Step Five: Pre-Shaping and Resting

Once your dough has fermented to the proper degree, it’s time to preshape the dough and allow it to rest. Essentially, this step entails forming the dough into a shape that resembles the final shape, most often an oblong or a round. So you have to know what your final shape is going to be prior to preshaping. Most recipes will provide you with a final shape, but experience and imagination can also help make this determination.

Preshaping builds internal structure within the dough that gives the dough strength. This translates into bread that is not only tastier but more appealing to the eye. But it’s not just about influencing the shape of the dough that’s important here. There’s another critical portion of this step whose importance cannot be overlooked or overstated.