7 hours ago, Smithy said:What should one do if the bread dough absolutely, positively refuses to develop gluten strands? I was using a sourdough starter - well refreshed - from a local restaurant. The flour was a combination of (admittedly old) King Arthur Bread Flour and artisan Whole Wheat flour from Barrio Bread in Tucson. Does the age of flour affect more than taste?
After I allowed the mixed dough to loll about like some overprivileged child, with the occasional prodding and folding, I finally decided that hours had been enough time. I worked vital wheat gluten into the mix. I went about my business. Later, when I saw that dough continuing to be slack, I kneaded it and worked in more flour. Eventually, it went into a very hot Dutch oven that had preheated in the big kitchen oven.
Is the artisan whole wheat flour particularly coarsely milled? Sometimes flour like that can make it really hard to develop gluten, especially if it's a high percentage of the loaf. One suggestion I've seen is to autolyse the bread flour and wheat flour separately, and then knead them together; that way the bread flour can form stronger gluten on its own. Haven't tried it, though.
I've also started doing a longer autolyse *before* adding the starter; that way I don't have to worry about having the bread overproof while I'm waiting for gluten to develop.
