to the touch (about 5 minutes).

You can brush an egg-wash glaze (1 egg plus 1 tsp. water) over the Puff Pastry to create a rich, golden sheen when baked. Use an egg wash to help seal filled pastries and connect Puff Pastry pieces: mix 1 egg plus 1 tsp. water, brush between layers, then pinch or press together.

If Your Dough Is Too Wet, Rosemary Says...

“Other times it's too much water. It [also] depends on how much butter is in the pastry. It can be solved by putting it into the fridge for a few hours!”

The addition of moisture, both on the surface of the dough and in the oven itself, prolongs the time that the crust takes to solidify. This, in turn, allows the dough to expand until the yeast has done its job without causing the crust to split and crack open at weak points.

Why put ice cubes in the oven when baking bread? ›

Because ice lowers the temperature inside of the Dutch Oven, the bread continues to ferment a little before it springs up when the Dutch Oven comes back to temperature. This means that if your dough is under fermented, a little ice can help to give you a better result once baked.

For the best loaves at home, I use the oven on a non-fan setting for the first 12-14 minutes. After this point the crust has risen and solidified and moisture is not so important. Then I switch the oven to fan setting for the remainder of the bake.

So I tend to only use knocking back as a way to save dough that is over proofing. But knocking back dough once if needed won't have a huge impact on the dough. If you knock it back several times then it may. At the end of the day, there are many different ways to make pizza.

Too little folding can result in weak dough. But too much folding can produce excessive tension and compressive forces. An over-folded dough might have a tighter crumb as the layers of alveoli push against each other and coalesce. In the worst case, excessive folding might cause a dough to tear under too much tension.

Once shaped, the dough is left to proof a second time — this is the step that “proofing” technically refers to. Much of the air was knocked out of the dough while shaping, so this is a chance for the dough to expand again before baking. This step is sometimes called second rise or second proof.

Actually, I don't re-roll more than three times. My Sugar Cookie Recipe will allow me to re-roll the dough three times before the cookie texture and softness of the cookie become affected. If the dough is re-rolled too much it will become cracked and tough.