BAKERS’ TOPIC, table skills
Hand skills, part II: rolling a stick

Last time (Newsletter 35) we began the series by introducing the important skill of making a tight cylinder.
Now you are going to take the cylinder to another stage – rolling it lengthways, to form a stick.
Here is where we got to last time – you are completing a tight cylinder as shown here:

Now you are ready to start rolling out that cylinder. This is the default setting shown below, the position that the hands return to after they have completed a rolling action and must be returned to the middle – one is placed on top of the other.

The rolling action involves spreading the hands outwards with even pressure, rolling forwards and backwards. Here are two images for rolling forwards:

To finish, below is an image of rolling backwards.

Good luck with stick making, fairly tricky when you are starting out to learn it. Notice that I say “stick” not baguette. For real baguettes you must have French flour, employ a French fermentation method, and some would say you even have to use French water!

Paul

BAKER’S TOPIC, “table skills”
By the expression “table skills” the old craftsman bakers who taught me to bake in the 1970’s were referring to all manner of hand skills to do with dough handling.
I shall do a series on this, and today we shall begin by looking at the simple task of rolling up a piece of dough towards you.

Hand skills, Part 1: making a cylinder
Below is the photo that was placed at the top of this newsletter, where you see the final roll-up of a tinned loaf. It is tight and neat. Firm pressure is put on the dough, but hand pressure should never be so tight as to tear the dough. Remember – torn gluten strands cannot mend themselves, so tears remain as blemishes.
You see that the flattened dough piece has had each side folded inwards, one side placed on the other (like a pastry fold, in thirds). Now the baker proceeds to roll it up firmly creating a cylinder with a straight seam. The main action is done by the forward thrust of the flat thumbs, which keeps it tight and neat. Thumb pressure is released, and a little roll towards you follows, done with the gathered fingers behind the loaf that can lightly draw its bulk towards you. Then resume pressure from the flat thumbs and another little increment of the task is performed. It is a jerky action, as thumb push is followed by finger roll. When I roll up a loaf like this, there will be four or five of these jerky motions.

Next, moving away from moulding a shape for a tin, look at the formation of the cylinder that proceeds the making of a baguette.
First step is to take the floppy rested piece and fold up its bottom, fold down its top as follows:

Then proceed to make a gently formed cylinder (see next pic) which will enjoy a short rest before being rolled into the long baguette by an entirely different action (which can be covered in a newsletter of the future).

This photo (above) shows the action from the opposite side.

Making a cylinder is also a valuable skill for kneading inside a tub, or systematically working oil and water into dough (focaccia, olive bread, etc.) See below for inside the tub. The same roll-up action is used when you want to make a large sprawling heap of dough into a neat and compact bulk for putting it in a container or simply moving it to another place.

Well Panarians, there will be more of these table hand skills sessions. After all, instruction on “making a cylinder” was only Part 1.
Good baking, Paul

Plaits are so pretty, and they also lend themselves to a satisfying tearing off of chunks to dive into sauces and dips, as well as generally gathering up whatever is offered at table.

As soon as your hand skills have become capable enough to make the stick shape, tapered at each end, you can have a go at plaiting.
Be attentive that the separate stick strands have all been weighed at the same weight, and that they have been rolled to consistent girth width and overall shape regarding thicker middles and tapering ends.
Spend a little time making sure the sticks are all of the same length and then lay them down running out in front of you, not sideways on. As you finish preparing them, allow them to be briefly rolled in table dust (flour) so that they will not stick to the bench or each other.

It is an unfortunate feature of plaiting that the starting-off point is a little bulky and messy compared with the finishing point which is enhanced by the tension placed on the strands as you are finishing.
An exception to this problem is the 3-strand plait, for which bakers have invented a cunning way to effectively have two neat finished ends. Being only three strands, it is known by everybody and is a very sensible place to start.

3-strand plait
Lay the strands in front of you and rather than starting work at the top, instead you start plaiting from about the middle, completing the half nearest you. The rhythm of 3-strand plaiting is the simple mantra “outside to inside”, then again from the other side – outside to inside. At the finish as the strands feel tighter and more pinched, simply weld them together.
Now you pick it up in the middle where you began plaiting and somersault it over in your face so that the three strands that remained unplaited at the top are now facing you. Pay attention to lead off with the outside strand that should rightly be brought to the middle.
See the pic below. It shows the point at which the plait has been flipped over, and clearly the strand on the right-hand side is the one to be brought to the middle to begin the finishing sequence.

4 – strand plait
Follow the same guidelines given above and lay out the four even strands in front of you. Begin at the top, but before you begin the first move, allow the top pointy ends to be gently fastened together. This is the plaiting sequence:
2 over 3; 4 over 2; and 1 over 3
To interpret this properly you must remember that the numbering system from left to right resumes the 1 to 4 after each move. Hence, after doing the 2 over 3 move, the strand that was formerly 2 now becomes the new 3.
See the pic below, where you can see the gentle fastening of all four strands at the top, and the first move – the 2 over 3, revealing how important it is to appreciate that former number 2 is now number 3.

In my book the 4-strand is possibly the prettiest – I love it the way one strand bobs along the top. See pic below, where a 4-strander is proving en couche.