I used to dump all my bread ingredients in at once, now I do the flour water and yeast first

For years I just threw everything into the bowl together and hoped for the best. My loaves came out dense and flat more often than not. About six months ago I watched a video from a bakery in Portland where the guy let the flour and water sit for 30 minutes before adding the salt and yeast. Tried it the next day and the dough felt way different, more stretchy and easier to shape. Now I do that autolyse step every time I make a sourdough or even a simple white loaf. Has anyone else made this switch and noticed a big difference in their crumb?

2 comments

2 Comments

simons2821d ago

Used to be in the camp that thought the autolyse was just a fancy trick that didn't really matter... boy was I wrong about that. First time I tried it the dough practically transformed in my hands, way more pliable and not fighting me at all. The crumb structure on my loaves opened up way nicer too, more of those irregular holes you want in a good artisan bread. Takes a little extra planning but the payoff is real for sure.

veram9920d ago

Yeah, it's a solid technique for sure, but just to clarify something - autolyse is really just mixing the flour and water and letting it sit. No salt, no yeast yet. If you're throwing everything in at once and calling it an autolyse, you're actually doing a "fermentolyse" or whatever people call it these days. I was making that mistake for a while too. Once you do the real autolyse, just flour and water for 30-60 minutes before adding the rest, that's when you really see the dough chill out and stop fighting you.