High hydration bread has received a lot of attention lately, specially among the sourdough bread enthusiasts. And to be honest, this is my favorite way to go, even though it did require a lot of time, practicing and perfecting the method.
What is not to love about a high-hydration bread, be it a baguette or a loaf. The thin crispy crust and the gelatinous open crumb is the ultimate bread goals. Am I rite? It is such a pleasure to slice through these crusty bread and they are the best when toasted.
My baguette recipe is a high-hydration one. Naturally, baguettes are higher in hydration than other breads as we need that moisture to obtain the signature irregular, open crumb.
The high water content makes the crumb gelatinous as it bakes, and hence the chewy bite that we all adore. A glutenous crumb doesn’t go mushy, when you dunk it in a broth, curry, or a stew.
Flour I use
I use all sorts of flour. But when I fist started making bread at home, I stuck with a good brand of store bought white bread flour (13% gluten). This is important. Do not try to experiment with flour until you are thorough with your recipe, process and technique. Once you have graduated out of beginner level, then it is time to mix different flour varieties and be adventurous.
For my bread baking now, I mostly use locally milled flour. In Washington you can find good quality flour and if you look for you will find similar types in your region too. I mostly use flour from CairnspringMills and Fairheven Mill. They have high-extraction flour with higher gluten % and finer particles. Learn more about flour in this post.
I use different proportions and experiment different ratios in every loaf. A common recipe I bake often is similar to following;
60% cairnspring mills T-85 (either expresso, trailblazer)
30% cairnspring mills T-85 Sequoia or skagit 1109
10% white bread flour (any brand)
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Enough talking and lets get bakin’. So here are the step by step process that I follow and found to be most aligned with my daily schedule. I mostly make the bread in the evening/night and bake it the next day evening. But feel free to attempt this anytime of the day and it is okay to tweak the process here and there to fit to your personal liking.
First step is getting the starter ready. Feed the starter with 1:1 water and flour mixture several hours before making the bread. (the time depends on your starter, room temperature and the amount of culture that you feed. Read more on this here.
Starter should be at it’s peak. I usually feed my starter with bread flour and before feeding mix the flour and water thoroughly and make sure to mix well with the culture. The mature starter will be spongy and full of bubbles.
Measure 260 g water into a bowl and add the starter into the water directly. Starter should ideally float on top of the water. Dissolve the starter in water before adding to the flour.
Mix flour (350 g) and starter+water in a large container. Just mix until incorporated, do not knead. I’m using a locally sourced, freshly milled strong organic bread flour here. This flour is great, it is a thirsty flour and of 13% gluten. But feel free to use the bread flour you have got at hand, but the results may slightly vary.
This is how it should look, it is just combined, make sure all the flour is wet (well hydrated). Now close the lid and leave this for an hour.
This is autolyse. Meaning the flour will absorb as much water as it can and gluten will start to form and enzymes will get activated.
Then add the salt. Wet your hands before mixing the dough. Slap and fold technique works best for wet doughs like this.
After a few minutes of kneading, the dough will come together. This whole process of adding salt should not take more than 2-3 minutes.
Now cover and let this rest for 45 minutes. Do not over knead.
After the first 45 minutes, the dough will be spread like this. Give a coil fold / stretch and fold, whichever you prefer. Simply shape it back into a tight dough ball. Like the next picture.
Dough is tight again. Every stretch and fold will strengthen the gluten structure. Now cover and let rest for another 45 minutes.
After the second 45 minutes, the dough will look spread again. Do another coil fold and bring the dough together to a tight ball. Like in the next picture.
This time the dough will feel much more elastic and you will see air bubbles here and there. These are signs of gluten being strengthened and fermentation. Check my folding video here. Now, cover and let this rest for another 45 minutes.
This will be the final fold. This time around, the dough is much stronger. Be careful when you fold. Do not do more than 2 coil folds. Notice the bigger air pockets and the dough has grown slightly too.
