Working with High Hydration Doughs

[AsciiSillyQuestion]

Why the different hydration levels? What does hydration do to a dough?

[NorthwestSourdough]

@AsciiSillyQuestion Hydration just means how much water is in a dough based on flour weight. It helps bakers understand how wet or dry a dough is for a recipe.

[mikester695]

Good job.

Thanks

[cageybee777]

send it here

[Postie218]

You said you "bake under a roasting lid". Could you explain that a bit more ?

[mhtskip1]

Northwest - At what point after removing from refrigerator do they go into the oven?

[NorthwestSourdough]

@mhtskip1 when they are done proofing, no matter how long that takes... 1 hour... 3 hours...

[DumbAndLethal]

thought you said chewbacca loaf at 6:20

[patisserie1]

Northwest, you know you gave me a great idea from this demonstration. I've wondered how is it that my hydrated dough splits whenever I form it and placed it upside down in the basket. I shaped my dough once, here I see you form it twice. Thanks for the demo I will be trying that.

[patisserie1]

Northwest, where did you purchase those brotforms.

[NorthwestSourdough]

@patisserie1 I got them on eBay, but you can get them from the San Francisco Baking Institute or the Lucky Clover Trading company.

[patisserie1]

I expect large holes in the bread when the bread is finish baking.

[shiftystix1801]

how long did u bake them for?

[PrepperAZ]

great video.

[thedr00]

What makes the beautiful gold colour on the loaves? Is that just oven heat or is the type of flour you use?

[azt3c]

whats the recipe ? looks great.

[NorthwestSourdough]

@azt3c to see all of my published recipes go to my site and click on the e-book tab.

[ohvnaq]

that looks lovely! has your dough been kneaded before this? if yes how do you knead such wet dough? thank you

[NorthwestSourdough]

@ohvnaq No I do not knead dough, I stretch and fold it.

[romanos65]

hi what is de name of the tray or mold that you use?

[NorthwestSourdough]

@romanos65 The bread mold is called a Banneton.

[tilestyles]

Your folding technique, color, crumb and crust are perfect. Thanks for sharing.

[PerfectionObsessive]

FYI, slashing is meant to control crumb structure and the "lift" of the dough during baking. The more slashes, the more air you can introduce to the crumb as it bakes. Too much slashing causes the dough to collapse.

Slashing in a T isn't a bad idea, it'll just make the crumb seem a bit irregular.

[BKSinAZ]

I am new to baking and although I don't care for the flavor of sour dough, your video on how to handle the dough is great.

[escoffier29]

thanks

[cachibache777]

Could you please explain what the roasting lid looks like? Nice crumb structure!

[NorthwestSourdough]

@cachibache777 You can see one on my site under baking techniques. It is at northwestsourdough

[evolnomis]

what is your method for creating steam in the home oven? I notice from the color of your loaves that it was well steamed. great video. thanks!

[NorthwestSourdough]

@evolnomis you can see how to do steaming at my site at northwestsourdough. look under techniques and baking

[gesres]

I've tried oiling the blade, but it hasn't seemed to have made a difference. Are you using high gluten flour?

One mistake I may be making is that I draw one slash down the center, at a 30 degree angle from the horizontal. The dough immediately starts to spread sideways and the flap merges with the underlying dough, making the slash marks almost invisible. I noticed that Teresa didn't do that...she made a sequence of short, parallel strokes, which preserved some of the structural integrity.

[gesres]

I don't see you are able to so easily score this 75% dough. I'm using a 68% and it just pulls and tears. And then the dough spreads immediately.

[DumbAndLethal]

@gesres I use 68% hydration too but i spray the blade with pam or dip it in olive oil.

[NorthwestSourdough]

@gesres very sharp new blad and keep the blade wet

[daveschreck]

Just what i was looking for... now im trying to find some tips/videos about making flour patterns on the bread.

[rockyPants4000]

How many grams do each of those loaves weigh?

[smlvalentine]

Brilliant video - loved learning the technique. Thank you so much!

[hoodedraider]

i remember at bakery school i had a dough with 95% water.. now thats hard to work with :P

you use water instead of flour to let it not stick to your hands and table

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

I fear for your fingers when you cut into the loaves (with fingers fully extended). I learned the finger-thumb tuck method years ago and have not cut my fingers in ages. Highly recommended if you like your finger tips. :)

[sklikizos]

@ElPiconeroalCognac Can you further explain what you mean? Tucking your fingers while using seems lame is pointless and gives you less control. If you were using a tool, like chefs knife, where it actually made sense to tuck one's fingers, sure.

[patisserie1]

Where did you purchase those benneton baskets?

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

I'd like to know was well. They're much nicer than the ones I own.

[ericwarrenstucki]

Very cool, I am curious what your basic sourdough hydration is? I have followed a similar formula to that of which Peter Rienhart has published, But I do not get the crust or the crumb I would like. Although the flavor is there. Maybe I have missed one of your videos, but keep them coming!

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

Reinhart's ciabatta (very high hydration) is a hard bread to get right. I think I've successfully made it 3 times out of the 10 times I've tried. It always tastes great, but getting those big holes is not easy at all, even when you follow his directions exactly. A crumb with big holes is more of a point of pride, I find, as it doesn't change the flavour of the dough very much at all.

[hoecake111]

Thanks! You have helped a lot of people. Including me.

[primesetter]

nice video, thanks.

[rain0nglass]

Thanks for this, it was really very helpful since I'm new to working with high hydration doughs. Getting the hang of it, though! :)

[warforlips]

I love it. People will always give ya heck for cutting into a warm loaf, but that's when it tastes best in my honest opinion.

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

If you're making artisan bread and really trying to get as much flavour as possible, it's not such a good idea to eat it warm. You'll miss all of the subtle and unique character of the bread if you eat it before it cools. It's really hard to pass up a warm loaf with lots of melted butter, but there's really no point in working so hard (i.e. using sourdough, slow rise, and other artisan techniques) if that's what you're after. Use commercial rapid rise yeasts and you'll be there much faster!