The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Dusting the board with flour. Why?

mikehartigan's picture
mikehartigan

Dusting the board with flour. Why?

For my entire bread making career, I've dusted the kneading board with flour.  Primarily to keep the dough from sticking to the board, and sometimes to work a bit more flour into a dough I deemed to be too loose (happily, that happens much less often as I've gained experience).

I was wondering, though, is there any other benefit to this 'habit', for lack of a better term?  Perhaps something subtle is happening to the surface that I've always just taken for granted?  Is there a benefit to dusting more heavily?  Less heavily?

Uther522's picture
Uther522

 in my limited experience, the only real concern is when preparing doughs with very high hydration. If you’re making a ciabatta, for example, over-flouring the board can make the dough too dry and you’ll lose some of that precious stickiness. 

For the most part, however, flouring the work surface is a pretty universal habit. Make yourself comfortable!