After the final fold, the dough is much stronger and now we are ready for the final hours of bulk. At this stage we are done strengthening the gluten, now we need to give undisturbed time for the yeast to do their job. Close the lid and let this ferment for two hours. My room temperature was around 19C. If yours is warmer reduce this to a 1 1/2 hours. If its colder you can give it up to 3 hours. Decide that by looking at the dough.
At the end of bulking, the dough will look plump and a bit wobbly. Dump the dough on to a lightly dusted surface and pre-shape.
pre-shape means; tuck the lose ends underneath and bring the dough into a tight ball.
Pre-shaped dough. This will feel super strong and stretchy and elastic like a balloon.
Cover this and let it rest for 30 minutes. This will help the gluten relax, so we can shape this into a loaf easily. Otherwise, the dough will be too elastic and would try to unwind when you shape.
This is the rested dough. This is now ready to be shaped. Check shaping video here. This is only one way of shaping, you can find many more methods on the internet.
Once shaped, place in the banneton basket. You don’t need a special basket to proof a dough. Check this video where I have a loaf pan with a tea towel.
This is a 10″x 5″x 3″ size banneton. Alternatively, you can also use a loaf pan of similar size. Cover the loaf pan with a thick tea towel and dust it generously with flour/semolina.
Cover the whole thing with a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake(usually next day). This slow fermentation is called retardation( we are actually slowing down the fermentation) This could be anywhere from 18 – 24 hours. I left it for 24 hours.
When you are ready to bake, first preheat the oven, with the Dutch oven (if you are using one) or your baking stone in. Thermometer placed inside should read 500 F / 260 C. Let the oven heat for another 30 minutes or an hour even after the temperature reaches this. Check below to see how to bake with/without a Dutch Oven.
Now, take the loaf out from the fridge and tip onto a parchment.
Spray with some water and dust with flour. Remove the excess flour and score the bread. Place in the Dutch oven/or directly in the oven. Bake 25 minutes lid on, and then reduce temp to 450 F and bake another 20 – 25 with lid off.
Once baked, let the bread cool on a wire rack.
Baking bread at home
At home, bread can be baked using different techniques. Because we don’t have industry standard ovens or built in steam always, we need to get a little creative here. Let me show you how.
Open baking
If you have a convection oven (convection setting/fan forced) you can try to bake without a Dutch Oven. But make sure your oven is capable of heating properly. The best way to find out is, by baking a few loaves, of course.
For this method we need a surface that can reach a very high temperature (to act as a stone base). You can use any of the following; baking steel (I use @bakingsteel), heavy metal sheet, pizza stone (ceramic or cast iron), cast iron lid (of the dutch oven) etc.
Then you need to find a way to create steam. Use a bread pan filled with boiling water (place a tea towel in so the water won’t boil vigorously). Also use a spray bottle to add a mist once the bread is in. Last but not least, you can throw some ice cubes either on the steel or onto another tray placed underneath the bread.
Now depending on where the heat element is, you may need to decide where to place the bread. My oven has a top heating element, so I place my bread on the lower 3rd of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F with convection setting on (make sure to use an oven thermometer) for about an hour with the steel in.
Then place the pan with boiling water. Score and place the bread on the steel. Throw some ice, and spray some water, close the oven door. Bring the temperature immediately down to 450°F. Bake the bread for 20 minutes. then pull the boiling water out and continue to bake for another 20 minutes.
Using a Dutch Oven
If open baking is not an option, you can always rely on this method. A Dutch Oven (DO) is very reliable and you can make sure the bread is baked to perfection every time. Cast iron, ceramic, porcelain anything works. A Dutch oven creates a nice hot environment and traps moisture. So you don’t have to worry about providing steam. However you can place a few ice cubes inside the preheated Dutch Oven with the bread to create extra steam. This helps expand the bread and create that thin crispy crust.
Place a rack in the center of the oven. Place the Dutch oven (Lid on) and preheat the oven to 520°F with conventional (maximum) or 500°F with convection settings for about an hour.
