If your dough does not develop a sufficient gluten network, it will be wet, sticky and have no structure. The chains of gluten give your dough strength and structure. Without these it will be sloppy and hard to handle. Gluten development is strengthened by adding salt to your dough, so don't forget to do this!
If your dough is too sticky and it's impossible to work with you can add some extra flour, just a little at a time. Make sure you weigh the extra flour you add and then you'll be able to adjust the recipe correctly the next time you bake.
Add 1 teaspoon (3g) of flour for every cup (150g) of flour in the recipe. Knead for 1 minute. If dough is still too sticky, repeat the process. Eventually, it will come together.
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.
Physically test your dough with the poke test
What bakers call the “poke test” is the best way to tell if dough is ready to bake after its second rise. Lightly flour your finger and poke the dough down about 1". If the indent stays, it's ready to bake. If it pops back out, give it a bit more time.
The good news: We found an easy way to rescue overproofed dough. Simply punch it down gently, reshape it, and let it proof again for the recommended amount of time.
Have you ever heard the saying “wetter is better” when it comes to bread dough? There's no question that wetter, stickier dough can lead to a lighter, airier loaf, full of wonderful large and small holes (a.k.a. an "open crumb").
So if you have a sticky dough, it's probably due to weak gluten development. Therefore, you should knead the dough to improve gluten strength. Also, avoid using cold water since it prevents the development of gluten. Instead, add warm water to your bread dough to activate the yeast and start the process of rising.
Soft – Dough that's “soft” or “runny” can be thickened by adding one or two tablespoons of flour to your mix. This will help keep your batch from “Spreading” and coming out of the oven looking like flat, not-so-cookie-like puddles.
Over-proofing happens when dough has proofed too long and the air bubbles have popped. You'll know your dough is over-proofed if, when poked, it never springs back. To rescue over-proofed dough, press down on the dough to remove the gas, then reshape and reproof. (This method won't work for sourdough bread.)
I'd suggest if its still sticky try giving it a longer resting period or knead with oil instead. You are also kneading before you autolyse, which is also not recommended, the right way to do it is to mix your ingredients until incorporated, then rest, then knead.
Bread dough should be sticky and wet when you begin kneading it. I encourage everyone in my classes to embrace the stickiness! When water is first added to flour, the flour takes a while to fully absorb it all, making that dough even more sticky.
Yeast needs not just warmth, but also a bit of humidity to do its thing, “so never prove dough in an airing cupboard – it's way too dry”. To help things along, put the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with plastic (Bertinet uses polythene bags) and leave somewhere warm in the kitchen.
TACKY: Although pressing your hand on the dough is still causing it to stick, it easily releases without leaving much if any dough on your hand. Be careful not to go too far, a little sticky is good, you do not usually want it to be completely non-sticky. That would mean your dough is too dry.
Wet or high-hydration doughs “promote better extensibility, better fermentation, moister crumb, and better keeping quality.” But he also noted that with wetter doughs come challenges. They take “more skill to handle and shape, require longer bakes, and often have thicker crusts.”
Strong, wet doughs spring well in the oven, forming nice “ears” and, if given time in cold fermentation, a blistered crust. But for many, the most coveted feature of high-hydration loaves is their dramatically open crumb or alveolar structure.
How to tell the difference between “sticky” and “tacky” when it comes to dough: The easiest way is to press your hand onto the dough and then lift it up. If the dough pulls up with your hand and then releases (so your hand comes away clean), the dough is tacky. If you end up with dough stuck to your hand, it's sticky.
Yes. After the first rise, you can knead the dough lightly to remove some gas that causes air bubbles. This step is ideal if you want your dough to be flat and dense or if you want bread with a close crumb, like sourdough. If you prefer sourdough with an open crumb, just knead the dough lightly.
The wetter a dough is, the longer the gluten strands can get, and that's exactly what you want in bread because it results in a softer crumb.
His favorite hydration for a workable dough that produces a well-aerated, crusty loaf is 68 percent. Some recipes that I tested exceeded 90 percent. James Beard's basic loaf was 60 percent. So doughs of a certain wetness and little or no kneading can make delicious bread.
The second proving has given the bread more elasticity, and made it harder to deflate the air. Second rises may add significantly to the total time it takes to complete a loaf of bread, but the step can be essential to achieving the taste and texture inherent to a number of popular breads.
The dough should generally be proofed for around 1 to 4 hours at a warm temperature or overnight (or more) at a cold refrigerator temperature. As the proofing temperature increases, the total fermentation time will decrease.
If the dough springs back right away, it needs more proofing. But if it springs back slowly and leaves a small indent, it's ready to bake. Here's why the test works : The dough is essentially a collection of air bubbles contained by a network of gluten.