Hey there,
I am wondering what are the benefits or distinctions between soaking flax overnight in equal weight of water vs. pouring equal weight of boiling water over the seeds during autolyze... in either case adding the seeds to the dough after the 2nd S&F...
Thoughts?
Elena
Boiling is good if you forgot to soak them and need it quick! :)
My favorite dough includes flax seeds. Now, flax seeds soak up a lot of water and create a kind of gel. I soak the flax seeds overnight, usually in room temperature water. I'm not sure if it's the case but I think the soaking both softens the seeds and allows the flavor to infuse the gel. So, I think how you soak them depends on what you are looking for. Depending on how long you leave the seeds in the boiling water should determine how much water they absorb and how crunchy they are. It may also affect how easily they are digested. However, they do seem to soak up the water very rapidly, so it probably won't make much difference if you soak them overnight or put them in boiling water the next day.
I love to use soakers. But unless you use a recipe already formulated, it can be confusing how to use them. So, I did some experiments to get some data on how much water they soak up so that the final hydration of the recipe can be adjusted. Here's where I shared the data:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/61245/soaker-ingredient-hydration-percents-some-data
I find flax will soak up just about all it needs to in the first 45 minutes, room temp or hot makes almost no difference.
I also stopped soaking them first as they slide around too much while kneading. Toss them in with their soaking water when mixing up the dough (unless instructions say to drain first.) Watch and wait for the dough to firm up in the first hour after making dough before making any corrections or flour additions.