Then place the scored bread in the Dutch oven, replace the lid. (Place some ice cubes in if you like and have space in the DO). Bake for 20 minutes
Then remove the lid, bring the temperature down to 450°F and bake for another 20 minutes.
picture shows a bread after the first 20 minutes
Always let the bread cool completely before slicing into it. I know this is hard, but the crumb will be a lot less sticky once bread is cooled. Use a serrated knife for clean slicing. You can store the bread wrapped in a tea towel or use a paper bag. If you want to keep for longer, wrap in plastic and freeze.
Ingredients
- 350 g strong bread flour (13% gluten)
- 80 g active mature starter (100% hydrated)
- 250 g water (260g if using strong bread flour or whole grain)
- 6 g salt
Instructions
- Make the starter ahead of time
- Dissolve the starter in water and add it to the flour. Mix until hydrated.
- Cover and set aside for an hour
- Add the salt mix to incorporate. Do not over mix Read and check blog photos and relevant steps
- Let this rest for 45 minutes, covered
- And give a fold after 45 minute rest. Check photos and video above
- Repeat this twice more
- After the final fold let the dough rest for two hours (or longer if it is cold)
- After the bulk proof, pre-shape the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes
- Then shape the loaf and place in the proofing basket
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 18 – 24 hours
- When ready to bake, pre heat the oven ( for1 hour)
- Check the post for different baking settings. You can decide to use a Dutch Oven or Open bake the bread depending on your oven and preference
- So preheat accordingly
- When the oven is ready, take the bread out of the fridge, score and place in the preheated oven bake according to instructions given in the post above
- Let the baked bread cool off on a wire rack before slicing
- Use a serrated knife to slice the cooled bread and enjoy!
51 comments
I made this and it is delicious! Mine isn’t as pretty as yours, because I didn’t have a stencil and I forgot to slash it, but it is a chewy, delightfully tangy loaf with big open air spaces inside.
The bottom crust got a little too hard; wondering how to mitigate that, or if it can be mitigated with a loaf like this.
I am so glad you liked the bread. Well done!
Oh I didn’t use a stencil. I score bread with a blade, you can find my video on (IGTV) Instagram vindiskitchen. Yes slashing is important, it helps bread expand. When the bread expands, the outer later becomes thin so may be this is why you got a hard bottom.
Under proving is also a reason for the hard bottom.
Also the bottom heat could be a reason. But we can’t do much about this in home ovens, unless you have control over top/bottom heating elements.
I hope I answered your question.
May I know what size of the oval banneton you are using for this 300g flour bread? Thank you.
10″(L) x 5″(W)x 3″(H)
Hi!
Thanks for your detailed recipe and method.
What size dutch oven do you have? And what kind of flour do you use in your banneton and for dusting before scoring/baking?
You are welcome 🙂
I use a Lodge Cast Iron 5 Quart double dutch oven (L8DD3)
I use all purpose or bread flour before scoring.
For the banneton a mix of flour and semolina, sometimes just flour ( all purpose mostly).
If I don’t have a Dutch oven what do you suggest for steaming? Or is it ok to bake on a baking sheet?
Dutch oven is not used for steaming, but to generate even burst of heat around the bread, cos most ovens don’t get hot enough.
If you don’t have a dutch oven, bake on a normal tray. If your oven is hot enough, you’ll still get nice bread.
You can also use a pizza stone or a cast iron skillet if you have got any of those.
I think I put too much water, can I still add more flour? Im at the coil and fold part 🙂
You can use flour, just dust some on top, do not try to over knead.
You can always leave the bread rest and give an extra coil fold to strengthen the dough.
Too much kneading in high hydration bread, will disturb ( dissolve) gluten
Hi Vindi,
I had a question regarding the maintenance of my sourdough starter. My starter recipe started with 1:1 water and flour and during feeding was asked to weight 25g of the starter and discard the rest and feed with 1:1 water and flour. Now I got my starter in my chiller and after I need to feed in 1 week time so do I still weight out 25g of the starter and feed with 1:1 water and flour? Hope u can enlighten me. Thanks.
