When shaping a round loaf - or any loaf, for that matter - your primary goal is to stretch the gluten and create surface tension. A taut skin helps the loaf to maintain its shape during the final rise, enabling the loaf to rise up and not collapse in a puddle on your counter. Plus, it looks prettier once baked!
Baking Technique: How to Shape a Round Loaf
There are a few different techniques for forming a round loaf (also called a boule). This is the one that we learned when we first started making artisan loaves and that feels the most natural to us.
Dust the dough and your hands with flour. So we don't get too much or too little flour, we rub our floured hands gently over the surface of the dough to get an even coating on both.
Pick up the dough with both hands, thumbs on top and fingers underneath.
Working quickly, use your thumbs and the palms of your hands to stretch the surface of the dough downwards. Meanwhile use while your fingers tuck underneath. (We find it easiest to use one hand to stretch and the fingers of the other hand to tuck, and then we switch hands to get an even surface tension all around.)
Rotate the boule a quarter turn and repeat, continuing around until you have an evenly shaped ball. Try to do this in as few turns as possible.
Flip it over and you should see a "belly button" on the underside. If this looks like it's unfolding, gently pinch the dough together to seal it.
At this point, your loaf is ready for the final rise! You can let it rise belly-button-side down on the counter or use a proofing basket for an even better shape.
Shaping a round loaf with a nicely taut skin takes some practice. Don't fret if your first (or first several) attempts don't seem quite right. Over time, you'll get a feel for it and be turning out round loaves like a pro!
Related: Good Question: How do I Store Bread?
(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
Tags
Tips & Techniques, Baking Products, baking, bread, boule, round loaf, shaping breadRelated Links
- Tip: Save Your Milk From Scorching
- Questions for David Lebovitz: Favorite August Ice Cream?
- Quick Tip: The Best Way to Store Potatoes
- How To: Clean Whole Fresh Squid
- Straight Up: How to Create Your Own Cocktail Recipes
Share
Comments (4)
The Kitchn Weekly Email
Top Posts
Top Recipes
Top Kitchen Tours
Links
- A Chicken In Every Granny Cart
- iron stef
- greengelato
- Habeas Brulee
- Pip in the city
- Birdseye Chili
- Erin Cooks
- Gourmet Project
- Last Night’s Dinner
- The Kitchen Designer - Journal
- Cookbook Catchall
- Eating the Garden
- Sara Hohn - Food… Brooklyn & Beyond
- iron stef
- Food Noob
- ...my burning kitchen...
- Janet Is Hungry
- Project Me!
- erin's kitchen
- Kitchen Adventures - Vox
- My Vegetable Blog
- Home Sweet Homewrecker
- Urban Girl's Almanac
- Cooked Books
- Superspark
- cucina nicolina
- Brownie Points
- Confabulation in the Kitchen
- My Husband Hates Veggies
- American Madness
- nylon diner
- how to eat like a bird
- 64 sq ft kitchen
- A Question of Taste
- NY Times Dining & Wine
- Epicurious
- Slow Food USA
- The Cook's Thesaurus
- The Groovy Mind
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
This is very helpful! I always thought it was me when I couldn't get it perfect! Makes me feel better to know that it takes some practice. :)
view Tabitha (From Single to Married)'s profile
Would this work with No-Knead bread? I can't ever get it to rise UP, it just oozes out and this might be the step I'm missing.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Tabitha, yes, it definitely takes some practice! Keep at it and you'll get a feel for it. :)
Tiamat, I haven't made the no-knead bread for a while, but my memory is that it's a very wet dough? If so, this might not work because the dough is actually too slack and doesn't have enough gluten developed. Worth a try, though! And it certainly can't hurt! I'd start off using heavy dusting of flour on your hands and the dough, and see how it goes.
You can also try lining a bowl with a well-floured cotton dish cloth and letting the bread rise in that. This is kind of a DIY proofing basket, and would help support your loaf as it rises.
Good luck!
view EmmaC's profile
Just wanted to say that this definitely works for no-knead bread, as long as you have a heavy dusting of flour on the board and your hands. I've actually had more success with that recipe by increasing the amount of flour slightly, resulting a less-wet dough. You need to work the dough just a bit more (maybe kneading five or six times instead of Lahey's once or twice), but it's worth it for increased control over the outcome (i.e., fewer puddled loaves).
The last half-dozen loaves of no-knead that I've made have been using this method, Emma, and it results in a much prettier boule than the original instructions. Thanks very much for the demo!
view Leslie in Portland's profile