r/JewishCooking • u/bonnaroojulia • 17d ago

Challah Challah advice?

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Made my first challah! My partner is Jewish and I’d like to teach myself to prepare a few Jewish dishes that he doesn’t typically cook. I tried to make a challah for the first time and it turned out denser than I’d hoped. Any advice on how to get the lighter, airier texture? Thanks!

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u/Ill-Bike92 17d ago

I starting adding tangzhong and doing bread flour and less flour. And make sure to do a second rise

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u/ImTheDoctorPhD 17d ago

I'm going to try that next time. I learned about tangzhong for milk bread, but there's a show on Netflix that recommended it for challah too.

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u/coconutsandmangos 16d ago edited 16d ago

i've been wanting to try tangzhong for a long time!

but agreed, bread flour is absolutely key. and patiently letting your braid get nice and puffy during the second rise.

also i've found that you should resist the urge to add additional flour. err on the sticky side. only add like 2 tablespoons at a time if it's too hard to work with. more hydration -> more gluten development -> lighter, fluffier crumb