My bread was dense for 4 years because I skipped the autolyse step

I used to mix flour, water, yeast, salt all at once and wonder why my loaves came out like bricks. This weekend I tried doing the autolyse thing where you just mix flour and water first, let it sit 30 minutes, then add yeast and salt. Massive difference. The dough stretched way easier and the crumb was actually open for once. My kitchen counter in Denver has been covered in failed sourdough attempts since 2021. Has anyone else had a simple technique change fix years of bad results?

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nora_park722mo ago

Ngl I feel you, four years of bricks sounds brutal but that autolyse win is huge, congrats.

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thea1432mo ago

Honestly, same thing happened to me but with my starter, I was adding it too early and everything came out gummy. Once I started letting that flour and water hang out first, it was like night and day, total game changer.

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