Why doesn't my whole wheat dough pass the Poke Test?

http://www.thekitchn.com/bread-baking-tip-how-to-tell-w-156772

The Poke Test - Give that ball of dough a firm poke with your finger. If the indentation fills back quickly, you're good to go. If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.

I use the water and the whole wheat flour only. After kneading the dough for 15 minutes I poked it. The hole didn't fill up.

Is there a proper way to knead the dough which I may be missing?

This dough is supposed to be used for making Parathas and Chapatis.

dough flour

Best Answer

The "spring back poke test" is a function of gluten content. Whole-wheat doughs have a hard time building gluten networks, because the sharp edges of the bran cut through the gluten strands as you knead. In general, you should never use more than 50% whole-wheat flour in a standard bread dough. Cook's Illustrated successfully increased that to 60% by soaking the whole-wheat flour in milk for at least 8 hours before making the dough, and using bread flour instead of all-purpose for the other 40%.

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Does whole wheat bread take longer to proof?

You'll also probably have to give your whole wheat dough more time to rise than you would white dough, thanks to the heavy germ and bran particulates.

Why is my dough not developing gluten?

The Dough Is Too Dry Flour on its own contains protein, but when it's combined with water, this protein can become a network of gluten. So, without water, gluten can't be formed and the dough won't be able to stretch, rise, or make good bread.

Why does whole wheat flour not rise?

Many of you love to take a favorite yeast bread recipe and make it more nutritious by adding whole wheat (or rye, or oats, or bran, or...) That's fine; but those flours and grains don't provide the stretchy network of gluten all-purpose flour does, and thus these whole grain loaves won't rise as well.

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