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Can we talk about the time I finally figured out why my bread was always gummy after 3 years of dense loaves?

Last week, I realized I was kneading my whole wheat dough for 15 minutes instead of the 8 my recipe called for, which was developing too much gluten and trapping all the moisture inside.
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3 Comments
the_jessica
Oh wow, I always thought more kneading was better for whole wheat! That totally makes sense now.
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emma_lee22
My last loaf was a whole wheat brick until I cut the kneading time in half. I went from 15 minutes down to about 7 or 8. The bran in the flour was just tearing up the gluten structure. Letting it rest for a longer bulk ferment did the real work for me. The crumb finally opened up and it wasn't so dense.
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rose_clark81
Wait, you can over-knead whole wheat? I always pushed for more time to build strength, but that moisture trap thing explains my last few loaves. What's your go-to recipe now?
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