The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Extreme Autolyse

The Krusty Loafer's picture
The Krusty Loafer

Extreme Autolyse

I recently made pizza dough by putting the water and flour together (66% hydration). I let the dough sit for 3-4 hours and then mixed in the salt, yeast, and starter.  I let it proof and did a series of stretch and folds over a period of another couple hours.  (Mostly Joe Lavallo's recipe).

This made some of the best pizza dough I've ever made.  Smooth, light, and rose nicely around the edges. 

Does anyone know how this might workout with a bread dough? 
Any suggestions?

Thanks
Art

Broker965's picture
Broker965

This would work for almost all lean doughs.

Southbay's picture
Southbay

What you describe sounds great for either pizza or bread. I’m always fooling around with autolysation and go even more. Frequently I will mix all of the water with only half the flour and leave it for hours or even overnight. This can really help get flours like semolina or whole wheat to sort of “gel” before incorporating starter/yeast, the salt, and then enough additional flour for the desired dough stiffness. A good long autolyse can help with achieving higher hydration with good dough strength to get the light and smooth results you describe. 

 

The Krusty Loafer's picture
The Krusty Loafer

Thank you for your response. I'm going to try it on my next bread baking day.