Tacky is a good thing

Ever since I started this I’ve been reading “The dough should be tacky.”  And I was thinking “Why?”  It’s harder to knead when your hands keep sticking to it, not to mention the complexities of actually achieving this elusive “tacky loaf”.  So, I’ve kneaded with flour.  I’ve kneaded with olive oil.  I hadn’t achieved tacky at any point.

Then, one day I was lazy.  I mean, I have this whole thing down, knead, break, knead, break and suddenly the flour I’ve put away is needed.  The board is totally absent of flour and here I am with a glob of dough in my hands.  So then I just kneaded.  And suddenly I knew what they meant by “tacky”.  It’s this state where it is sticky but doesn’t fully STICK to the board.

Now – why tacky?  SEAMS.  My seams had been HORRIBLE.  The bread, during baking would always split at the seams, so I’d have my beautiful cuts on top and then these ugly seams underneath the bread.  It sucked.

But a tacky loaf?  Well, the bread is so sticky that during the shaping process it’ll stick to itself and there will be no visible seam!  *gasp*  It’s fabulous.

If only I hadn’t listened to my mother and realized earlier that Tacky is a good thing.  🙂