When you cut into an over kneaded dough, you will notice that the interior is very dry and crumbly. The slices will likely fall apart rather than holding their shape. While the general taste of the bread may be the same, it will not have a nice mouth feel but, again, be dry, dense and crumbly- no thank you!
If the dough feels very dense and tough when you knead it against the counter, that is a sign that it's starting to become over-kneaded. It will be difficult to flatten the dough out and fold it over on itself in a normal kneading pattern. And when you do, over-kneaded dough has trouble integrating the new folds.
Overkneaded dough will be tough and make tough, chewy bread. If you've kneaded by hand, you don't need to be too worried about overworked dough—you'll start to notice it getting difficult to manage. It takes a lot of elbow grease to knead bread dough; you'll likely tire yourself out before you can over-knead.
If the dough doesn't spring back when pressed with a finger, or tears when you pull it, it needs more kneading. If it springs back immediately when lightly pressed, and doesn't tear when you pull it, it's been kneaded enough and is ready to rise.
If the bread dough is over-kneaded, it will not rise in the oven because the stiff gluten prevents the gasses from inflating it.
Smooth Dough – The dough will start out looking like a shaggy, lumpy mass and will gradually smooth out as you knead. By the time you finish, it should be completely smooth and slightly tacky to the touch. 2. Holds Its Shape – Lift the ball of dough in your hand and hold it in the air for a second.
As a guide, for a kitchen where the temperature is 20C and you added yeast at 1% of the flour weight (eg 5g dried yeast in 500g flour), you should still leave your dough to rise for around an hour and a half to two hours after kneading it.
Resting the dough gives the gluten structure a chance to loosen and unwind, and it will give you a better final product.
Next, shape the dough into a ball and let it rest, covered in plastic wrap or an inverted bowl, for about 10-15 minutes before proceeding. This will relax the gluten and the dough's elasticity, making it easier to roll out the dough and shape the knots.
The structure of gluten plays a massive part in how your bread is formed and the gas production it creates is what develops the air pockets in bread, allowing it to rise. If your dough is not kneaded enough, the right amount of gas will not be released and it will result in a very dense bread with little moisture.
For most recipes, it's hard to over-knead your dough by hand, but you do risk overheating it, and that could prematurely kickstart proofing. Follow the recipe and don't be afraid to push your dough around a bit—you've gotta get that gluten in line.
It's lumpy yet well-mixed (no dry spots of flour); it's a cohesive ball but not a smooth one; it sort of looks like the inside of a soft pillow. Next time you need to make a shaggy dough—for hot water crust, pita, shortcakes, pie! —you can use this photo (and also your hands and eyes!) as a reference.
Over-proofed dough is very soft, when you pull at it, it falls apart easily, it's sticky, it smells sour/acidic and can have a crêpey look/feel. If you've shaped it, it will deflate when you poke at it.
How to tell the difference between “sticky” and “tacky” when it comes to dough: The easiest way is to press your hand onto the dough and then lift it up. If the dough pulls up with your hand and then releases (so your hand comes away clean), the dough is tacky. If you end up with dough stuck to your hand, it's sticky.
Dough that's left to rise at room temperature typically takes between two and four hours to double in size.
The secret of successful rising
Most recipes call for the bread to double in size – this can take one to three hours, depending on the temperature, moisture in the dough, the development of the gluten, and the ingredients used. Generally speaking, a warm, humid environment is best for rising bread.
Your dough can become sticky when you add too much water or the flour isn't suitable for the type of dough you are making. Over proofing or fermenting the dough can also result in the gluten structure weakening causing sticky dough.
Stickiness is related to the hydration in your dough, no more and no less. A focaccia dough is going to be very sticky, and it is meant to be. Unless you knead with oil (a valid technique for sticky doughs) you will be cleaning dough off your hands, and a lot of it.
Kneading the dough slowly unfolds the entangled network and aligns the long gluten strings in a stretchy, layered web. A pinch of salt helps as well because it neutralizes electrically charged parts of the gluten, allowing them to better slide along one another.
If the dough is not knocked back the fermentation rate slows down as time goes by. Of course, there are only so many times that you can knock it back and expect it to rise again. But in most cases, we don't have to worry about it as there is no good reason to degas the dough multiple times during bulk fermentation.
You need to allow the dough to rise for a certain amount of time. If it rises for too long, it'll throw things off quite a bit. Dough that has risen for too long will taste really bad. It will often have a very sour taste and the texture of the bread won't be good either.