Bread-Bakers v103.n034.5

Concerning mixing...I suspect (and my next series of tests will explore) 
whether the key to kneading is not the duration, but the technique. I 
suspect that optimal gluten formation requires multiple sequences of brief 
kneading, then resting the dough (30 minutes?).

The things that lead me on this path are:

* Both Peter Reinhart and Cook's Illustrated mentioned that gluten will 
form from flour's two proteins as soon as water is added (no kneading 
needed; the effect is called "autolyze"). (In Peter's demo he recommended 
kneading as little as one can get away with.

* My bread machine makes markedly better loaf bread than I do...even with 
exactly the same ingredients (and even when I only use the machine for 
mixing and the first rising, baking the bread machine loaf in the oven). 
This perplexed me greatly. Then I observed that the bread machine goes 
through several cycles of mix & rest.

* I noticed that the rustic bread recipe from a King Arthur demo, as well 
as Cook's Illustrated's ciabatta recipe use the multiple mix/rest technique.

Any comments from the group?

Allen