Does cold water increase the extensibility of dough? True or false?

Most likely not everyone knows that cold water added to dough has the ability to increase the extensibility of the gluten network, that is, the ability to stretch without breaking. This characteristic is very useful when we need to prepare grissini (even better if rolled out), when we need to make a very thin pastry, or when we have a particularly strong flour, such as durum wheat.

With this empirical test (very empirical), we will see what happens when adding cold water:

• Room temperature. 20°C
• Flour temperature. 16°C
• Resting temperature. 20°C
• Tool temperature. 18°C
• Cold dough water temperature. 2°C
• Hot dough water temperature. 45°C
• Resting time. 30 min.
• Mixing time (planetary mixer with hook). 6 min.

Cold dough ingredients. 500g of re-milled semolina, 350ml of water at 2°C, 10g of sea salt, 10g of fresh yeast.

Hot dough ingredients. 500g of re-milled semolina, 350ml of water at 45°C, 10g of sea salt, 10g of fresh yeast.

Preparation of the doughs. I poured the flour into the planetary mixer with the yeast to which I added the water (minus 50ml). I started mixing and after about 3 min. I added the salt, 50ml of water and continued for another 3 min. I placed the dough in an airtight container and let it rest for 30 min. After that, I cut a small portion from both doughs (without folding, pulling or pressing the dough): the cut portions were of identical weight and size. I then rolled them out until they were about to tear (the cold one would actually have stretched even more).

Conclusions

As can be seen, cold water has resulted in an increase in the extensibility of the dough, although this is a very empirical test. Ideally, it would be advisable to use a tool called an extensograph, which is much more effective in validating this difference. The reason for this rheological variation of the dough is very complex and it is necessary to have a deep understanding of chemistry and biochemistry (as yeast also plays an important role in this behaviour of the dough) to interpret it (I count myself among those who find it difficult to understand). For those who would still like to know, I can add it to the post, but I must preface that I have no merit in this regard, it is an illustration kindly provided by Simona Lauri. At the same time, knowing the intrinsic reason for this reaction is not very important; what matters is knowing that cold water has this power and using it when we need it!