Bread......Is knocking back, the same as kneading?

[Shinyshoes1]

I'm very amatuer at bread making, never been able to get it right.

I have followed a recipe and i've kneaded with my dough hook on my Kmix.

I'm leaving it to rise overnight in the fridge.

It requires knocking back tomorrow when I finish it off. Is that the same process? using my dough hook and the Kmix? i'd rather not use my hands and do it manually I have dreadful carpal tunnel and i'll cry

Knocking back is much less hard work than kneading - it's just knocking the air out to allow it to rise again. A couple of turns in the K Mix should do nicely but not much more than that. Hope your bread is yummy

cool thanks scooter

but strictly speaking, its the shaping of the loaf so its the folding under and either putting in tin or shaping into loaf/bloomer etc. Bakers dont use knock back as it goes the idea that you are pushing the air out which yr not. If you were making rolls then you would divide the dough into portions and then slowly and glently keep tucking under.

Not sure whether it will rise sufficiently in the fridge as the cold will hibinate the yeast.

My understanding is that knocking back is just that.....knocking it back down to size; just what you wanted to do to the school bully in the playground. Knock the wind out of it.

You can then knead with your mixer if you want to, before shaping it (I roll it up like a very tight swiss roll before dropping it into my loaf pan for its final rise). This helps stretch the gluten.

Bacon, the overnight rise in the fridge is great because it slows the rise down (6-8hrs rather than 1hr) allowing the flavours to develop more.

You can do the knocking back even with carpal tunnel- it's literally just a poke. I get my Dcs to do it.