5 Tips: Working With High-Hydration Dough

Summary by Krater

Martin from King Arthur Baking Company shares five tips for working with high hydration doughs, covering dough hydration percentages, fermentation, strengthening folds, gentle shaping, and cold fermentation.

From the video

Answers: How do you work with high hydration bread doughs?

• High hydration dough baking tips
• Dough hydration percentage calculation
• Dough fermentation and temperature
• Bowl fold, coil fold, and lamination fold techniques
• Gentle dough shaping for batard and boule
• Cold fermentation for sourdough bread

What it concludes

• Know your dough percentage by dividing total water by total flour.
• Ferment dough well and monitor temperature and leaven health.
• Perform bowl folds, coil folds, or lamination folds during fermentation to build dough strength.
• Use a light hand and gentle touch when shaping high hydration doughs to avoid tearing.
• Cold ferment shaped doughs in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours to improve flavor, crust quality, and scoring.