Rye bread sticks to my hands when kneading
I decided to try baking rye bread instead of wheat, but the dough just sticks like glue and won't cooperate. Maybe I picked the wrong flour or messed up the proportions? How do I make it more workable?
I decided to try baking rye bread instead of wheat, but the dough just sticks like glue and won't cooperate. Maybe I picked the wrong flour or messed up the proportions? How do I make it more workable?
What flour are you using - pure rye or a mix with wheat? And are you adding a starter or just yeast?
Rye dough really does stick a lot more than wheat dough, it's just its nature - rye flour has less gluten but more mucilaginous substances. But you can make it manageable in a few ways. First, don't knead it like wheat dough - rye dough is meant to be stirred, not kneaded, because it doesn't develop elasticity. You work the dough not with your hands on the table, but with a spoon in a bowl, stirring intensively for about 10-15 minutes. This will give it structure without everything sticking to your hands.
Second, pay attention to your liquid ratio. Rye flour absorbs water differently than wheat flour - recipes often give too much moisture. Start with less water than the recipe says and add it gradually until you get a thick sour cream consistency, not a runny dough. If the flour is really sticky, you can try mixing it with wheat flour in a 60-40 ratio or even 50-50 - that bread is delicious too and easier to work with. And it helps your hands if you dampen them slightly with water or oil instead of dusting them with flour - that just makes the stickiness worse.
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