Comments on: Tips on handling high hydration dough

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 15:50:19 +0000

In reply to Ray Badger. Thank you for sharing your method Ray, sounds excellent, because eggs can be a challenge from one egg to the next, never exactly the same. Enjoy your baking and the results

By: Ray Badger

Ray Badger — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 12:56:15 +0000

In reply to Curtis. I mix all my non water liquid items first. Weigh them then add my other liquids to reach the hydration level I want..Fool proof. Especially with eggs.

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:33:35 +0000

In reply to Curtis. Thank you Curtis, for your excellent advice. We can only agree with your remark about selecting the right recipe and ingredients. Enjoy your baking journey!

By: Curtis

Curtis — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 05:01:42 +0000

Hey Yall my tip for you is to learn how to check the hydration % level of your dough and keep in mind what type of flour you’ll be using DON’T JUST FOLLOW SOMEONE’S recipe unless you are sure it’s a good recipe. Math is easy and simple say you want a simple loaf of bread using AP flour you know that has a lower gluten strength than Bread Flour. so use less water or hydration how to do the math example: 300gr AP flour and you want to use 60% hydration OK take 60 X 300= 180grams or 180ml of hydration, hydration is any liquid that if you add a large Egg is 44gr of liquid you need to use less liquid of the total amount to allow for the Egg. Oil, water, milk all weigh about the same 240gr/ml per cup…I’m new at baking and learning.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 08:35:48 +0000

Today I mastered my sourdough aesthetic with a beautiful oven spring and ear that popped up. The total hydration was about 70%, so what did I have to do? Get overzealous and shoot for 80%! What a mess. The tips and tricks here are valuable, no doubt, but if the flour can’t hold this much moisture it’s a lost cause =\ I’ll still bake it to see what happens, but I need to stick to 70% until I find a stronger flour than King Arthur.

By: Sunshine Coast water dispenser

Sunshine Coast water dispenser — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 12:45:49 +0000

Having water always on our person will act as a constant reminder to drink. If you’re rushing from meeting to meeting then having a bottle with you will counteract the excuse of being to busy to hydrate.
smarterwater.net.au/produ…ispensers/

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 14:27:21 +0000

In reply to Sam. Hope you were still able to use it, but it will have very much depended on how long it was in the water, so a few hours does not bode too well...

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 23:23:33 +0000

Hello, I froze fresh dough in a ziploc bag.. I wanted to use it today so I put it inside a bowl of water.. the bag popped and the dough ended up soaking in the water for a few hours… is the dough usable?

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 15:16:24 +0000

In reply to Michele. Yes, great advice!

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:40:28 +0000

In reply to Robert Rogers. Yes, THANK YOU. My sink has been stopping up a bit and I use a good sieve over the drain and could NOT figure out why this would happen. It never occurred to me it could be the dough...!!!

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 06:50:12 +0000

In reply to Aj. Hello Aj, You can add 75% of the weight of the egg (this is the part of the egg that is 'water') and for butter it is about 20%, depending on the type of butter.

By: Aj

Aj — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 00:19:00 +0000

Hi, i’m making bread that has butter & egg. Do i add their weight/volume to my water to compute for the total % of hydration?

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 12:49:21 +0000

In reply to Seamus russell.

Hello Seamus,
In general, you know when to stop S&F’s when the dough starts to resist.
85% hydration is very high and you need to make sure you use the right type of flour that can hold such an amount of water, otherwise the dough might become very slack.

By: Seamus russell

Seamus russell — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 15:44:44 +0000

Hi there. Quick question with different hydration’s do you need more or less folds. How do you know when your dough has had enough folds. I’m working with a 85% hydration and when I put my dough to rest they’re lovey fermented and bouncy then the next day they are sloppy and deflated before even taking them out of the basket. Thanks

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 08:06:56 +0000

In reply to liaw.

Hello Liaw,
Glad you can get some encouragement from these tips. You have seen that adding lots of flour is not the solution because the result will be different. Great you have found a way to handle the dough with the glove.

Enjoy your baking!

By: liaw

liaw — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 09:06:20 +0000

I like your consolation. Whatever recipe i use, i end up with sticky dough all the time. The 1st time i add flour till it manageable but end up with hard bun after 1 day (it is still soft while it is hot), the 2nd and 3rd time i gave up and use transparent plastic glove to handle it (it is sticky but can be shaped thanks to the glove). It rise nicely and stay soft till day 2 and 3. Love the bread.

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Mon, 11 May 2020 09:59:40 +0000

In reply to Alex.

Yes, Alex, your spelt and buckwheat are the cause, the first has ‘delicate’ gluten and the other is not a grain and has no gluten, so the combination has limited liquid retaining capacities and only a very weak gluten network can be build. The hydration is much too high. Which recipe are you using as a base?
It is a real challenge making bread this way. It is best to start with a combination of wheat and spelt for instance to get a good result.
Maybe you can still make some sort of flatbread / pita with your dough.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 09 May 2020 14:39:15 +0000

Hello! I’m trying to make a 75% hydration sourdough, using 50:50 spelt and buckwheat flour. I got to the stretch and fold stage (this is my first attempt) and ran into problems. After the first stretch and fold I could feel the dough getting strong, but following rounds seemed to make the dough wetter and wetter. I have been using cold water for my hands. Eventually I gave up and but the bowl into the fridge. Any ideas of why the Increased wetness? Could it be that it’s a hot day? Thanks.

By: Weekend Bakers

Weekend Bakers — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 12:56:48 +0000

In reply to Robert Rogers. Thank you Roger for this excellent tip we can all start using immediately!

By: Robert Rogers

Robert Rogers — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:01:53 +0000

I keep a large bowl of cold water to wash my hands. I dump it in the garden. No need to clog up the sink with flour/dough.