The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Help me Calculate hydration for this bread

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

Help me Calculate hydration for this bread

I've always just gone by feel in the past ... and always had great success, but now that I've joined this forum and see that you all weigh ingredients and calculate hydration.   I've started weighing but I'm confused about how you calculate hydration with ingredients that are somewhere between dry and wet.

This is a sandwich style bread I make in a loaf pan and it always has very nice, soft texture for sandwiches.  But depending on how I count things like baked potato and honey and butter - the hydration could span a wide range. I'm guessing it's around 70-75% but hoping someone here can tell me so I know how to answer when people ask me what hydration I use :)

Dry ingredients

260 g fresh milled Hard Red Spring Wheat
10 g non-diastic malt
10 g dry milk
7 g salt
4 g diastic malt
12 g yeast

Wet ingredients
200 g water
45 g butter
45 g honey
12 g liquid lecithin
35 g leftover baked potato

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

butter in the US is 20% water, honey is 70 water, baked potato can be 50-60% and even 70% water depending on how baked it is.

Liquid lecitthin is likely 1% water per wiki

pmccool's picture
pmccool

With the exception of some clover honies, which can go as high as 23% water content, most honey has a a water content below 18%.  At higher water contents the honey will ferment and spoil.  Something to tuck away for future reference. 

Paul