Can potato gnocchi dough be overworked or simply break?
I made potato gnocchi today but while kneading the dough I noticed that within the 5th minute of kneading the dough suddenly starting excessively sticking to my hands and to my bamboo cutting board.
Is this a symptom of over kneading or breaking? Or could my hands have lost all the flour which escaped my notice.
As soon as it started doing that I start rolling it and cooked. It turned good(I think).
Best Answer
Your second suggestion sounds like the most likely option. As long as you had a sufficient layer of flour, it worked, but once it was wetted through, they started sticking and fell apart. This is usual for many wet and tender doughs.
Overkneading is practically unheard of in potato based doughs. In bread, you can get overkneading when you knead so much that the gluten breaks apart. It requires a well developed gluten network, which you then overstress mechanically. I have never heard of it happening during hand kneading, and even in a machine, you have to go really far to overknead. Potatoes don't contain gluten, and the wheat flour added is not sufficient for a gluten mesh to form, so there is none present to break apart.
If it happens again, you can try kneading and forming the gnocchi in a wide shallow bowl full of flour. It will make the dough a bit harder, but you won't experience sticking.
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What happens if you knead the gnocchi dough too much?
Here it's important not to knead the dough too much, because kneading strengthens the gluten in the flour, producing tough gnocchi. The amount of flour you'll mix into the gnocchi dough is crucial\u2014you need to straddle the line between not enough and just enough flour.Can you over work gnocchi?
Overwork it and you'll develop the flour's gluten too much, resulting in hard, gummy gnocchi. Under-work it, and you won't form a proper dough; the gnocchi may look good, but they'll start to fall apart once they hit the water.Why is my gnocchi dough falling apart?
If the gnocchi fall apart or appear to be fraying at the edges, it can mean one of two things: You let them cook for too long or, even worse, you didn't combine the potato and flour into true dough. In the latter case, it's back to square one.What consistency should gnocchi dough be?
Good gnocchi, which are essentially light potato dumplings, shouldn't be tough or chewy at all; they should be soft and delicate, with a silky-smooth texture\u2014just like my mother's. It's easy enough to make gnocchi like this at home: All you need is potatoes, flour, eggs, and a little salt.Indian Style Potato Pasta Recipe | Cheesy \u0026 Creamy Potato Gnocchi Recipe ~ The Terrace Kitchen
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