Shelf · Dough & batter · No heat
Autolyse
Mixing only the flour and water, then leaving it to sit for half an hour before salt and yeast go in.
- The time
- About 30 min
Why it works
Flour needs time to absorb water before its proteins can link up, and enzymes in the flour quietly start doing the work kneading would otherwise do by force. Salt tightens gluten and slows that absorption, which is exactly why it is held back.
The tell
A shaggy, rough lump becomes smooth and extensible on its own, with no work at all. It pulls out instead of snapping back.
- Shaggy
- Stretches, tears
- Translucent
How it fails
Nothing much goes wrong here, which is the point — but adding salt at the start makes the rest of it pointless, and past an hour or so the dough starts to slacken rather than improve.
In the app, the card opens on the recipe step that names it, with the tell drawn.
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