PANARY

Craft baking courses, wood-fired ovens, and consultancy

  • Home
  • Courses
    • Baking Courses
    • Apprentice Days
    • 1 Day Courses
    • 2 Day Courses
    • 3 Day Courses
    • Residential
    • Accommodation
  • Watermill
  • Gift vouchers
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • Newsletters
    • Bakers’ Topics
  • Contact
  • Course Calendar
  • Buy Our Bread
  • Fees
    • Fees
    • Accommodation
  • Wood Fired Ovens
  • Consultancy
  • About
    • About
    • Testimonials

Making the Round Shape, Both Loose and Tight – Part 3

26th August 2014 by Paul Merry

The previous videos have shown you how to divide a dough, fold each piece neatly before laying them to rest, then how to make a tight cob.


The Mini-Series

  • Pt. 1: Dividing The Dough, “Air Fold”
  • Pt. 2: Moulding A Cob
  • Pt. 3: Professional Cob Moulding With Testing For Readiness

Shown in this video

This video reinforces these actions by showing dough handling and cob making at craftsman pace. Where it advances your knowledge is in the section dealing with assessing whether they are relaxed and ready for moulding – by poking them.

The soft underbelly poking test

When teaching, I have a nickname for this action: the “soft underbelly poke”, and that is precisely what you do.

With an upright finger sliding along the bench you poke the edge of the piece right at the point where it is lying on the bench. Your thrust intrudes inwards, leaving a dent in its underbelly edge. Be gentle, yet steady and firm enough to dent it if it is yielding.

If it is not yielding and has the gluten strength to repel you and push out the attempted dent, then it is indicating it is not yet ready for moulding, and needs more rest time.

Please share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Baker's Topics, Skills Training Videos Tagged With: video

About Paul Merry

Comments

  1. David says

    27th August 2014 at 18:48

    Hi Paul, these bring back happy memories of a great weekend last November and work well as an aide de memoir. For future reference the end cut-off of videos 2 and 3 is a bit brutal but this doesn’t affect the overall content.

    Best wishes, David

  2. Justin says

    27th August 2014 at 22:05

    Great vids, Paul, and typical of your gentle teaching style. My lad’s just got into baking, too, and it makes me want to send him to you for a week. Here’s hoping!

  3. Kelly Eardley says

    28th August 2014 at 09:40

    Great little videos Paul, easy & clear to follow. I always use the ‘soft underbelly poke’ just as you taught me on your course, when testing my loaves for moulding.
    Following attendance on your going professional course I’ve set-up my own micro-bakery in Lancashire (www.deerstonesbakery.co.uk). Your expertise really helped me set-up my business and I use the skills you taught me daily. Enjoying the newsletters and the website is fab too. Will you venture onto twitter next!
    Kelly

BAKER’S TOPICS

  • 20 degree temperature threshold
  • A New Approach To Sourdough Wheat Leaven
  • Autolyse
  • Bagels and the water bath
  • Baker’s Tip: Coarser flours take more water
  • Baker’s Tip: Simple Plaiting
  • Baker’s Tip:. Quantities of different yeasts
  • Baking on a tile
  • Baking on a Tile
  • Chelsea Buns
  • Dough enrichment: adding fats and oils
  • Dough fermentation: The Fold
  • EASTER BAKING
  • Finishing a cob
  • Firing a cold oven
  • Flour too strong?
  • Green dough
  • How To Make The Devonshire Split
  • Kneading dough
  • Kugelhopf – popular in the Alsace
  • Large ovens: separate furnace or fire on the floor?
  • Making a cob (Part 1)
  • Making the Round Shape, Both Loose and Tight – Part 1
  • Making the Round Shape, Both Loose and Tight – Part 3
  • Malt, Maltose, Malt Products
  • Oxygen in dough
  • Plaiting
  • Plaiting – Part I
  • Poolish
  • Read Paul’s views on “craft”, as they appeared recently in two published articles
  • Rolling Olives & Oil Into Finished Dough
  • Saffron dough cake
  • Salt
  • Scalded flour
  • Shaping for a tin
  • Slashing the loaves
  • Stollen
  • Stoneground Flour
  • Sweet pastry
  • Table skills – Part I
  • Table skills – Part II
  • Temperature chart
  • The “ferment”
  • The baguette
  • The Chelsea Bun
  • The Country Housewife’s Outdoor Cloche Oven, 1897
  • Types Of Yeast
  • Understanding acidity & sourness
  • Use of the Sponge
  • Volume in a loaf
  • Water temperature and yeast
  • Wedding Rolls: How to Make Them
  • What’s special about wood-fired ovens?
  • Working with stoneground flour
PANARY - Teaching Breadmaking Since 1997
Teaching Breadmaking Since 1997
Every PANARY course is taught by Paul Merry, a master craftsman who favours a very practical approach to learning, regardless of any student’s prior experience..

Helpful Information

  • Cann Mills – Working Watermill
  • Which Course To Select?
  • Testimonials
  • Learn to bake
  • Gift vouchers
  • Accommodation

PANARY Mailing List

PANARY - Teaching Breadmaking Since 1997
For baking tips and special offers.
JOIN MAILING LIST

Contact PANARY

To contact Paul Merry, or speak with him, please ring +44 (0)1747 851102, email using ,  or visit our contact page.

Copyright © 2022 · PANARY

  • Terms of Service
  • Refund Policy
  • Privacy Policy
panary adj [L.panis bread + - ARY] Of or pertaining to bread; p. fermentation

Sorry, but BUY OUR BREAD is closed. Our next bake is on Thursday 14th July 2022. Please, pop-back anytime from Friday 8th place your next order. Thank you. Paul. Dismiss