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Wheat and other types of cereals contain two key proteins: glutenin and gliadin. When we use the word gluten we are referring to the elastic network that is formed when water is added to flour containing glutenin and gliadin (and then time and a bit of kneading help too).
Glutenin provides elasticity in bread dough and elasticity refers to the extent to which the dough will hold its shape. Dough that is too elastic — described as bucky will not easily rise in the oven because there’s too much elasticity for the chemical processes to overcome in the oven. It would be like pushing against a very taught rubber band. There’s no give left.
The quantity of gliadin in flour affects the extensibility or stretchiness of the dough. Too extensible and the dough is very difficult to manage and shape. This is called a slack dough.
Here’s Andrew Janjigian (again) from his Wordloaf Substack and a post called Know Your Dough
Glutenin gives doughs elasticity and strength, while gliadin provides extensibility and flow. In wheat flour, the ratio of glutenin and gliadin is relatively balanced. Spelt flour is much higher in gliadin than wheat flour, so adding spelt to a formula can yield a more extensible dough. (And using too much of it can produce doughs that are slack, making them challenging to shape and low in volume once baked, unless a baker makes other adjustments to the process or formula.)
What this means in day to day baking is finding ways to balance glutenin and gliadin in flour mixes. Higher gliadin doughs feel different — they clearly feel like they have less capacity to hold themselves up (elasticity) and will often feel a lot more sticky.
Source: https://sustainable-nano.com/2014/04/08/scientific-lessons-from-bread-baking
I have no idea why there is a goat in that image.
