The chemistry of gluten formation, kneading techniques, and how to troubleshoot bread problems. From a chef with 24 years of professional baking experience.
Bread is one of the oldest and most fundamental foods in human history. But most people who try to make bread at home get frustrated. The dough doesn't rise. The bread is dense. The texture is wrong. The crust is pale and soft instead of golden and crisp.
The problem isn't the recipe. The problem is that most people don't understand gluten development—the single most important concept in bread making.
Gluten is what gives bread structure, chewiness, and the ability to rise. It's the protein network that traps gas from yeast and creates the open, airy crumb we associate with good bread. If you don't develop gluten properly, your bread will fail—no matter how good the recipe is.
I learned bread making in culinary school, then refined it through years of making pizza dough, focaccia, and dinner rolls in professional kitchens. Once I understood how gluten works and how to manipulate it, bread stopped being intimidating and started being predictable.
In this guide, I'm breaking down the science of gluten development, the techniques that build it properly, and how to troubleshoot common bread problems. This is the knowledge that turns bread from frustrating guesswork into reliable success.
Gluten is a protein network that forms when two proteins found in wheat flour—glutenin and gliadin—combine in the presence of water.
When you add water to flour and start mixing or kneading, these two proteins bond together to form gluten strands. The more you work the dough (through kneading, mixing, or time), the stronger and more organized these strands become.
This network of gluten strands does three critical things:
Without gluten, bread would be dense, flat, and crumbly—more like a cracker or biscuit than bread.
The amount of protein in flour determines how much gluten can form:
Key point: You can't develop strong gluten with low-protein flour. If you want chewy, risen bread, use bread flour or high-protein all-purpose flour.
Restaurant Reality: The Pizza Dough Lesson
At Il Pizzaiolo in Sacramento, we made fresh pizza dough every single day. The head chef taught me the most important lesson about gluten: "You can't rush it, and you can't skip it." We mixed the dough in a stand mixer until it pulled away from the sides of the bowl and formed a smooth, elastic ball. Then we let it rest. If you tried to shape it immediately, it would snap back like a rubber band—the gluten was too tight. After 20 minutes of rest, the dough relaxed and became easy to stretch. That lesson taught me that gluten development has two parts: building the network (kneading) and letting it relax (resting). Skip either step, and your dough fights you.
There are three main ways to develop gluten in bread dough: kneading, folding, and time (autolysis).
Kneading is the classic method. It mechanically aligns gluten strands and strengthens the network.
How to knead by hand:
How to knead with a stand mixer:
How to tell when kneading is done: The Windowpane Test
Pro tip: Under-kneading is more common than over-kneading. Most home bakers stop too early. Keep going until the dough is smooth, elastic, and passes the windowpane test.
Folding is a gentler alternative to kneading, often used in high-hydration doughs (like ciabatta or focaccia).
How to fold dough:
Why folding works: It aligns gluten strands without overworking the dough. This creates an open, airy crumb structure.
Gluten can develop without mechanical action if you give it enough time.
Autolysis is the process where enzymes in the flour naturally break down proteins and starches, forming gluten slowly over time. This is how no-knead bread works.
How no-knead bread works:
Benefit: Minimal effort, complex flavor (long fermentation develops deeper taste)
Drawback: Requires planning ahead
Want My Complete Kitchen Setup Guide?
Get my free "11 Essential Tools I Use Most" PDF—the exact equipment I rely on after 24 years in professional kitchens, including my favorite baking tools. No fluff, just the tools that actually matter.
Get the Free Guide →Unsubscribe anytime. No spam, ever.
Gluten develops in stages. Understanding these stages helps you know when to stop kneading.
The dough is sticky, rough, and doesn't hold together well. Gluten strands are just beginning to form.
The dough starts to come together and feels smoother, but it's still soft and tears easily when stretched.
The dough is smooth, bounces back when poked, and stretches without tearing immediately. Gluten is well-developed but not fully optimized.
The dough is very smooth, elastic, and passes the windowpane test. This is the ideal endpoint for most bread doughs.
The dough becomes tight, dry, and tears easily. It doesn't spring back when poked. Gluten strands have broken down. This is rare with hand kneading but can happen with prolonged machine kneading.
Pro tip: If you over-knead dough, let it rest for 30-60 minutes. Sometimes the gluten will relax enough to recover.
Cause: Under-developed gluten (didn't knead enough)
Fix: Knead longer or use the windowpane test to confirm full development
Possible causes:
Cause: Too much water (high hydration dough)
Fix: Use folding instead of kneading, or add flour 1 tablespoon at a time (but don't add too much—sticky dough can still work)
Cause: Over-kneaded or gluten too tight
Fix: Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes to relax the gluten, then try shaping again
Cause: Over-developed gluten or too much bread flour
Fix: Use all-purpose flour or reduce kneading time
Bread is simple: flour, water, yeast, salt. But how you develop gluten is what separates good bread from bad bread. Once you understand how gluten forms, how to test for it, and how to manipulate it, bread stops being intimidating and starts being predictable.
The key lessons:
Master gluten development and you unlock the ability to make incredible bread at home. This is professional-level knowledge that makes all the difference.
Gluten is a protein network that forms when two proteins in wheat flour—glutenin and gliadin—bond together in the presence of water and mechanical action (kneading). This network traps gas produced by yeast, allowing bread to rise and giving it structure and chewiness. Without gluten development, bread would be dense, crumbly, and flat.
Use the windowpane test: Take a small piece of dough and gently stretch it. If it stretches thin enough to see light through it without tearing, the gluten is fully developed. If it tears immediately, keep kneading. Most doughs need 8-10 minutes of hand kneading or 5-7 minutes in a stand mixer.
Yes, but it's rare when kneading by hand. Over-kneaded dough becomes tight, tears easily, and produces dense bread. This usually only happens with prolonged machine kneading (15+ minutes in a stand mixer). Signs: the dough feels dry, tears when stretched, and doesn't spring back when poked.
Time replaces mechanical action. In no-knead recipes, gluten develops slowly through autolysis—enzymes in the flour break down proteins, and the gluten network forms naturally over 12-18 hours. The long fermentation also develops complex flavor. No-knead bread trades speed for convenience and flavor.
My daily workhorse tools from 24 years in professional kitchens
No spam, unsubscribe anytime
Professional Chef • 24 Years Professional Kitchen Experience
Professional chef with 24 years of restaurant experience including Pizzaiolo at Purple Café, Kitchen Manager at Mellow Mushroom, and line positions at Feierabend, Il Pizzaiolo, and Paragary's. A.A.S. Culinary Arts from Seattle Central College, B.S. Business Administration from University of Montana. Every product tested through real professional kitchen use or extensive long-term home testing.
Read more about my testing methodology →