On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1018

Gluten formation The view of wetted flour through a light microscope Left: When water is first added to flour, the gluten proteins are randomly oriented in a thick fluid Right: As this fluid is stirred, it quickly develops into a tangle of fibers as the glutenin proteins form elongated bundles of molecules Gluten orientation When flour is initially mixed with water, the glutenin molecules form a random network of gluten chains Kneading helps orient the gluten chains in orderly arrays Kneading dough Kneading repeatedly stretches and elongates the gluten, helping to orient the long chains and encourage the sideby-side bonding that contributes to gluten strength Kneading also aerates the dough As it’s repeatedly folded over and compressed, pockets of air are trapped and squeezed under pressure into smaller, more numerous pockets The more pockets formed during kneading, the finer the texture of the final bread Most of the air pockets are incorporated as the dough reaches its maximum stiffness Some bread recipes call for a bare minimum of kneading This generally results in fewer and larger air cells, and so a coarse, irregular texture that has its own appeal The gluten of such doughs is less developed as ... repeatedly stretches and elongates the gluten, helping to orient the long chains and encourage the sideby-side bonding that contributes to gluten strength Kneading also aerates the dough As it’s... repeatedly folded over and compressed, pockets of air are trapped and squeezed under pressure into smaller, more numerous pockets The more pockets formed during kneading, the finer the texture of the final... Most of the air pockets are incorporated as the dough reaches its maximum stiffness Some bread recipes call for a bare minimum of kneading This generally results in fewer and larger air cells, and so a coarse,