No success mixing
Bread experts,
I seem to not mix well. I've tried a few artisan breads (Hamelman and Reinhart), and two of Reinhart's pizzas: New York, and Neopolitan.
Here's the thing. Neopolitan dough was very good, using either KA AP flour or Italian 00. No problem getting windowpanes, crust was very good. But with breads (French, also Ciabatta, using AP flour, bread flour, I've tried both) and NY pizza, I never get that window pane. And while some end products were ok, it seems that both flavor and hole structure could be better. And I *never* get window panes. I've broken this down, stopped at various times during mixing to check, and while the consistency gets more and more resilient and stretchy, it never gets all the way to the window pane stage. Reinhart is clear that it should. NY crust came out ok-ish, but tore readily while spinning.
I weigh ingredients (sometimes I add extra water), knead in KA Artisan or by hand, follow directions to the letter as far as I know.
You'll ask what's the longest I've kneaded, and I'm not sure --- 5 minutes, test, 2 more, test, 2 more, repeat a couple more times. Somewhere around there. I've tried letting it rest, then knead. Not getting there. I tried autolysing once - nope.
It can't be this hard, right? Any ideas welcome. It just doesn't seem like it should be such a big deal. Thanks in advance. Back to the Sharks game!
Aram