Ran a sourdough class in Portland and learned more than the students did

Last month I did a small demo at a community center here in Portland, about 12 people showed up. I planned to teach them how to shape loaves, but their questions caught me off guard. Most of them wanted to know why their dough felt sticky after overnight proofing, even when they followed the recipe. I realized I've been overthinking hydration percentages for years. One lady said her kitchen was 68 degrees and mine is usually 75, and that one detail explained half her problems. Has anyone else figured out that room temp matters more than the exact grams of water?

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felixm2915d ago

That thing about the lady's 68 degree kitchen really hit me... because nobody ever talks about how the flour itself changes with the seasons. I buy from the same mill year round and even here in Portland my dough acts totally different in July versus December. Humidity in the bag, how long it sat on the shelf, even the grind that week can shift things. You can chase grams of water all day but if your flour is soaking up moisture from the air differently, that number means nothing. I've started just feeling the dough and adding water bit by bit until it feels right... like a handshake, you know?