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Method for mechanical gluten development in sticky dough other than slap n' fold and using a mixer?

Sebastos156's picture
Sebastos156

Method for mechanical gluten development in sticky dough other than slap n' fold and using a mixer?

I love the slap and fold, it's incredibly exciting to me and I have nothing against it - the trouble is basic empathy and self-preservation. I live in a "poorly" sound-insulated apartment complex. I don't have a mixer and won't get one before long.

I was wondering if someone knew a different method than those two that is just as effective, if not almost as effective, and reasonably quiet. I want it to be effective mainly because I want to avoid spending too much time messing with the dough, in the interest of preserving the carotenoid pigments, as instructed by the excellent book Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, 2nd edition.

Thank you!

alfanso's picture
alfanso

I'm a French Fold (slap and fold) enthusiast.  Until a few months a go I was going full tilt.  And then, and then - my downstairs neighbor came up to complain about me bouncing a basketball on the floor,and could I please stop.  I explained my hobby and he left satisfied, but I decided that being an annoying neighbor was probably not the best way to go about it.  

I continue to French Fold, but now I just plain take it easy.  No more hard slaps.  Instead I give a soft slap and then try to pull the dough toward me to stretch it - which is, after all, a good part of what we are after employing with the slaps, along with the incorporation of air on the fold part of the action.  It does take a clock minute or two longer to get through my ~300 folds, but they are every bit as efficient.

Try it.  Your neighbors will like it.  And so will you!

alan

Sebastos156's picture
Sebastos156

To be frank, Ive found those hard slaps to have a significant bearing on the gluten, at least in some situations. I had a very slack and shaggy 72% hydration dough and I found that it didn't start to come together at all until I started to play basketball with it, ruining the lives and relationships of everyone in my vicinity and annoying the f**k out of the Earth's core and people in China. 

I'm toning down the hydration and trying it your way. 66 or 68%.

thank you !

drogon's picture
drogon

Mix the dough in a bowl, tip it out onto the bench, mix it a bit more (one hand & arm - push away, scrape back) Do this for a minute or 2 until you're happy it's all well mixed, pull/scrape into a pile, cover with the bowl and leave half an hour.

Come back to it, pull it out into a long shape, then stretch and roll it towards you. Hard to describe this but I use my thumbs/heel of hands  to push a bit away, then fingers to roll it towards me. do this until you then have a long left to right roll, lift, turn it quarter turn and repeat. I only need to do this 2-3 times to develop a nice silky dough. If you like you can leave it another 10 minutes and repeat.

And that's it. Leave it to ferment - you can do 4-way stretch and folds at this point if its your thing. (I almost always leave it overnight while I'm sleeping, so don't do them)

No heavy banging, no hard work kneading. It's how I've been producing my breads daily for the past 2 years. (when I don't use the mixer)

-Gordon

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Try a stretch and fold.  Typically it is done in 4 sets,  around 1/2 hour apart.  It is surprising the amount of gluten development that can achieve.  Here is a classic video of Hammelman  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnxiawZoL4A      though he is using a lot more dough, so it looks different,  

This is a Reinhart clip showing a stretch and fold with a higher hydration dough  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1timJlCT3PM

Sebastos156's picture
Sebastos156

drogon, I will test out this promising technique shortly after the one suggested by the previous commenter, and for now, thank you dearly for the reply!

Barry, indeed, stretch and folds are a powerful ally in gluten development and are essential when it comes to adjusting it after the fact. Thank you !

jcope's picture
jcope

Some things to consider:

My experience is that gluten needs help when the fermentation time is short due to warm conditions.  In that case, I divide the fermentation time up so that I stretch and fold it in four evenly spaced intervals. It's pretty simple, but requires you dedicate most of the day to being around making bread.

In case you do a cooler ferment (below 60F or 15C) the gluten really doesn't need help.  The bread I make regularly is fermented at 54-56F (12-14C), and I never touch it after mixing salt in.  It ferments for about 22hours untouched.  At that time, I de-gas it, shape it, proof it for about 1:40. 

Bread fermented at that temperature is vaguely sour on top of some quite nice, richer flavors that aren't found in commercial breads.  The bacteria is roughly 1.5 times as active as the yeast.

I will experiment soon with a 48 hour ferment at about 8C.  The bacteria is about 2.2 times as active as the yeast.  My hypothesis: a bit more sour and overall more rich flavors.  I could see that becoming a new standard.