The Fresh Loaf

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Different flour - very sticky dough

Asclepius's picture
Asclepius

Different flour - very sticky dough

Hi everyone. I am new here. I came looking for a baking forum to get some help. I am also happy to help others with questions about baking baguettes. I don’t know anything much about other bread. 

I had for a long time been using Laucke (South Australian) type 55 flour, around 11.5% protein. It only comes in 12.5kg bags however. Pantry space is limited and I don’t bake often enough not to risk the flour spoiling. Laucke strong flour makes beautiful baguettes. 

I just tried to use Italian type 0 strong flour - Caputo Manitoba Oro. It’s 12.5% protein. I mixed flour and tepid water (72% hydration) then let that catalyse for 45 minutes. I then mixed in salt followed by the yeast and kneaded the dough for 15 minutes, let it rest at about 35°C for an hour, kneaded for a few minutes more to de-gas it. It then went into the fridge for 14 hours at 4°C.

 

the next morning I took it out and let it stand covered for three hours. 

When I started cutting and pre-shaping the dough (and later when shaping), the elasticity of the dough was as normal, but it was far stickier than the Laucke dough such that it would adhere to my dough cutter and baguette peel while transferring to the couche. 

Nothing about what I have done has been different, just the different flour. Has anyone else had this experience with type 0 flour? In order to adjust the stickiness and make the dough easier to manage, how much do you think I would need to reduce the hydration level?

Thanks in advance

semolina_man's picture
semolina_man

Weather plays a role, and different flours respond differently to the same amount of water.  This is what you are experiencing.  Normal variations in the dough related to weather (temperature and humidity) and flour. 

Phazm's picture
Phazm

Different flours - different methods and/or amounts. You'll get it! Enjoy! 

albacore's picture
albacore

My experience with Italian flours is that generally, they don't seem to like high hydration, even those classed as Manitoba.

I recently made bread with Caputo Nuvola Super (another Tipo 0) which is rated at W330, so pretty strong, but it wouldn't happily take my usually bread hydration of 72/73% - I had to stop at 68%.

 

Lance