Answers

Can you over-knead sourdough dough with a stand mixer?

Short answer: with a stand mixer you can technically over-knead, but in practice it is very hard to reach. Even 30 minutes on medium rarely overdoes it; the telltale sign is a dough that goes slack and bakes up oddly pale, because too much oxidation destroys color and flavor. By hand it is essentially impossible. So knead with confidence, more gluten development is almost always the safer direction.

Answered by Hendrik, The Bread Code

From the book

When you use a stand mixer, you can run into the issue of kneading too much. This is almost impossible in practice though. Even after kneading for 30 minutes on medium speed, my doughs hardly ever were over-kneaded. The moment you knead too much, the color of the dough can begin to change. You mostly notice this, though, during baking. The resulting loaf looks very pale and white. This is because mixing dough causes oxidation, which is necessary for the development of gluten. However, if the dough is mixed too much, the compounds that contribute to the bread’s flavor, aroma, and color may be destroyed, negatively affecting the quality of the bread [ 19 ].

Read the chapter: Wheat sourdough

Where this was asked

Can You Knead Your DOUGH TOO MUCH with a Stand Mixer?
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