Hi to all. Taaa Daaa. I think that I achieved something closer to perfection in breadmaking. Since I began breadmaking 2 months ago I've kneaded my dough for about 10 minutes. The final loaf appeared saging, low profile. Yesterday I kneaded the dough for 15 minutes total, in addition to two 4 minute rest periods. The final loaf rose higher than ever before, with a pronounced dome-shape profile. It held its upright shape more prominently. My previous experience with doughmaking shows that the shorter kneading time left the gluten underdeveloped. It yielded a "weaker" structure hence a flatter loaf. Comments, anyone?
Congragulations on your progress. You must feel wonderful! You are absolutely right. You were "underkneading" your dough. Go by "look and feel" not by "time". I also thought the following excerpt from The Pleasures of Whole Grain Breads, by Beth Hensperger, © October 1999 may help. You will find the whole excerpt on www.amazon.com. She also wrote THE BREAD BIBLE, BREAD FOR BREAKFAST and THE BREADLOVERS BREAD MACHINE COOKBOOK. [ April 03, 2001: Message edited by: pooh ]