Now that you have got the starter matured, its easier to feed/refresh.
-get the starter out and let it sit at room temperature(or in a warm place) until you see some activity ( I leave it for 2-3 hours)
-then save roughly about a tablespoon of the starter and discard the rest ( do not throw away the discard, use it in another discard recipe)
-Feed this tablespoon of starter with flour and water puree like below
-I don’t waste time measuring water and flour, I just get about 1/3 cup flour and add water until it start to looks like a porridge
-then mix the starter with this porridge and let ripe
I have a separate post about starter and you can find all these information there
Hello! I had great success with this recipe, but I had a question.
Why do you retard the dough after shaping as opposed to during bulk ferment? What would happen if those were swapped — a long cold bulk ferment followed by a short final proof? Would love to know how this would affect the final product!
This is only one way of making bread, you can change the process to suite your schedule.
If you check, a lot of my sweet breads get this long bulk (retarding after the bulk).
It’s all about the science behind this. During bulk we want the yeast to multiply rapidly ( that’s why the name bulk) so it will have a healthy/fast final proof.
If you delay the bulk, you are essentially delaying the whole process, so it is up to you and also depends on the recipe/ingredients and the rest of the process.
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Hi, love your baking blog! I would like to make this my basic recipe for crusty sourdough loaves, but have the following questions:
1. How should I adapt if I wanted to add flavours to the loaves?
2. Can I just stick to the recipe and add the flavours (in particular I am planning to add 1. spice powders 2. raisins and 3. leek and bacon) right before bulk fermentation stage?
3. Or should I be adding them at a different stage?
Look forward to your advice!
Hi Lizzie, Thanks.
To answer your questions,
1.Yes you can absolutely use this recipe with a little tweak to water % (make sure to use strong bread flour) to make flavors.I do this all the time.
2. If you are adding moist stuff like leek, use a little less water 78% – 75%. For dried fruit, spice etc, you can use the same recipe.
3. Yes add them before the bulk. When you incorporate stuff, take care not to overmix ( fold in or stretch the dough and spread stuff and roll back) Also you can add spices in the beginning at the autolyse stage too, so they will be better incorporated.
Hi, love your baking blog!
I am thinking of using this recipe as the basic recipe for my sourdough bread, and to add flavours such as spices or leek/ bacon pieces or raisins.
May I know if the recipes will need to be adapted, or can I just add these ingredients before bulk fermentation?
Also, is it absolutely no-no to use a mixer for these high hydration breads? Thanks so much!
You can use this recipe, but just tweak the water %. If you are adding stuff with moisture, fresh vegetables, fruits then reduce water in the recipe. I would normally go between 75% – 78% depending on what I add. For dried fruits, cheese kind of stuff, you can use the same hydration. Make sure to use strong bread flour in either case. And yes with high hydration, they are best added just before bulk and do not over-mix.
The thing with high hydrated douhgs is that it’s easier to over mix and destroy the gluten (dissolve) if you use a mixer, specially small quantities at home. But if you take care, then you can use a mixer for the initial mixing bit. But for the rest of the process, you should use folds ( that’s what we did in commercial bakeries too)
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Hi your recipe and all posts fascinate me! I am so going to try your method for my next bake! Just one question: if I am not going to retard in fridge after shaping, how long do I need to wait for the second proof before baking?
Thanks 🙂
If you are not retarding, just let the dough rest for about an hour after the folding and bulking part is done.
Then continue with pre-shaping, shaping and let it proof as usual.
Hi again, thank you for your reply! May I know how long is the proofing after shaping (without step 11) before going into oven?
In sourdough, there is no specific time for proofing. It could be anywhere from 3-5 hours depending on room temperature, starter strength, recipe etc.
