Why do some recipes recommend a short rest after mixing but before kneading the bread?
Some recipes I see for bread dough recommend a short rest between the mixing (just enough to make the ingredients homogeneous) and kneading stage - often 10 to 30 minutes. The dough seems to be a little easier to work after the rest, but what is going on there in such a short time?
Best Answer
Besides the initial gluten relaxing that mrwienerdog wrote about, another important effect is the absorption of liquid.
It takes time for the flour to fully hydrate with the available liquid. Before it does the dough will be more sticky and there will be less gluten available for kneading. Giving the recently incorporated dough a short rest allows the flour to pull in all the liquid it can and become much easier to work with.
A similar effect can be seen with pastry doughs. Even though often the goal is to minimize gluten development, a short rest gives the flour time to hydrate and can turn pastry dough from difficult to work and crumbly to soft and smooth.
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Quick Answer about "Why do some recipes recommend a short rest after mixing but before kneading the bread?"
An autolyse is the gentle mixing of the flour and water in a bread recipe, followed by a 20 to 60 minute rest period. After the rest, the remaining ingredients are added and kneading begins. This simple pause allows for some rather magical changes to occur in your bread dough.Why do you let dough rest before kneading?
It means to let your dough rest (I give it 25-30 minutes) before kneading. This allows the flour to become thoroughly saturated, and provides time for the gluten chains to start forming up before you even lay a hand on the dough \u2014 more pre-kneading. Following that, it's an easy 5 to 7 minutes \u2014 that's all!Why should you allow the dough to rest after mixing it?
When handling dough in bread making, it is a distinct advantage to allow the dough to rest during the process. This allows the gluten/gliadin to relax and easily reform itself into the long protein chains which are the superstructure of the finished loaf.Why do we need to rest the dough for 45 minutes?
In cooking, proofing (also called proving) is a step in the preparation of yeast bread and other baked goods in which the dough is allowed to rest and rise a final time before baking. During this rest period, yeast ferments the dough and produces gases, thereby leavening the dough.How long should dough rest after kneading?
Allowing the bread dough to rest for the 18 hours will allow the bread to develop the gluten which gives the bread the chewy texture.Homemade Bread for Beginners - Easy
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Answer 2
You give the gluten a chance to relax. If you work a bread too soon, the gluten tears. You should always allow your doughs to rest between makeup stages, for this very reason. Of course, if you are careful, you can skip it. However, as you mentioned, the dough will be far more 'bucky' (as my old instructor called it) and harder to work.
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