Would it be helpful, harmful or neutral to fold dough during the autolyse?
Let's say we're doing a long cold autolyse. At first I assumed it would be helpful to start the dough development early on, but then I had to wonder if starting the gluten development prematurely during autolyse would hasten the degradation of gluten later on, especially with a retard?
What does baking theory say about this question?
Best Answer
It doesn't much matter in that respect. The degradation of the gluten structure during a long proofing acts on the constituent parts of the gluten as well, so you can't really 'save' the gluten by delaying its formation.