Have you ever seen those big fluffy baguettes that the label says are one pound, but that seem really big for that weight? That's achieved through intensively mixing the dough so that the gluten is developed all the way, which allows the bread to expand quite a bit. There are several problems with this, though, not the least of which is that mixing the dough so intensively bleaches out all the color and flavor.

There's a solution to this problem that was invented by Raymond Calvel, a French baker who wrote "The Taste of Bread." Mr. Calvel developed a way to get the big fluffy bread while retaining its color and flavor. It's called autolyse, which translates as 'self destruct.' Autolyse is done when you mix only the flour and water of a bread recipe and let that rest for at least twenty minutes, and up to an hour. The flour and water are mixed enough that they are thoroughly incorporated, but not beyond that. This allows the flour to hydrate and the enzymes to start working, particularly protease which works to break down the protein in the flour.The goal of autolyse is to make the dough stronger and more extensible, better able to stretch without tearing. The well hydrated protein forms stronger gluten chains, while the protease works to break down some of the gluten for better extensibility. All of this happens without mixing, so less oxygen is mixed into the dough, which causes the bleaching of color and flavor.

Unless you're using a very liquid one, preferments are not added to the autolyse, nor are yeast or salt. All of these ingredients interfere with gluten/protease development, so they are left out until the autolyse period is done. Liquid preferments contain a high ratio of the water in a recipe, so that needs to go into the autolyse. The salt slows down chemical reactions while the yeast produces acidity that decreases extensibility.

Autolyse can be done overnight. The trick is to use only half of the flour and water for the overnight action. Add that to the rest of the ingredients the next day, and mix as usual.