I have been thinking a lot about dough strength lately because of the difficulty I've had baking with durum flour. I saw a great article on dough strength referenced in an old TFL post. It is in the SFBI Fall 2004 newsletter - link can be found here: http://www.sfbi.com/newsletter.html It was quite an eye opener since so many different factors impact dough strength. In trying to wrap my brain around this, I put together a handy one-page table. Maybe others will find it useful as well. I tried to summarize a lot of material, and may not have it all right, so have at it, but even more important read the original article!
Factor | Strength / Elasticity | Weakness / Extensibility | Comments/Examples |
Protein Quantity | High Protein | Low Protein | |
Protein Quality | High Quality | Low Quality | Durum has high protein but poor quality |
Ash Content | Low | High | Whole wheat flour is more extendable, less elastic than white flour |
Additives | Ascorbic Acid, Potassium Bromate, Malt | | |
Maturation | Matured flour | Fresh flour | |
Water Quality | Hard water | Soft water | |
Hydration | Low hydration | High hydration | |
Added Ingredients | | Added ingredients | Butter, nuts, berries, etc. |
Autolyse | Autolyse | Autolyse | Autolyse strengthens gluten bonds, but also increases enzymatic activity which makes dough weaker |
Mix Time | More mixing | Less mixing | |
Dough Temperature | Higher | Lower | This is an indirect effect – higher temp gives faster fermentation leads to stronger dough |
Fermentation Time | More | Less | Acids from fermentation strengthen gluten bonds |
Dough Mass | Higher | Lower | The more dough mass, the faster fermentation |
Starter | Starter | | Starter strengthens dough due to fermentation acids |
Hydration of Preferment | Less | More | Wet environment of preferment increases enzyme activity which makes dough more extensible |
Preferment Quantity | More | Less | More preferment means more acid which strengthens dough |
Preferment Maturity | More | Less | Mature preferments have higher acid content |
Shaping | Tight | Loose | Baker can adjust based on dough strength |