20210526 How I develop gluten for whole wheat dough

To prevent unsightly pinhole crumbs caused by excessive hydration of whole wheat flour, before I bake, I test the flour's absorption capacity by autolyzing it under different hydration levels and observing its gluten development. The hydration at which the dough starts to slack/tear is the bottom line for me to stop adding water to the dough. 

Alternatively, if my dough contains more than whole wheat flour, I can still judge the maximum hydration of the dough during the mixing process without pre-testing (such as how I do it here).

At the pre-dough stage, I use just enough water to form a dough that I can knead/mix easily later on.

 At the mixing stage, I mix the pre-dough, to further develop/strengthen its gluten to ~ medium+ development before adding more water.  I continue to mix and add more water gradually to maximize the dough's hydration. I take care not to over-mix since the whole wheat dough is fragile. 

Also, I found that using CLAS in the whole-wheat dough can significantly improve its quality. In addition to imparting superb flavors to the whole-wheat bread, CLAS also tenderizes its crumb, making it supple like white bread, even if it's a lean dough with no fat, dairy, sugar, or vital wheat gluten (such as this and this).

I apply similar principles when developing gluten for "white" dough.

So, when I mix the dough, it looks like this:

1. Add flour to the mixer
2. Start the mixer
3. Gradually add water until a dough is formed
4. Make a note of how much water has been added so far for future reference
5. (At this point, you may autolyze the dough) 
6. Gradually add more water until the mixer can easily knead the dough.
7. Stop adding water
8. Continue mixing the dough to develop gluten until the dough feels strong
9. Add salt and yeast, and sugar, if using, and continue to mix to incorporate
10. Add fat, if using, and continue mixing until incorporated
11. Gradually mix in more water until the dough is about to "collapse".