Extensibility nearly vanishes with delayed salt method
Am working with 80-85% hydration, high-gluten wheat flour and + a bit of rye for flavor. I've recently started trying a 45-minute autolyse without starter or salt; then add starter later and rest; and finally add salt before beginning stretch-and-folds and heading into the bulk fermentation. Not mixing vigorously or kneading in these early steps.
I've read many breadmaking accounts that describe how the gluten "tightens up immediately" with the delayed salt method, and I've experienced this too. The issue I am encountering is that the extensibility never really seems to return after salt is added. I can do my first two stretches in a set of 4 stretch-and-fold passes, but then the dough just won't stretch anymore, really. Gluten development is excellent but the dough seems like it becomes exceptionally elastic with the delayed-salt method and not as extensible as I'm used to. Salt is at or under 2% by the way.
My understanding is that good spring and crumb depend on a balance between dough elasticity and extensibility, but this delayed-salt thing seems to lock-up the gluten strands and the stretchiness never really returns. Thoughts?
Your observation is correct. You never get back the extensibility of a slack dough after you have mixed in the salt. First, autolyse does one thing - in the absence of salt, the amylase enzymes that are in the flour (or added to the flour) begin breaking down the starch to make maltose. At typical dough temperatures, after about 20 minutes there is enough maltose in the dough that the yeast can grow at a rate uninhibited by maltose availability (if you add the salt coincident with adding water to the flour, the salt reduces the amylase activity and the formation of maltose is dramatically slowed so your "autolyse" is not doing what it is chartered to do). At this point you can add the salt which will slow down both the yeast growth rate and the amylase enzyme activity and which will simultaneously toughen the gluten. If the gluten development has already progressed there is a very rapid loss of extensibility and a large increase in elasticity (think of it as the strength of the rubber band goes up, not down when salt is added). You now have to let the dough rest before you can further mix or fold the dough. Each set of folds stretches the gluten molecules, breaking some of the side chain bonds and removing some of the loops before the side chain bonds reform. As the gluten chains stretch and straighten out the loops, there is less stretch left in the dough, and if you insist on working it too much you can reach a point where there is not enough stretch left to allow you to fold or shape the dough. This is the point you want to reach when the dough goes into the oven, not a point you want to reach before you have divided and shaped and proofed the dough.
If you had added the salt before you did any real mixing, the dough would have exhibited both elasticity and plasticity as you mixed it, with gluten development increasing along with resistance to stretching (increasing elasticity) and reducing the tendency of the dough to flow (loss of extensibility/increased viscosity). It is a continuous transition - you get the springiness you need to hold the loaf shape and you lose the tendency of the dough to slump and deform. But you still want to leave some extensibility to allow you to shape the loaf without tearing the dough. It is a fine balance that comes with hands-on experience and studious observation.
For those who would like more on the commercial practice of autolyse, see the short extract here.
Great reply... thank you, yet I know the delayed-salt method remains popular as a means of regulating fermentation, protecting starter activity, and adding strength. Why, if it seizes-up the dough so dramatically?
I understand that the salt can't go in the autolyse... can it get added with the levain? Many say no.
Your call. It may be an energy thing in a commercial bakery. It takes less energy to mix if you add the salt late.
I put the levain in the bowl, add the water and the flour and mix for one minute before a 20 min autolyse with the salt on top of the dough so I don't forget it. The only thing that matters is that the salt is not in for the autolyse so that the dough gets a shot of maltose early without the amylase getting slowed down by the salt. Putting the salt on top has an insignificant impact on the amylase activity in the middle of the dough ball.
I don’t think it’s an autolyse if your levain is present...
Some call it a fermentolyse when the levain is included.
Benny
The flour and water without the salt make for an autolyse. Whether you add the levain or yeast at that point is more a matter of timing than a matter of definition. Calvel was pretty clear that the benefit of autolyse comes mostly from full hydration of the flour and a delay before adding the salt.
Doc,
Stretch and fold is about developing structure which to me I see as something distinctly different to gluten development. If you mix a dough to full development in a mixer. The dough will be very strong but will also exhibit improved extensibility. Extensibility being the property of stretching without breaking. However, I think the results are very much dependent on the flour type and its inherent gluten properties.
Manda, if more extensibility is desired, have you considered using a flour with less protein (gluten)?
IMO, high protein flour has it’s place, but only is special cases. The flavor and texture is much nicer in breads when using typical bread or all purpose flour. At least to my taste.
HTH,
Danny
Maybe I can’t call it a autolyse but I also add the salt.
With the salt in the mix, you will get the benefit of full hydration of the flour but not as much benefit from early amylase activity, so maltose availability becomes the rate limiting factor for early yeast growth during bulk fermentation.
I’ve always wondered if you added 0.5% diastatic malt to the autolyse if that would make up for the presence of the salt.
Benny
Surprisingly good spring and a super-flappy ear, despite the salt seize I described... goes to show you really don’t know, until you do the bake. Will hopefully post crumb shot once this bread’s recipient cuts in.
3DC1FD66-2933-44A2-960B-A352A66BBFF1.jpeg
Surprisingly good spring and a super-flappy ear, despite the salt seize I described... goes to show you really don’t know, until you do the bake. Will hopefully post crumb shot once this bread’s recipient cuts in.
3DC1FD66-2933-44A2-960B-A352A66BBFF1.jpeg
What was the bake cycle? That is something to document and repeat to confirm the process.
And what kind of flour?
The two proteins that interact to form gluten are glutenin (strong and elastic) and gliadin (viscous and extensible). While glutenins link to form polymers, gliadins remain monomeric and from aggregates that clump together. The addition of salt ions causes these gliadins to bond much more strongly.
I've often found fully dissolving the salt in part of the water before incorporating seems to solve some of the issues I've experienced while mixing.
Both salt and starter will contribute chemical changes that will transform the way dough develops.