Vent: My mom told me my bread was too dense and I fought her on it for a year

She said I wasn't kneading enough. I thought she was crazy because I followed the recipe times exactly. After 8 months of crumbly loaves I finally tried kneading for 15 minutes instead of 10. The difference was night and day, lighter texture for sure. Now I use the windowpane test every time instead of just the timer. Anyone else have that one piece of advice they ignored forever?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_garcia4d ago

I get what you're saying but I actually have to disagree a little. I tried the windowpane test for months and my bread still came out dense. Turned out I was overkneading and tearing the gluten. The timer helped me more than the test because I needed to stop before the dough got too tight. So maybe the advice wasn't completely wrong for you but for some of us the problem was the opposite. I think it depends on your flour and your technique. Water temperature and humidity matter a lot too.

robinp894d agoMost Upvoted

That part about overkneading and tearing the gluten really hit home for me @emma_garcia. I had the exact same problem with whole wheat flour - the windowpane test would tell me it was ready but the dough would just snap back and feel tough. What hydration level are you working with usually? I found that bumping mine up to 75% helped the dough stay stretchy without needing as much kneading time. Also, are you using bread flour or all purpose? I've noticed bread flour can take a bit more abuse before it tears compared to AP. Just curious if that matches your experience.

felixhenderson4d ago

Whoa wait... you hit 75% hydration with whole wheat? That's wild to me. I've been struggling around 70% and it feels like soup sometimes. How do you even handle it without it turning into a sticky mess? I always thought whole wheat needed less water not more. And yeah bread flour is way more forgiving than AP for sure. I switched to bread flour like two years ago and never looked back. But I still tear the gluten sometimes if I'm not careful... timing is everything I guess.