First, when we mix flour with water, the components of gluten come together, forming an elastic, extensible network. The mix-and-fold at workīut why did this method work so well? The answer is simple: time and folds.

This experience aligns with one of Jeffrey’s favorite sayings: “The proof comes out of the oven.” The original quote is in French, but I translate it into my own work as “do what makes it best” and “results don’t lie.” In the case of the folded baguette, a gentle mix combined with folding proved its merit. Even if we didn’t change our current method at the bakery, I kept it in my mind, remembering it as especially valuable for home bakers (as there was no mixer requirement) and, more importantly, because the results were so darn good and easy. It wasn’t that we never achieved similar results with our regular methods, but this was a different path to a similar result that was both novel and unexpected. The mix-and-fold method that Jeffrey employed was certainly noteworthy. Jeffrey's Unkneaded Six-Fold French Bread, a lesson in the making.Īs bakers, we spend a lot of time chasing results and taking notes of our successes and failures. What emerged from the oven was more than dark ears, a beautiful crumb, and a crispy crust. No machine mix, no preferment, just a plastic scraper and a metal bowl? We were skeptical. By the time the loaves were shaped and loaded, curiosity was running high. As bakers watched the dough come together, it became one of those experiments where more and more people came to check on it. He folded it twice per hour for 3 hours, making bowl folds with a plastic bowl scraper. I don’t remember the source of this idea, but one day at the bakery he tested a folded baguette. The basic recipe was a hand-mixed dough, barely stirred together, with a tiny amount of yeast. And when we weren’t talking about it, we were eating it and planning improvements for the next bake.Īs much as Jeffrey has inspired bakers across the globe with his passion for his craft, the learning that I draw upon most is his curiosity and constant search for innovation. When we weren’t making bread, we were talking about it. Jeffrey Hamelman - the celebrated baker and former bakery director at King Arthur - and I spent many years making bread together. Of all the options available for making bread dough, there’s only one that I regularly use in my baking: the mix-and-fold. Read Part 1 here: Why kneading isn’t always the best way to develop bread dough Part 2 of a two-part series on dough development.

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