Kneading and Folding.

When flour meets water, glutenin and gliadin begin to bond into a network (VI.10). Kneading speeds this: stretching and folding the dough aligns the proteins, brings new surfaces together, and works in air that helps the bonds form. Ten minutes by hand or five or six in a mixer develop a lean dough until a small piece can be stretched thin enough to see light through without tearing — the windowpane test. But much of the network also forms on its own given time and water: an autolyse — flour and water left 20–60 minutes before salt and yeast — gives a dough that needs much less kneading, and a wet dough left overnight (the no-knead method) develops a full network with no kneading at all.

Folding sits between the two: every 30–45 minutes during the bulk rise, the dough is stretched up and folded over itself a few times, building strength gently while it ferments, which suits wet doughs (XXIV.3). Over-kneading by hand is nearly impossible; in a powerful mixer a dough can overheat (XXIV.6) or, eventually, break down. Fats and sugar slow development (XXIV.10); salt tightens it, which is why some bakers add salt after an autolyse. Chinese cooks call the rest 醒面, "waking the dough". The workshop develops gluten.

Below: gluten development in a 65 % hydration bread-flour dough from the minutes of kneading and of resting you choose (course gluten model, VI.10), against the level where it passes the windowpane test, and curves for kneading alone and resting alone.