Does bread dough stick to you? AND easy recipes please

[Shellydon]

This is weird, but does anyone else have trouble making break because the dough sticks to them.  Seriously sticks like a magnet.   I have tried for years to bake bread, but if I have to touch it, I ruin it because it sticks terribly.  A couple of months ago I was helping a friend in the kitchen.  She was transferring dough from the bowl to a dutch oven.  She transferred one round.  I tried the next, but as soon as I touched it, it collapsed and stuck all over my hands.  I used the same amount of flour as my friend, same recipe, same type of bowl.  She could touch the dough but I could not.  Anyone else?  There has to be something weird with the skin on my hands. 

So-- with this in mind, is there a kind of bread that can be mixed in a stand mixer, transferred to a dutch over or something else to rise, then baked in that same container.  No kneading or shaping by hand?

[Spy Car]

42 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

Wet hands.  Always work with higher hydration doughs with wet hands.  If it isn’t sticking to you it’s actually very likely you added too much flour.  A yeast dough should always be at least slightly tacky to wet hands unless it is something like a pasta dough.

Oiling your hands could work too, and spraying the outside of the dough with cooking spray before you shape it .  There are lots of tricks.  You could wear nitrile gloves too, see if that helps.

Many recipes can be made almost entirely with the stand mixer, but you still need to do at least a little folding and stretching to make a gluten shield for the crust. Again, spray the dough with cooking spray before you begin punching down or folding and it will help a ton.

 

 

And I have to say, even if it collapses and sticks to your hands you haven’t ruined it at all.  Just use your fingers or a spoon to scrape it off, wash your hands and leave them damp, and fold/stretch/mold it into the proper shape again.  Let it rise for a little more time again.  Bake.  Bread is incredibly forgiving.

 

Yep. Wet hands. I'm only a novice bread baker but have learned wet hands (especially with high hydration doughs) are the way to go.

In the olden days many of us thought flouring one's hands was the way to go. It works, but wet seems better.

Rubber spatulas (like those used for frostings) are an invaluable tool.

Bill

[Tanaqui]

Cold water or oil. You want your hands a little wet.

Or, better yet, your gloves a little wet - the texture of dough sticking is gross, amirite?

Edited April 13, 2020 by Tanaqui

[73349]

Definitely olive oil, but also you can minimize contact.

Try something like this in a Dutch oven--I used to make sourdough that way & it was lovely. You MUST heat the pan before you put the dough in.

[Carol in Cal.]

Yes, wet your hands.  Also, have a bowl of water handy to dip in.  I use a small (3-4 person) salad bowl for that.  It's quite a bit of water, and then afterwards I put it outside on one of my plants.

[Familia]

My rule of thumb for any dough that make a foolproof loaf is that ‘if a completely dry hand can squeeze the loaf and pull away clean, the dough has taken enough flour’. Your experience may mean sweaty hands?  My hands are usually damp when working in the kitchen.  I freshly wash them and flap to dry before touching to test my loaves.  In my experience, working against this rule results in a dense, dough-y loaf.  I can see why your experience, having this happen with your friend, would you make you not trust that test, though.