Thanks to Dusty Bleher's Opa's Sourdough Ciabatta recipe, I introduced to
the Stretch 'n' Fold, (aka Flatten Fold) technique. It worked so well with
the Ciabatta recipe, I tried it on my 2 loaf recipe for SF Sourdough with
half the dough made into a loaf the standard technique and half made using
the "Stetch N Fold" techique. The improvement in texture and crumb was
amazing.

I just wonder how this technique would work on other types of bread, like
sourdough rye or sourdough 100% whole wheat?

The link to Dusty Bleher's Opa's Sourdough Ciabatta is
http://www.innerlodge.com/Recipes/Br...h/ciabatta.htm. It is
worth going to just for the Stretch N Fold technique!

OldGreyBob wrote:
> I just wonder how this technique would work on other types of bread, like
> sourdough rye or sourdough 100% whole wheat?
It will work for ay wheat based bread from low to high hydration, and if
you have stuff in the bread such as grains, seeds, fruit or whatnot it
is the best way to get good dough development. With a stretch and fold,
add the grains or whatever at the beginning, mix just enough to get the
flour wet and then go to stretch and fold. The gentler technique will
evenly distribute the additives and not let then destroy the developing
gluten as much as more conventional kneading.

Rye is a different matter. Rye flour has little good gluten in it, so
neither kneading nor stretch and fold will do a lot to improve a dough
with a lot of rye in it. If you have less rye, then it will work well.
With higher rye doughs, using the acidifying properties of sourdough is
an excellent way to make breads.

Mike