bench rest

Definition

The crucial resting period after kneading dough or after cooking meat, allowing gluten to relax or juices to redistribute. Ignoring bench rest is how you get tough bread and dry meat, making patience literally delicious.

Example Usage

Give that dough a 20-minute bench rest before you shape it, unless you enjoy fighting elastic dough.

Origin

From the practice of resting dough on the work bench between steps

Fun Fact

The bench rest for meat has nothing to do with benches—it's called that because bakers coined the term first, and cooks just borrowed it along with the technique.

Source: Baking and butchery technique terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

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stretch

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shoyu

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corner

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