Realized I've been overworking my pasta dough this whole time

I was at a friend's place in Chicago last month and watched him make his dough in under 5 minutes, barely kneading it. I'd always done a full 10-minute workout. The texture was way better. How much kneading do you all actually do for fresh pasta?

3 comments

3 Comments

evana712mo ago

Yeah, that "full 10-minute workout" was my exact mistake too. Barely mixing it just until it comes together gives a much better chew.

elizabeth_chen2mo ago

Okay but is the texture difference really that huge? Like, we're talking about a few extra minutes of mixing. Some recipes are way too precious about this stuff. My grandma would beat the heck out of her dough and it always turned out fine. Maybe it matters for fancy bread, but for a basic loaf? Not convinced.

wadepalmer12d ago

I mean, I get where you're coming from, but I kinda see it differently. Overworking dough is definitely a thing, but I think some of it depends on the flour and what you're going for. Like, if you're using a lower protein flour, that full 10 minutes can really help build structure, especially for a sandwich loaf that needs to hold up. Under mixing it might give a nice chew, but I've had loaves that came out too dense and flat because they didn't get enough kneading time. Maybe it's just me being careful, but I'd rather err on the side of a little more mixing than a little less.