To Autolyse:
Combine flour and water as stated in recipe, cover loosely with plastic and let rest 20 minutes before adding salt, yeast and pre-ferment and commencing mixing.
Why:
This allows the flour to absorb the water and begin to break down proteins that will later become gluten and convert broken starch chains to sugars, without the inhibitor of salt This happens without the inhibitor of salt Autolysation is supposed to cut down on mixing times and make the crumb come out whiter, becuase there has been less oxidation due to mixing.
Description of enzyme action from Father Kitchen here.
Can't quite wrap my brain around all the chemistry of it all yet, but I'll give it a try next time.
