I found it interesting that you knead this dough for 7 minutes in a big mixer (Kitchen Aid, I assume) and yet the direction for kneading BY HAND that someone requested also say to knead for 7 to 8 minutes. Wouldn't this be totally OVERKNEADED if you did it for 7 minutes in a heavy-duty mixer? I often have problems with my breads not having good oven spring or seeming to "deflate" or "sink" a bit after I take them out of the oven. I've called your test kitchen about this a couple different times, and they always tell me a likely problem is that I'm overkneading the dough in my Kitchen Aid and doing something to the gluten and I should only knead for about 3 or 4 minutes tops. Can you please comment? This just seems like such a long time to knead if you're using a big mixer. I LOVE your blog, have learned so much, and gotten wonderful recipes! Thanks so much! Carol, I knead at very slow speed in the KitchenAid; and I think if I were to knead by hand, it would be for about 10 minutes. You could probably knead a much shorter time at medium speed. You can also barely knead at all, and let the dough rise longer; gluten develops all on its own as dough ferments. There are just so many different ways to approach the kneading/rising process, it's best to figure our your own favorite method. To me, the lack of oven spring and sinking you mention sounds like too much rising, rather than too much kneading. Try putting the bread in the oven when it's about 3/4 of the way to where you think it should be, and see if that helps, OK? PJH

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