July 5, 2019 - 6:13am
French fougasse - 50% hydration?
I've been making this fougasse recipe (confessions of a french baker) for a while and never thought about its hydration much. Until now. It always turns out nicely, but how does it accomplish it with only 50% hydration? I
Other fougasse recipes I see use the usual 68-75% hydration amounts.
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Eight ounces of water divided by eight ounces of flour = 1 = 100%. That's actually a very wet dough, if you are using the weight measurements. If you use the volume measurements, you might come up with something different, given the variability of flour from one cup to the next.
Bakers percentages are always based on weight, not on volume.
Paul
Hey, Paul.
I also at first saw a 1/2 lb. of flour. However on closer examination I noticed, 8oz. A.P. flour as well as 8oz. of bread flour. That would indeed be a 50% hydration dough. Actually a touch over 50% if you want to get technical about the butter and egg water content. However, for all intents and purposes 50% it is!
Yep, that makes 50%, alright. Seems pretty stiff for a fougasse.
Paul
That's correct. There's actually 16oz flour, 8oz water. Which is roughly 50% factoring the other ingredients.
I think I'll up it to 65% and see if it comes out even better. Fougasse is more about crust than crumb. Maybe that's why this particular boulanger is going so low. Still seems odd.