An extended autolyze with salt is what Peter Reinhart referred to as a “soaker” and is part of what some people refer to as the “epoxy” method that Reinhart popularized.
Salt inhibits the enzymatic reactions that happen during an autolyze. In a short, Raymond Calvel style autolyze, the salt would defeat it, but for a long autolyze you want to slow down these reactions, especially with whole grains flour, and even more especially with freshly milled where the enzyme activity may be greater.
The benefits are said to be: flavor development, increased extensibility, and the sharp bran fibers softening and causing less cutting of the gluten strands. (I’m skeptical about the last claim.)
Funny that you mention the enzymes from whole grains and freshly milled flours. I was worrying about the opposite because of the malted barley flour added to commercial bread flours (like the KA I used).
Irene - I adapted your method to my own blend of flours and scaled it down to my needs. I mistakenly put ALL the (almost 200% hydration) preferment into the final dough which resulted in a really, really wet and sticky dough! I threw in a little extra flour but realized that wasn’t going to help. Long story short, it was a mess to make, but the resulting bread is very good.
When initially reading your recipe/method, I took notes and that’s where my mistake happened. When I went back later and re-read your post, I saw that you put less than half the preferment, not all, into the final dough. So what I’m wondering is, why do you make so much preferment? Is it for a future bake?
I’m definitely going to try again. By the way, I liked your tip and used sesame seeds as a barrier and that really helped when flipping it. And right out of the fridge, I was actually able to score this incredibly wet dough.
I was sort of hoping no one would notice! First, I would say that I over-proofed it. I recognized this when I was putting it in the banneton but it was late at night and I didn’t have the time or energy to bake it then. So I took over-proofed dough and put it in the refrigerator for another 12+ hours of slow fermenting. See the photo below for the result. Second, I did not take a crumb shot as I folded in the biggest air bubble ever in the history of bread making. I can’t remember doing something like that in quite a long time. Once we ate enough of the bread to get past that, the crumb was OK. Not great, but OK. And, as almost always with fresh bread for me, it tasted quite nice.
My takeaway from this experiment… nothing other than I need to pay more attention to what I am doing.
Sourdough benefits from an extended autolyse where yeast bread does not. Something to do with the LAB I believe that is not present in yeast breads. Another benefit of a long autolyse is extracting the bran or scalding the bran is not necessary as it absorbs the water and softens. I make plenty of 100% home milled whole grains breads, always use an extended autolyse with salt. Extended means more than 2 hours at room temperature. If over 2 hours there are some reactions (forget what they are) you will get without the salt. I will make up the dough add the salt and leave on the counter for up to 12 hours. If over 12 hours it goes into the cooler at 40F and can stay there a few days. The longer it is refrigerated though the more sour it gets. As we do not like sour bread (just a hint of) I do this regularly:
7am: Take out starter from cooler kept at 40F. If fresh I’ll let sit on the counter to mature. Sometimes refresh the starter depends when refreshed last.
I’ll mix the dough with the salt and let sit on the counter covered, usually takes 8 to 10 hours for the starter to mature.)
6 to 8pm: When the starter is ready I spread over the dough and with a large spoon gently press into the autolysed dough. For the most part it is similar to the way Trevor Wilson makes his, taking care not to tear the dough.
The dough is then placed in my homemade retarder @55F overnight.
7am: dough is removed from retarder and sits on counter to finish bulk fermenting.
I’ll do a series of stretch & folds (usually 3) until the dough has developed sufficient elasticity.
1 to 2pm: the dough is shaped and the oven heated. Final proof usually only 45 minutes until the Rofco is done heating.
As a note: I am though going to attempt to shorten the bulk ferment times by adding a timer to the retarder controller. I will set the timer to shut off the controller and allow it to come to room temperature over a period of hours, this should shave off at least 3 hours, hopefully a lot more. I’d like to be able to remove the dough fermented from the retarder do a couple of S&F’s and shape for baking.
Autolyse is done to give the flour time to absorb the water before the salt is added which draws water out. This will improve the crumb, texture and shelf life of the bread be it sourdough or not.
What Abe says is, of course, correct. But I think it is only part of the story. If you are milling your own flour or buying flour that does not have diastatic malt flour added to it (as almost all flours sold to the general public do), the autolyse will also give the enzymes naturally found in flour time to break down more complex sugars into the maltose that lactic acid bacteria metabolize. Diastatic malt flour is much higher in these enzymes, so flour with it added may benefit less from a longer autolyse.
BTW, I have a serious case of technology envy for your setup.
I believe technically you are correct in that typically the autolyse is only done for 20 minutes or so and then the salt is added.
For whatever reason folks (even a couple of professionals) including me (not a professional), call a soaker an extended autolyse.
If I may quote from Reinhart’s book " The objective (of the soaker) is to hydrate the grains in advance in order to precondition and soften them, and to activate amylase enzyme activity without initiating the leavening transformations." “This action allows some of the sugar threads to break out into starch without being converted into carbon dioxide and alcohol.” Without quoting his whole book on the subject, the salt is used if the autolyse (or soaker) is going to be over a 1 to 2 hour period. The salt inhibits the enzyme activity with these long soaks, otherwise the dough can turn into mush. If the soaker is properly matured it will bring a balance of strength to the final sourdough and improve flavor and shelf life.
I read someplace in an article on sourdough that the finished product is much better if the extended autolyse is used. But not for yeast breads. Texture is better, flavor is better and if used with retardation even better again. But I suppose what is better to one person isn’t to another.
I’ll try and find that article again and I’ll come back to this post and share, it was worthwhile reading.
Yes… My point about water absorption was the reason why its done without the salt and a more in depth explanation is the sugars are released and broken down etc.
This autolyse issue is similar to starter. Meaning people get all wrapped up in the terminology or the differences in the terminology and it is actually all the same thing. Example: starter=mother starter=levain=fermented dough
Although I have never been too crazy about Reinhart’s recipes, he does have plenty of technical information regarding baking and grain. He calls the “extended autolyse” a “soaker.” Reinhart uses the soaker to delay the enzymatic action and bring out the flavors. Trevor Wilson in his recipe for 50% whole wheat sourdough calls it a “premix”, and uses it for the same purpose over a 12 hour timespan. Others like Aysha Tai of TrueSourdough.com call it an extended autolyse. She actually goes into some detailed but simple clarification on the subject.
The purpose of delaying the fermentation brings out the flavor of the grain and with high percentage home milled whole grain the bran if not treated somehow will break up the gluten strands (at least that is what the experts say). If using a soaker or extended autolyse the salt is required depending on the time needed. If retardation is going to be used salt is needed.
Arlo 48, I’ve re-read my original post and can’t find exactly what you’re referring to. Please point it out to me. (I know I originally missed including the flour for the preferment, so I must have missed something else. I need a bread recipe editor!)
I add all the preferment to the autolysed dough in the evening, mix them together in my Magic Mill Assistant mixer, adding additional stretch and folds, then refrigerate overnight.
~ irene
