I know that someone here has already "crossed this bridge" and if I can just find that forum conversation, I'd have my answer. But after spending way too much time searching I'm giving up and posting my question anew. I recently took up making flatbread. It started with a desire to recreate an indian naan bread but then grew to include whole wheat pita and similar.
Every single bread is fantastic. I eat it all and enjoy it all. But of the tweaks that I can't seem to figure out, they are sometimes way more chewy then I would like. Still taste great but it's like eating a very tender leather (lol).
I think I'm understanding that I'm over kneading the dough. But then this kind of locks up my gears because I've understood that it's really hard to do something like that, and I'm kneading all of them by hand. Help! Please!
When you read that it's hard to overknead by hand, what is meant is that you are not going to over-oxidize the dough and raise its temperature dangerously high. A mixer, especially a commercial mixer, can do those things.
The easiest thing you can try is to let the dough rest to relax after kneading. Even 15 minutes to half an hour will help, and overnight in the refrigerator even more. Also, don't use too high a gluten level in your flour. All-purpose flour will work better than bread flour for many of these recipes.
TomP
More likely referring to the overworking of gluten that results in irreversible dough degradation, which is hardly possible by hand. When this happens the dough will be wet looking, even if low hydration and be so sticky it makes a mess of everything it touches.
The trouble is "Overkneading" doesn't really mean anything, in that it doesn't refer to anything specific. Someone might indeed use it to mean over-oxidation, overheating, or over-developing gluten (not to the point of breakdown).
Kneading, something done by hand (mixers only mix) is in many ways inferior. Mixing larger dough batches in a mixer is more effective and more efficient compared to hand kneading which can only really be done with small dough masses. In mixer, you can attain a more advanced level of gluten development without heating the dough too much. While there is a greater risk of increasing the dough temperature more rapidly with hand kneading to reach the same level of gluten development.
A dough mixer is at ambient temperature, a hand is far warmer and it takes more energy to heat-up larger dough masses.
If flatbreads are gripping your interest, definitely read this thread and get the book -
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/75354/book-flatbreads-and-flavors
Tom mentioned not using too high a gluten flour, but you did not say what kind of flour you use. AP will give less chew than bread flour. Perhaps the idea of overkneading causing too much chew is that kneading develops the gluten, so if you're using a high protein flour, the gluten is being strengthened more than required, not that the dough is being overworked, per se. In fact, there are many examples of a soft sandwich bread dough being extensively kneaded to develop gluten that will trap more air and make the bread softer. In TxFarmer's recipe, she used 50% bread and 50% ap with extensive kneading to get a very soft loaf.
It depends on your flour. Have you tried different types with varying degrees of protein?
Moe wrote
I was thinking more of unleavened flatbreads when I wrote about using flour with less gluten. OTOH, I've made tough pita using all purpose flour. I'm not sure why, possibly wrong oven temperature.
By far my best solution for tough flatbread, leavened or unleavened, is lots of rest. There's a big difference between naan that is made in 2 hours, 10 hours, or overnight. Better flavour and way more tender. If you can't afford the time, then definitely use AP, and let the dough relax a bit more after shaping and before baking.