I haven't decided if I'm going to add my pretzels to my farmer's market offering...one of my concerns being taking my home kitchen recipe and scaling it up to volume.
I can knead dough that thick for 6 minutes...but not huge blobs of it!
I talked to a Philadelphia pretzel baker who said he uses the stretch and fold technique. Mind you, pretzel dough is not an easy STRETCH! But I'm curious to know how you can develop a stretch and fold schedule for this kind of dough?
Do different types of doughs and hydrations require different rest periods, number of stretches, etc?
I know from kneading when my pretzel dough is "ready" but how do you know with "stretch and fold?" Will the feel be the same with both techniques?
to Eric's famous post (though it isn't pretzels, but the dough is similar enough):
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25154/hand-made-bagelsreally
Even with a hydration at about 50% and low temperature of the dough, Strech and Fold is possible. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgluEkfAp5w).
I read somewhere, but never tried*, that at cooler temperatures, the dough needs more time to hydrate and relax, therefore the intervals of the s&fs should be longer.
I think you'll have to experiment anyways (with less dough) as you certainly will have to adjust the amount of added yeast.
Adrian
*white buns here have a dough temperature at about 25°C; Brezeln can have one as low as 20°C. Bakers add ice water while mixing.
Checking these out now!
I read Eric's thread and watched the video....great stuff!
Is there any way to estimate how long the S&F intervals should be? Eric's suggests 3-20min. cycles, while I've seen others opt for 3-60min. cycles.
Any thoughts on that?
too early, with such a dry dough, you won't be able to do it. Experiment and see what works for you. I do 3, about 30 minute intervals, but am not too exact about it.