The autolyse step is overhyped for home bakers

I've been baking at home for about 2 years now, mostly in my tiny kitchen in Portland. Everyone in this group raves about autolyse, so I tried it for 6 weeks straight, comparing loaves with and without. The ones with autolyse looked slightly better, but the taste and crumb were basically the same. I use a $25 Dutch oven and cheap all-purpose flour, and I think that matters more than resting the dough for an hour. Am I missing something, or is this just a step borrowed from pro bakeries that doesn't pay off for beginners like us?

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jason113d ago

Try resting the dough for 20 minutes instead of an hour and see if that changes your mind. Cheap flour needs all the help it can get, but your Dutch oven is doing way more work than autolyse ever will.