3 – Autolyse

Nothing says modern bread baking more than the Autolyse technique. It’s the brief period of rest once the flour and water from a main dough have been combined. It was first published in 1990 by Professor Raymond Calvel, a French chemist whose long nights in the lab were often supplemented with study breaks to shape, proof, and bake crusty bread loaves.

Once you wave the magic wand of Autolyse over the mass of flour and water, the ingredients knit together, forming strands of stretchable gluten. The dough kneads itself, a clumsy translation of the term.