July 15, 2016 - 2:07pm
Sticky Dough
I haven't done a lot of bread making, but I have this same problem all of the time. No matter what recipe I am following, I always have to add way more flour that what the recipe calls for in order to get a dough that is not really sticky. I measure ingredients very carefully, so I don;t think the problem is too much liquid. Any suggestions?
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I suggest you do a search on this site for "sticky dough" - I think you'll find all kinds of comments and advice!
Kneading, time, and temperature will render a dough less sticky given a fixed ratio of ingredients.
If you use volume measures (eg 1 cup etc) that could be your problem. Cup volumes vary, particularly flour, as it depends on how compacted it is. If you are not using weights I would suggest you seek our recipes in grammes and use those measurements.
including but not limited to the types and blends of flours you're using and the range of hydrations. And sticky compared to what? All doughs are sticky to some degree, so depending on your expectations, the stickiness you're experiencing may actually be normal
It makes ALL the difference. I had the same problem and solved it with an autolyse.
"Autolyse is a technique that is easily introduced into your bread making routine and delivers a dough that's easier to work with and shape, and a loaf with better texture, rise and flavour. "
http://blog.bakerybits.co.uk/autolyse-what-why-how/
Basically, mix everything except the salt then go have a cup of tea or breakfast or do something else for 30min to an hour. When you come back the dough is soooooooooo much easier to handle and less sticky.
That's just my opinion. It seems like there are many people complaining that they follow the recipe perfectly and come up with strange results. One of the important things about bread and dough is learning to read the dough and also realizing that ingredients, tools (mixers in particular) all vary. Where one recipe states to say mix at high speed for 4 minutes to acheive elasticity might mean mixing for 6 on your machine. There are many cases especially with mixers where the recipe (an in cases with video) shows the resulting smooth elastic dough where my mixer will only get half way to that point at 4 minutes and so, you need to adjust. If there are pictures, or video, I think it's extremely important to look at what each step is trying to achieve. Flours also exhibit different absorbencies so going by the recipe may not actually be the best thing to do but instead use the recipe as a guide.