February 12, 2013 - 8:04am
Bread tearing upon baking
My 100% whole wheat bread often tears on the sides after shaping into loaf pans. I have oiled the sides of the loaf pans but still get tears. My last batch tore on the top upon baking. My research suggested that the seam could have been touching the sides of pan and caused that top tear. Does tearing come from not kneading long enough? I use a bosch mixer on the "2" setting with dough hook for 8 minutes with a recipe for three loaves.
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The more you kneed the stonger the gluten will be. 8 minutes are not a lot, especially if you use such a low speed (I have a Bosch among the others, I know how it works).
Ideally you should get a dough capable to make a ribbon when you stretch it, and to get there your dough needs a lot of energy.
Look at this picture, for example (thread linked to the picture). It's a bit extreme and it's for a pizza, but the picture shows what I mean.
I have had this happen to me at times and for me here are some reasons-
1) Too much flour in the dough - I added more flour to keep the dough from sticking and over did it.
2) Not a long enough proof. The dough should have proofed a little bit longer (maybe half and hour or so).
3) As Nicodvb suggests - insufficient gluten development (not enough kneading).
Linda