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Home > posts > 2020 > 08 > 2020-08-16_Challah_Two_Ways.html

Challah Two Ways Sunday, August 16, 2020, 10:00 AM

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Emily brought really good challah with her when she came to visit but upon hearing more about it, I learned she doesn't knead it or anything. That is certainly not wrong per-se but I was also very surprised by it.

So we decided to try to make it again with us each doing it our way. And to add to the mix, Emily never baked at high altitude and I didn't know what kind of changes to try.

Dough

We used a recipe from a family member¹

My Dough

My plan was to roughly follow the directions except use the food processor to knead it. The only other change is that I proofed the yeast. Well, it was so sticky. I added a bit more flour and it was still way too sticky. I probably should have been using a wooden spatula rather than my hand so we didn't loose so much.

I tried to move it to the food processor and it just gummed it up and jammed. I moved back to the bowl, added flour, and tried again. This happened 3 times before I finally got it into the food processor to knead properly. And who knows how much more flour.

I finished it by hand, rubbed it with oil, and was ready to go.

Emily's Dough

Emily followed her normal process but accidentally added 4.5 cups of flour (by volume, I used weight) and then took some out. So we both had way too much flour.

Comparison

See the photos below. We let them rise for about 2-3 hours

(Emily's on the left and mine on the right)

Emily's looked like more dough and very well could have been since I lost so much in the back and forth. But mine rose larger. Not surprising since it had a lot more gluten to work with.

Rest of the process

We let Victor do the hard work of braiding it. He followed this Youtube video (LOCAL)

I was surprised they do not let it sit and rise again once braided. I think I would do that when I make this again but it did work out just fine so maybe it really isn't needed!

Victor didn't do an egg wash (by choice? by mistake?) so they didn't have that shine.

We cooked that for about 30 minutes. Victor made the call on when to pull them. I think mine needed a few more minutes but it was really not too bad!

Victor said that mine was easier to roll out but I am not sure how much difference there was.

Comparison

(Emily's on the left and mine on the right)

I knew which was which so it was not really a fair comparison. Mine seemed to rise a bit more in the oven but that could have also been how it was braided.

Emily's was denser than mine and fell apart more easily. But honestly, they were not as different as I expected. Sure, I could tell the difference but it wasn't super stark. And they both tasted really good!

Not sure if it had to do with the technique, oven placement, or size but mine needed a few more minutes in the oven.

Closing Thoughts

I expected much more of a difference! I guess enough gluten built up naturally or it didn't make a huge change.

Recipe wise, I would consider this again but I would also do a bit more research to tune to the volumes. This dough was much fattier than my Dad's challah but I liked the extra moistness and softness.

Either way, it was pretty easy to make! I would do it again. Though having Victor do the braiding saved a lot of (my) effort.