Gluten are long chains of a protein. The easiest way to imagine them is like sticky rubber bands. The long pieces of "elastic" is lying up next to each other and can be stretched very long before they release. This is what makes a dough elastic.

If you, on the other hand, knead the dough a lot and get all the "elastics" tangled together in large knots. It is easy to imagine that a dough of long knotted "elastics" will be tough, and if you pull it will pull back to the same shape again. That's why a dough sometimes must rest before you can shape it again. The gluten knots will slowly unwinds when they are at rest.

A dough that has not been kneaded enough and is less elastic will work like an old balloon. One can only blow it up so much before it punctures. If the dough has been kneaded long enough and the gluten has been released into the flour, then the dough is elastic and it will be like a fresh new balloon. It can inflate a lot without puncturing and you will get large air bubbles in the bread crumb.

Gluten is not found in the flour from the start. It is formed by a combination of the two proteins "gliadin" and "glutenin" when the flour becomes wet and is kneaded.

It also means that the higher the protein content of the same flour has the longer the dough need to be kneaded to form more gluten.

Mixing

When you mix the ingredients you should not mix salt and the yeast as the first ingredients. You run the risk of killing the yeast. At least place them on opposite sides of the bowl, or mix the salt into the flour first so it will be diluted.

You should also put in the fat as late as possible. The fat can encapsulate the yeast and so it raises poorly. A good tactic is to pour in at least half the flour before adding the fat.

If you use a pre-ferment, divide it up into smaller pieces so that it is evenly distributed.

If you use a wet pre-ferment then pour it up first and add the rest of the liquid to the pre-ferment and eventually the rest of the ingredients.

You cannot be 100% accurate in the use of a recipe when it comes to baking. The reason is that the flour can be different from time to time. So there will always be an artisan aspect in judging whether or not your dough is right. It can only be learned by experience. So just add 90% of the flour when you start. Then you can always add more later. If it becomes too dry you can add more liquid.

The mistake novice bakers make most often is that they make the dough too dry, because that makes it easier to handle it. Try to make it wetter than you expect it should be. I always try to make it as wet as I can possibly get away with, within the type of dough it is.

