When done correctly, stretching and folding sourdough will strengthen the gluten and gently incorporate air into the dough without the need for kneading. It will also give your sourdough loaf a lofty high rise and more open interior crumb.
Knead dough by hand for 15-20 minutes: Knead 5-10 minutes at a time, taking breaks in between. Avoid using a mixer for the kneading process, which can heat up the dough too much and may not activate the gluten in the flour effectively. If using a mixer, always knead the last five minutes by hand.
As dough is kneaded and pressed, gluten is netted together. Yet too much kneading can result in a chewy, dense lump that lacks the fluffy airiness necessary for crusty bread.
The point of kneading dough is to help strengthen the gluten in it. Gluten is what gives your bread; it's structure and texture. Gluten that is not strong enough results from under kneaded dough, whereas gluten that is too tight results from over kneaded dough.
It is a tell-tale sign of not enough kneading if your bread dough cannot hold its shape or acts listless and fails to inflate. Instead of rising, the dough will spread out flat. The dough may even fall back onto itself and collapse as the gases produced by the yeast escapes.
Loaves made with over-kneaded dough often end up with a rock-hard crust and a dense, dry interior. Slices will be very crumbly, especially toward the middle.
The Dough Passes the Windowpane Test
To do this, tear off a chunk of dough and stretch it between your fingers. If the dough tears, you haven't developed enough gluten and it needs more kneading. If it stretches without breaking, making a windowpane of sorts, you're done and you can let the dough rest.
These gases get trapped inside the dough buy the mesh the gluten makes. This is what causes your bread to be airy and fluffy. This mesh is formed by kneading the dough. If you do not knead a dough enough you do not give your bread a chance as the gluten did not have enough time to build that mesh.
Kneading (Active): The most common hand-mixing method. After mixing to combine, dough is worked on a lightly floured surface. Pros: Familiar, accessible, common, useful for incorporating ingredients in low- to medium-hydration doughs. Cons: Bakers often add too much flour.
Why We Need to Knead. The reason kneading is an important part of bread making is to create structure and strength in the dough, leaving it silky and soft with a little cushiony feel. Flour contains two proteins that combine to form gluten, which is responsible for creating the elastic texture in the dough.
Mixing matters not because it is necessary to develop gluten; you can develop gluten with minimal mixing (there really is no need to knead). Mixing is essential because it speeds up the hydration process and ensures that water is evenly dispersed throughout the flour.
After kneading, when the dough bakes, this beautiful matrix of proteins that you created by kneading the dough will trap gas released from the yeast in the dough, helping the dough rise. A well kneaded dough will hold its shape while being baked thanks to all that kneading!
You most definitely can bulk ferment sourdough too long. If you leave the dough to ferment for too long, it will become "over fermented". Over fermented dough will lose its structure and become a soupy, sloppy mess that you will not be able to shape.
Stretching and folding is what replaces kneading in many sourdough recipes. Stretching and folding helps activate the gluten in wheat flour, making it easier to work with and shape. If you skip stretching and folding, chances are you will end up with soggy dough that doesn't hold its shape before or during baking.
It is possible to over-mix dough at which point the gluten chains can break, but from our experience home bakers are more prone to under-mix their dough, not building up enough strength and elasticity.
Hand Kneading: Disadvantages
Hand kneading is also very messy, as you typically end up with flour on the counter and pieces of dough stuck to your fingers. Depending on how often you make bread, you also risk developing a repetitive stress injury from kneading by hand.
The more the dough is mixed, the more gluten is developed. This causes the dough to become elastic and stretchy, as can be seen in bread dough. The gluten is formed during kneading of the bread dough. Kneading causes the gluten strands to get stronger and longer.
The surface of your dough is smooth
The Guardian instructs bread bakers to "stop [kneading] when the dough ceases to tear under your hands and forms a smooth, elastic surface." This smooth surface is due to the proper development of gluten in the dough created through the action of kneading.
Bread too dense? It might be cold dough. One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees.
There's something magical about the bread you get at your local bakeries - they're always sooo soft and fluffy. Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.
Most commonly, the issue here has to do with temperature (which is very important). If your sourdough starter is kept at a low temp, even 70°F (21°C), it will slow fermentation activity and appear to be sluggish, taking longer to rise and progress through the typical signs of fermentation. The solution: keep it warm.
Overproofed is when the dough has rested too long and the yeast has continued making carbon dioxide while the strength of the dough (gluten bonds) have begun to wear out. The dough will look very puffy, but when you touch it or move it you may notice it deflate or sag.
You must discard some of your sourdough starter each time you feed it. You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.
High temperatures can cause premature over fermentation, which will result in wet, sticky sourdough. You need to make sure that you keep your kitchen at a temperature between 24C - 28C (75F-82F). Alternatively, you'll need to adjust the amount of starter in your dough to suit the temperature of your kitchen.
The crumb structure of an under proofed loaf will be tight and gummy. Because it was not given enough time to develop and trap CO2 gasses, the crumb structure will be very dense, with uneven air bubbles.