You should be able to tell when it is proofed (this is the tricky bit that you have to master over time)
Best way to know if a bread is proofed is to do the “poke test”
poke test: when you gently poke the dough with a finger;
-if it spring right back (like rubber)then it is under proofed
-if it spring back in slow motion but not all the way back then it’s proofed (perfect! ready to be baked and will give nice oven spring)
-if if doesn’t spring back and leave a dent(imprint), then it is over proofed ( it will still bake into a good bread but with minimal oven spring)
hope this helps!
Hi,
I’m loving your blog, and currently trying out your sourdough croissant recipe (it’s a long 24 hours wait before laminating! 😉 )
I’ve been experimenting with sourdough bread for a few years now and can produce a pretty good loaf.
However, I have just tried making a high hydration loaf from my current recipe by just adding more water. I pretty much failed at the first hurdle and ended up having to add more flour. I was surprised that this actually worked and the final result was more like a cross between my normal loaf and a high-hydration one, but very tasty nonetheless!
Having just read through this page I think I now know where I went wrong. Firstly, I think I over-kneaded the dough, not realising that folding would be a better method for this type of bread. Secondly, I had a vague idea of shaping and what it did, but didn’t realise how much you can develop the structure of the dough by shaping.
Thanks to your blog, I’m going to give High-hydration dough another shot in the next couple of weeks, but I do have one question. I bake my bread on a granite stone in an electric oven, the oven temperatures and baking times in your recipe are for a Dutch oven, will they be the same for baking on a stone?
Thanks you. I am glad you find my blog helpful. I was struggling too, once, so I know the pain. 🙂
Yes the temperatures would be the same!
I use a Dutch Oven mainly because my oven is a conventional (old fashioned/ what came with the apartment) and it doesn’t get hot enough for bread. Back at home I had a good accurate electric oven and I didn’t use a DO.
So if your oven is accurate and heats up evenly (convection) then you wouldn’t need a DO and use this same temperature to bake bread.
Cheers!
This is interesting and since I have bought massive amounts of flour and am experimenting every day I will certainly give it a try. I am keen to use a higher hydration as it certainly has worked in my last 2 bakes, using mix of light rye flour and white. My resulting breads are much softer which is great but there are not pockets of air.maybe harder with rye? I have been working it hard for 10 mins after autolyze so maybe too much? Seems that you recommend folding only. I will try that and use only white flour (organic bread flour) and give it a go today! Thanks
You are right, it is header to get air pockets with rye as the protein present in Rye is ‘gliadin’ not ‘glutenin. In wheat they both exist. Glutenin and giladin combines to build gluten.So when you blend the two, it brings down the total (glutenin%) elasticity(strength) of the dough, which is crucial for a very open crumb. But it depends on your mixing ratio. You can get a fairly open crumb, but may be not the ‘large air pocket structure’ you expect from a high hydration bread.
And yes, with high hydration, we use a longer autolysis and less mixing (use folding to create strength)
Finally finished the loaf and it has produced one of the best I have ever made, so am very grateful! The crumb is open and texture really good. Even my wife couldn’t resist it (she is on a non gluten diet currently!) I have never used the fold technique, being dubious about its merits over working the dough ‘hard’. However I am now a convert.And thank you for the theory on the rye.
That’s is great! These are proven methods and theories of bread making and knowing them makes a big difference! right?!
Happy baking!!
Hi Vindi
This is my third boule using this recipe and while I have been loving the taste of the bread that comes out at the end, I know there are tweaks I need to make to the recipe or process to suit my starter/flour/room temperature etc as my dough doesn’t handle like your photos. Mine is much more liquid. I have followed many shaping techniques on creating tension and a tight ball etc and while I can get my dough to look like an upright floury ball for one second, the entire thing flows flat as soon as I let go. After being in the fridge for 18 hours retard in banneton, as soon as I tip it out, it flows flat literally feels like I’m handling a ballon filled with water!! Even this last attempt I used a total of 215g water instead of your 240g and it feels just as liquid. My starter is rising 6 hours after feed and I use the starter for the levain just as it reaches peak. I bake in a ceramic casserole dish and the oven spring is ok and I get bread that tastes great, with some good open crumb at the top of the loaf but very tight dense crumb at the bottom. It hasn’t put me off as it tastes amazing regardless. Please can you give me some tips on how I could be tweaking the method or recipe to make a better boule? I love your posts by the way. Thank you!
