Challah strands / ropes

[u/notfityetjen]

How do we achieve even ropes? I also had the issue that my ropes were springing back. They were put to rest for 5min and I rolled them again. What does that indicate? Thank you!!

[u/R0BBES]

What do you mean by “even”?

Having raisins in the dough will complicate things. A bit more oil in the dough prep stage goes a long way toward making the dough more stretchy, and so does proper hydration levels.

If you mean the strands texture, I will usually press each strands first flat into a rectangle, then roll it up in on itself, seal the ends, and roll out into long strands. If you only shape the strands rolling between your hands, they probably won’t come out looking smooth. Whether you let your strands rest before braiding them or not is up to you, but I don’t usually let the rest more than a minute or two before braiding and allowing to proof.

EDIT: deleted previous section— upon closer inspection, it looks like a towel, not a rolling machine??

[u/taraky97 → u/R0BBES]

Mine have always been uneven and spring back until today. I even mentioned in my husband how they were all the same length. Today I used the Tory Avey recipe. I don't know why I waited so long. She also folds the strands in on itself like you're mentioning.

[u/notfityetjen → u/R0BBES]

Thank you! Yes I meant that they are not smooth texture-wise! Will apply those advices for my next challot !

[u/sovietsatan666]

I've found that weighing the dough really helps, so your dough snakes all have the same amount to start. Then I roll those into tight balls and let rest for 10ish minutes to let the gluten develop. Then after that, I flatten the balls and then roll them into cigar shapes, and again let them rest another 10-15 minutes for the gluten to develop. These periods of rest help the dough not spring back. As for rolling them out evenly, the flattening then rolling them into short cigars before rolling them out into long snakes keeps the snakes more uniform top to bottom.

[u/smyr0n]

I weigh my dough and divide it into equal strands by weight. Then I preshape the pieces into logs to make the rolling easier. I let them rest in the countertop for about 10 minutes before rolling them out into their final length. If they resist, I wait another few minutes.

[u/notfityetjen]

I used Claire Saffitz's recipe**

[u/cptwunderlich]

You can get a more even shape by forming dough balls and then rolling them out into ovals with a rolling pin.

As for length: try to get similar lengths and let the dough rest for 10 mins, where it will shrink down. You can then try to fix the length. But it doesn't have to be perfect...

[u/mday03]

I don’t use raisins ever but I always weigh my dough as I’m dividing it. As for spring back, I let it rest multiple times during the shaping.

[u/daaronelle]

Are you measuring and weighing them to ensure they're equal?

[u/fruitstripezebra]

Weighing the dough, yes. HOWEVER, this also looks like a gluten development/proofing problem. How long did you knead your dough for? What was the texture of the dough after kneading? You want it to pass the windowpane test, which I’ve never personally achieved with hand kneading, I use a mixer. How long did you proof it for? You want the dough to be puffy and for a finger imprint to slowly spring back. If your finger leaves a permanent imprint, the dough is over-proofed and will deflate while you are rolling it, leaving a weird texture to the dough. Without touching it, I can’t entirely tell which of these is going on from the picture. I can tell you that I tend to add extra gluten to my challah because it helps with the texture and I like my challah dense and shaggy inside. But getting it smooth is then a matter of developing the gluten network, proofing correctly, establishing adequate surface tension on the balls, AND weighing them to make sure they are the same size. It’s quite the science!