Vince Pitelka on thu 26 nov 09
I just finished a huge slice of pecan pie with whipped cream, and a few
hours earlier, a very large plate of fresh roast turkey dark meat,
stuffing, gravy, and roasted mixed vegetables, including Japanese
eggplant, tiny summer squash and zucchini, and shallots. With dinner, I
enjoyed a very good bottle of Left Hand Warrior IPA, made with Colorado
fresh hops, and a bottle of Great Divide Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. I
hope you all enjoyed something equally rewarding for your holiday meal.
Over the past week or two I have been very well educated in the nuances o=
=3D
f
kneading bread dough, and I am glad that I know the distinction now. Eve=
=3D
n
though bakers do fold the dough over on itself, the objective is not to
introduce air, but rather to distribute materials and develop gluten, and
to eliminate excess air.
But just to repeat once again, I have never observed any wedging process
normally used in North America that is similar to kneading bread dough.=3D2=
0
In my experience, in North America the term "kneading" is rarely used in
reference to what we do with clay. In wedging clay we do not fold the
clay over on itself. In the cut-and-slam wedging process we do cut the
clay and then slam it down upon itself, but that pressure and momentum
prevents the trapping of air. Otherwise, in the spiral and ramshead
methods the clay is smeared against the wedging surface, never folded ove=
=3D
r
upon itself, and the ingredients migrate from outer surface to center and
back to outer surface, blending the claybody materials, and blending in o=
=3D
r
eliminating air. I am not trying to get anyone to agree with these
definitions. I am simply affirming what I have observed in 40 years of
studio clay. No one I have ever encountered in that period of time has
ever referred to "kneading" their clay. This is just a statement of my
own experience. In the West, we talk about wedging clay, and when we do
that we are talking about the spiral or the ramshead methods, or the
"stack-and-slam" wedging method.
Okay?
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
--=3D20
Lee Love on fri 27 nov 09
On Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 5:21 PM, David Finkelnburg
wrote:
>
> To me, kneading does not mean putting air into anything. In baking, the
> yeast puts the air in, and after letting the dough rise once, I knead
> it again, which deflates it somewhat. Then I let it rise again. I think
> kneading just mixes the dough thoroughly.
You don't "put bubbles" in the dough kneading it. You form the
gluten. Every potter should make bread.
"One of the most important things that takes place during the knead
process is the development of gluten. As the flour that makes up the
dough is moistened and stirred, the gluten begins to form and also
gains in strength as the dough is subjecting to the kneading process.
Gluten can be thought of as the binding agent within the dough,
allowing the loaf to take on a cohesive texture that will allow the
substance to not fall apart during baking. The presence of the gluten
also sets the stage for another good reason to knead bread dough when
making fresh bread at home."
--=3D20
--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"Ta tIr na n-=3DF3g ar chul an tI=3D97tIr dlainn trina ch=3DE9ile"=3D97tha=
t is, "T=3D
he
land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
within itself." -- John O'Donohue
ivor & olive lewis on fri 27 nov 09
Dear David Finkelnburg,
The process you describe....
<
involved slamming a lump of clay on the edge of a table so that the clay
over the edge sheared off in the shape of a wedge. The two pieces were the=
n
recombined and slammed down on the edge of the table again...and so on...
The wedge shape, of course, gave the process its name.>>
....is a process I was taught by Ron Motteram at Sunderland College of Art
in the mid sixties. The process elongates and thins the slab of clay and th=
e
doubling to thicken happens when the sheared portion is thrown onto the mas=
s
resting on the table without it being inverted. It ideal for clay that has
good plastic workability but is not suitable for feedstock that has to be
cleaned of debris or stone.
Wedging need a cutting wire and divides a pug into two portions with a swee=
p
from contact with the bench up and away from the worker. This motion create=
s
two portions that look like wheel chocks, which are as you and others know,
steep wedges.
What a fascinating technology governs our work.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis,
Redhill,
South Australia
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