Hi Marisa, I would love to help you figure out why this is. What type of flour do you use? and do you follow 1 hour autolyse followed by the coil folds? what hydration is your starter?( how do you make your starter?)
Also I can be more specific if I can see a picture of the dough. If you can DM me a picture on Instagram
Hi Vindi,
Since I found your blog I made a few of the recipes and always very happy with the results.
I am writing this as I am heating the oven to put this bread inside.
I wanted to make a high hydration very much so I followed your recipe as always but with this one seems I have a problem, the dough is too sticky, i barely could shape it.
It has bubbles, it doubled but it also got stuck on everything and what I don’t know is, when you work with it, how much more flour can you use so it doesn’t stick to your surface and hand.
So now, before putting it into the oven I have a rather wide bread, not firm at all…
Help please!
Hi Alice,
First of all, I would like to know the type of flour you use. This recipe calls for strong bread flour ( around 13% gluten) and NOT whole grain. So make sure your flour is high gluten bread flour. And yes! high hydration means the dough is sticky. But with 1 hour autolyse followed by slap and fold method, we can achieve the smooth not-so sticky dough. At this stage, we don’t use flour to stop sticky, but water. Check videos linked in the post, near the pictures, you will see I wet my hands before handling dough. Only at the pre-shape and shaping, we use a light dusting of flour to stop dough sticking, but by this stage the dough is not ‘very-sticky’. Also in the warmer months be careful to not over proof it ( you night wan to cut down on bulk depending on the temperature)
Also remember to generously dust your proofing basket/tea towel so it won’t stick. You can also cover and put the proofed loaf(while still in the proofing basket) in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before tipping over as this might help release the bread easily.
Hope this helps!
Hi Vindi
Thanks so much for your reply. I follow your method to the “T” including 1 hour autolysis. The obvious variables that I can figure are:
1) My flour, I have only used Waitrose Strong Canadian Bread Flour in starter and the bake. I can’t find the protein content information…
2) Room temperature, I’m in the UK and the kitchen counter are fluctuates between 19-22 degrees C.
3) My starter: it was inherited from a friend 3 weeks ago, it had been dormant/refrigerated/unfed for a few weeks prior. I have since been trying to revive it for periods in fridge and on counter but for the past 10 days I have been feeding it 12 hours apart 50g:50g:50g (1:1:1) in my attempt to mature it (?!)
4) Oven: I have electric fan oven with highest temp of 250 degrees C and I use a heavy ceramic casserole pan with lid.
5) Technique: I do the slap and fold when adding the salty water then I do stretch and fold method, turning the bowl a quarter turn x4. For pre-shaping and shaping, I struggled at first but I can now get the tight ball with tension etc but the ball feels like a balloon filled with water and as soon as I let go, it falls flat to approx 20cm diameter and 2.5 cm thick in the middle.
I will send you some photos by DM on IG when I attempt it again this weekend.
Many thanks again! It’s become such an addiction and I love swiping through IG for inspiration. Your photos are always amazing!
I did a bit of reading on the net and found out “strong” and “very strong” makes a lot of difference in bread flour over there in Canada.
So may be try using the “very strong white bread flour” (14% gluten). And also it was mentioned, that gluten % could vary depending on the brand, so may be ask around. I am familiar with American flour but no experience with European or Canadian.
Thanks for the reply.
I do use strong bread flour. It says protein is 12.
The only thing…is that since I have the starter (that would be February) I fed it with different types of flour…I had periods when I didn’t bake but I would just feed it to keep it alive with whatever flour I had.
I am used with the folds from your other recipes 🙂 Thank you 🙂
I saw about the water but when I tried it it made things worse… because would stick so much.
Otherwise the bread was reaaalllly nice.
But was just flat, more like a ciabatta!
Sounds like a modern mystery!
