Stone ground whole grain mixing time.
I've been baking with stone ground whole grain flour (Farmer Ground Flour) for quite some time now but am wondering if it is possible to get better results, namely better gluten development.
Currently, I use 33% ripe starter (100% hydration; 90% high extraction, 10% rye) which is fed in the morning, refrigerated overnight, then used again the next morning. It is supple, elastic and floats like Styrofoam.
I mix 6kg batches in a planetary mixer. There are times when the stars (and temperatures) align and I get a dough with excellent elasticity and volume and times when I don't, even though I do my best to maintain consistent mixing time and temperatures.
I've gotten some good results with 2 min mixing, 45min autolyse, 6 minute mix on speed 2, S&F 3 times and 3-4hr bulk ferment.
I've also gotten decent results with a longer mixing time (45min autolyse), no S&F.
In the same batch of dough, some loaves seem to have better development than others when I shape them.
I've scoured the internet and libraries and have not been able to find definitive answers. Does stone ground whole grain flour develop more gluten with a shorter or longer mechanical mixing time? Does a longer mixing time develop more gluten or allow the bran/germ to destroy it? What is the sweet spot?
Or perhaps it is a matter of increasing the starter to 50%?
There is no short answer to your question but in my experience less PFF and shorter autolyse has beneficial effects on whole grain flour. Unfortunately there's too many variables to give a definitive answer here, ultimately the best solution is practice practice practice
Yes, but all things equal, if 2 equal batches of dough under identical conditions are mixed, one for a total of 6 minutes (2 min 1st speed, 45 min autolyse, 4 min 2nd speed) the other for a total of 12 (4 min, 45 min, 8 min) without stretches a folds, does the science show that a longer or shorter mix increases or decreases gluten development. I've done both but can't determine whether I'm looking at under or overmixed dough. In both cases I haven't gotten strong gluten development (and likely can't by nature of the whole grain) but somehow the higher whole wheat dough (rather than 90% high extraction) has better elasticity despite the larger bran. Or does high extraction limit gluten development more than whole wheat since the bran is ground finer?
I would like to know the science kneading/mixing effect on whole grain stone ground and whether it needs more or less. Whether the cutting effect of bran on gluten worsens or remedies as mixing increases and how it varies between high extraction flour and whole wheat.
I bake with 100% stone ground whole grain and have spent some time trying different techniques to develop gluten. In the end my best bakes are the ones where I've done less mixing, both by machine and by hand. I can't provide any sources for the reasoning behind this beyond my n=1, but I can assure you anecdotally that this is the case. I suspect there's a few different things going on so any explanation I could give would be pure conjecture. But I agree that 100% extraction maintains better elasticity when it's worked less.