Windowpane Test Sourdough

When i say without recipes i mean i ve been adding starter flour salt and water until it felt right suprisingly i ve been pretty happy with my results so far.

Windowpane test sourdough. So i prefer to use the windowpane method of testing the gluten development of my dough. I have recently started having issues with my bread not passing the window pane test. Here s what you do first cut off a small piece of the dough about the size of a golf ball. What i like to do is cut off a dinner roll sized piece of the dough with a bench scraper.

Published on aug 1 2018 the windowpane test is a really useful way to see if our bread dough is fully kneaded or not but only if you do it properly. Over kneaded dough gives you bread that breaks teeth. I can t get the dough to smooth out while kneading. Using preferments such as sourdough biga poolish or pata fermentee not only include hydrated flour but enhance the dough with the inclusion of lactic and organic acids.

I ve been baking regularly for around the last 3 months mainly sourdough without recipes. I then gently stretch the dough out using both hands. Without prefermented flour the dough can still reach the windowpane but will require extended mixing and bulk fermentation. You don t want either so the windowpane test is one good indicator for whether your dough is ready to become warm delicious bread.

The dough needs to mature to be able to create a windowpane structure. If you can do so without tearing but the membrane is mostly opaque you have barely developed gluten. Let the dough rest up for a put take a decent. The windowpane test is one of the best ways to tell if you ve sufficiently kneaded your bread dough though it can sound like a pretty bizarre instruction when you come across it in a recipe.

For example bread flour. It basically lets you know how your gluten de. An autolyse where you lightly mix flour and water and just let it sit there will form gluten just fine and enough to pass the windowpane test in about 15 minutes. The windowpane test or membrane test is one of the best ways to tell if you have kneaded your bread enough.

Most of the breads i make call for the gluten to be developed to a medium stage. The windowpane test is just a way to test whether or not you ve achieved sufficent gluten development although some would argue that it s an indicator of too much gluten development. After you have been kneading your dough for awhile 8 10 minutes and it has started to become less sticky you can try a windowpane test on a hunk of dough. Gluten begins to develop as soon as water and flour are mixed.

I have been under the impression that the different types of flour only provide a crunchier crust or more or less hydration. I ve recently bought peter reinhart s the bread baker s apprentice and. Kneading and or mixing speed up the process but it s not necessary. Gluten development is tested with the windowpane test pinch off about two tablespoons of dough and try to stretch it into a thin membrane windowpane.

The acids mature the dough to create a better environment for the gluten to develop. Hi everyone this is my first post hi.