Autolyse

Now I am enjoying baking so much, I am trying out a variety of ways to bake bread. This time, I'm studying the autolyse of dough. The key is to make a wet dough and allow the gluten to form by itself.

Ingredients:
- 2 cup of Giant brand unbleached wheat flour
- 3/4 cup + 2 TB warm water
- 1 teaspoon (tp) active dry yeast
- 1/2 tp coarse kosher salt

Procedure:
1. Mix the yeast with about 2-3 TB warm water. Allow to moisten for a few minutes.
2. Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the yeast liquid into the bowl. Mix. Add some more water, up to 1 cup.
4. Stir the mixture a little with a fork to make sure the flour is moistened with water. Allow to sit.
5. Stir the mixture every 10 minutes. Observe the increase of smoothness and stretchability of the dough.

Results:

2:26pm, yeast is proofed in warm water:

2:27pm, yeast is added to the flour mixture. Observe the bubbles that spring up right away:

2:33pm, sufficient water has been added to hydrate the flour to form a wet dough. Observe the initial lack of strength of the dough:

2:44pm, dough has been allowed to rest undisturbed for 10 minutes. Observe the smoothened texture of the dough after the 1st rest:

2:47pm, dough is being folded and stretched:

2:47pm, observe the strength of the dough after the 1st stretch:

2:57pm, dough has been allowed to rest undisturbed for another 10 minutes. Observe the strength of the dough after the 2nd rest:

3:10pm, dough is being folded and stretched a second time:

3:10pm, observe the strength of the dough after the 2nd stretch:

3:10pm, dough is now able to sustain the stretch by its own weight:

3:11pm, dough is done, ready to chill or rise, depending on the recipe:

Observations:
My current batch of flour (Giant's store brand unbleached all-purpose flour) needs less water than my previous batch (Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose flour) to arrive at the same level of hydration. It also takes a shorter time for the dough to arrive at the strength that I like to see.