Well this is how far I can help, being remote, not seeing/touching the dough. Sorry 🙁
Everyone who follow the exact recipe/process have gotten nice bread. And this is my go-to recipe every week. So 100% tested and proven.
If you ever figure out why this is, I would like to know too. Good luck!
Hi. I will be trying this recipe with all purpose flour instead of bread flour. Can you please provide some suggestions on how to go about it and what all to watch out for? Thanks. I tried your discard fish parcel recipe. Turned out awesome. DM’ed you on IG regarding the same as well.
I won’t recommend using all purpose flour for this one as it is high hydration. All purpose hasn’t got enough gluten to hold the dough.
You can try with less water (65%) but still it will not give you the same results as in the pictures on this post.
You can try the basic white sourdough recipe though.
Oh. Ok. I’ll check the other recipe then. Also, please tell me at what stage should I check for windowpane?
Window pane test is done when you are done building strength ( developing) a dough
Thank you once again. I’m a sourdough novice you see!
You are welcome
everyone is at one point 😀
Reminds me of a bread I make all the time (sourdough stirato) 75% hydration, will try it as a loaf
I’m so excited to try this recipe! I’m new to sourdough and have had great results with lower hydration, but I’m really looking for those big air bubbles. Couple questions though:
The stone I have says I shouldn’t go over 450F. Can this recipe be preheated at 450 and cooked at 400?
If not, I will use a baking sheet, but should that be preheated?
I’ve seen other recipes that say to add a tray of water if not using a dutch oven, would that be beneficial here?
1. If you already bake bread, then use the same method to bake this bread
2. I use a DO because my oven is not hot enough. If yours is a fan forced oven (convection), 450F is enough. Preheat the stone/steel/DO.
3. Yes. Adding steam for the first part, ensures greater oven bloom and a nice crust
4. Every oven is different, you can do a few bakes (trial and error) and find the best temperature
Hope this will help 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Vindi,I switched to sourdough baking like thousands of others at the start of the pandemic, because yeast was as scarce as gold-dust not to mention artificial scarcity of flour in supermarkets, forcing me to buy wholesale from millers. Having some experience of sourdough albeit with medium hydration, I was keen to progress to high hydration to improve the crumb and achieve a crispier crust.
Recently I tried your recipe. Initial stages were easy enough, understood coil and fold as opposed to stretch/slap and fold. However, pre-shaping and shaping was a devil. In a last ditch effort to resurrect the slack dough it was “poured” into the banneton for proofing, retarding it overnight in the fridge. Next morning it was still slack and sticky so was again poured into a preheated Dutch oven, scrapping the remnant sticky dough to the rest. I baked it longer than the times you suggested. Lo and behold, I was surprised to end up with a decent boule with the desired crispy crust and large open crumb!
Incidentally the flour used was strong Canadian bread flour which has protein range 13-13.9%. Hovis brown granary flour available here in the UK has 14.9% protein,I wonder if this flour could be supplemented. Cheers Krish
If your flour is more than 13% gluten then this recipe should work like a charm. I have used 12% white bread flour and still it can handle the hydration.
The key with high hydration is handling. Use flour generously to stop the dough from sticking. I make this recipe everyday and teach this in workshops and haven’t encountered this situation so I’m actually confused.
May be something to do with shaping. Also make sure the flour is not wholemeal (just in case). If none of that is the reason, I’d say reduce the hydration (use 70%-75%) and you should be fine!
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the comments.Yes, the Hovis granary flour has wholemeal wheat, malted barley and wheat flakes with wheat proteins. Presumably this flour is not suitable for high hydration. Will reduce the hydration as suggested. Cheers Krish
That explains, the wheat flakes disturb the gluten so yes, lowering the hydration will fix all your issues
I love your high hydration baguette receipe so wanted to give this one a try. Just baked and so far its good but I had a doubt – the quantities/weights are different in the recipe and in the written part? I am playing around with both, but curious as to which is the intended one?
Whats on the recipe is the correct number.
cheers!