Windowpane Test Dough

You don t want either so the windowpane test is one good indicator for whether your dough is ready to become warm delicious bread.

Windowpane test dough. I will knead for 20 40 mins total with rests in between and i still can t get the pane test to pass. When using a mixer the dough will develop to a windowpane structure after 10 15 minutes of mixing depending on the power of your mixer. Gluten begins to develop as soon as water and flour are mixed. So i prefer to use the windowpane method of testing the gluten development of my dough.

The majority of the work required to develop dough to get to the windowpane structure happens through kneading. After you have been kneading your dough for awhile 8 10 minutes and it has started to become less sticky you can try a windowpane test on a hunk of dough. The windowpane test is really useful when making bread. What i like to do is cut off a dinner roll sized piece of the dough with a bench scraper.

At what point should the dough develop a windowpane. With homemade bread it s important to know when the dough is ready to go and the window pane test is. You don t want either so the windowpane test is one good indicator for whether your dough is ready to become warm delicious bread. I have been under the impression that the different types of flour only provide a crunchier crust or more or less hydration.

To begin the windowpane test pull off a small bit of dough about the size of a marble. Over kneaded dough gives you bread that breaks teeth. The windowpane test is just a way to test whether or not you ve achieved sufficent gluten development although some would argue that it s an indicator of too much gluten development. Here s what you do first cut off a small piece of the dough about the size of a golf ball.

What s new on serious eats an unanticipated problem was encountered check back soon and try again. I can t get the dough to smooth out while kneading. Or when using whole wheat. The windowpane test or membrane test is one of the best ways to tell if you have kneaded your bread enough.

This can be sped up by the use of prefermented flour or doing an autolyse before mixing. For example bread flour would lead to a thicker crust where as ap would be softer. It basically lets you know how your gluten de. Flatten it out then begin gently stretching it.

Kneading and or mixing speed up the process but it s not necessary.