Dough elastic but never silky and smooth
This is my first post ever so forgive my poor use of the jargon!
I'm posting this in the general section because this is an issue I've had with all of my yeast doughs. The pictures I'm including are for one of my first sourdough loaves, if this has any relevance, but I digress. I can never get my dough to become "smooth" and elastic - the elasticity of my dough always develops well, but when I knead the dough tends to tear and look like the surface of the moon, or wrinkly. It doesn't acquire the silky look and feel that I have seen pictured. I knead by hand (though I do have a stand mixer which I rarely use).
I've looked this up before and tried numerous fixes. I let the dough rest ten minutes before I knead it, and let it rest periodically between turns. I understand that the dough will tear if the gluten is not relaxed, but even giving it numerous opportunities to rest it always looks wrinkly, not silky. I also knead for a considerable time. In total I probably kneaded this dough for about 30-40 minutes, and it is two medium loaves worth. I followed the recipe at Sourdough Bread | Annie's Eats. This is 3 cups all purpose flour and 2 cups bread flour (I was a little scant in my original mixture but the amount that was kneaded into it makes it about 2 cups or a little more). This is also my first really legitimate sourdough starter but that's irrelevant to my issue with the kneading, because I've encountered it pretty much universally.
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^ About ten minutes in
^ Ten minutes later
^ And thirty minutes in
^ After 40 minutes I couldn't get it better than this (it would tear even with rests!) so I resigned myself to this. The wrinkly texture bothers me! It looks smooth but it wrinkles when i handle the dough.
I've tried different methods of only using the bare minimum flour on the counter, and contrarily using more so it moved more easily. I really am at a loss. I wonder whether the dough sticking to my hands contributes to the tearing, and I've tried dipping the heel of my palm into a pile of flour every three or four kneads to ensure it won't be sticking, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I really don't know what I am doing wrong because I cannot achieve the silkiness that I would love to see in my dough!
It is absolutely elastic, but the silkiness is hard to achieve. The dough I made before this batch I kneaded for at least 90 minutes, with breaks to allow to gluten to relax, but still it would tear and look wrinkly/dimply. Anyone else have this issue or any tips for me? I just dumped my boyfriend so I need baking to fulfill my soul! ;)