Hydration -- what's the key to finding a balance?
Higher hydration dough produces better results overall. But at what point do you decide the dough is too sticky to handle? I've followed recipes such as txfarmer's 100% ww oat bread but it doesn't shape like in the pictures. I had a problem with large holes forming in the middle of my loaves that I was able to solve with proper shaping. But at higher hydration shaping becomes a problem as the dough sticks all over the place. I use a silicone mat for kneading and shaping but even so it sticks while trying to roll or transferring to a pan. Could it be differences in flour require higher or lower hydration levels? I'm using home milled whole wheat flour. I've been testing at various increments but even the lowest hydration levels (around 80%) are hard to work with. I'm aiming for a soft sandwich loaf and I've found 90% or higher produces excellent texture.
High Hydration Dough Shaping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEG1BjWroT0
Is different flours from around the world will handle hydration differently. European flours need less hydration then North American flours. What I find difficult is there is no correct hydration rather there is a range plus personal taste. It took me a long time to go by feel when it comes to hydration. Right now it's ... If I have the energy I'll go higher. If I don't then lower. You can follow a recipe exactly and still not get a hydration that's good for you. So I'll just say do what works for you. Mini Oven's advice is very good. Rather then making the dough only to find its too high hydration its better to hold some water back and work your way up slowly if it needs it. This way you don't run into issues and salt/flour ratio etc is not knocked off balance.
P.s. higher hydration is not better bread. Rather, the hydration depends on what you prefer!
Personal taste is everything. You cant just go by a perfect percentage hydration, depends on flour and techniques used.
My whites are 75%, I autolyse, and fold twice during early bulk. It is sticky to start with but gets more 'gelatinous' with time and each fold improves texture considerably, handling can be done with water also sometimes its easier than flour. But it makes beautifully soft, open bread, great for toast and sandwitches.
We also do a 60% whole Rye that works out @ 82% hydration, stickier because of the rye, but nowhere near as slack and loose. I often have to add more water, as it gets drier with time as the meal in the rye slowly absorbs more moisture.
Then we have a "macho" white ciabatta @ 85% hydration, the ultimate in dough nightmares! It needs about four folds to make it manageable and even still, at the end, you cant do a lot with it and you need a very well floured bench and scraper... hence the slipper shape :)
https://www.facebook.com/Levadura.organic.artisan.sourdough/
Hope that helps, Amber
Thanks for the video link, RoundhayBake. It's helpful to see the proper techniques, but I'm having trouble applying them. My dough sticks to the scraper, the silicon mat, and my hands. I just tried with a 82% whole wheat dough. It's still hard to work with. I notice that as I knead the dough it gets stickier and stickier. I'm trying to achieve a shreddably soft crumb like txfarmer's. Once I achieve a decent window pane the dough begins to get stickier. I may be overworking the dough in an effort to get a soft crumb. I'm not sure at exactly which point to stop, although txfarmer's pictures and guide are very helpful. I'm able to get a pretty soft crumb but it's not very tight. May be a shaping problem.
In the video the dough doesn't stick at all to the table during the final shaping. He's even able to pick it up with his hands to transfer to the banneton. My dough sticks so much I don't get much surface tension when shaping and when I transfer the dough it's like transferring a lump of goo. Why is my dough so different? I've tried many different levels of hydration and stages of gluten formation but I always have trouble shaping anything over 80% hydration. I prefer higher hydration because the bread is moister, softer and doesn't harden as quickly.
I see you are using home milled flour. Txfarmer is using King Arthur whole wheat. Your flour could have more moisture in it and/or lower gluten levels. Different flours will act differently. You could try your recipe with King Arthur whole wheat and see if there is a difference in how the dough handles.
I tried 72% hydration with 20g of honey and got a much better result. The surface was still sticky but I was able to roll it up much tighter.
The one on the left was 80% hydration and I had problems shaping as seen by the large hole in the middle. The two on the right are the 72% loaf which I rolled up much tighter but you can see there's still a little hole visible. I may try reducing the water even more and adding a bit more honey because the latest one tasted a bit salty.