July 29, 2020 - 4:34pm
I can't tell when higher hydration doughs (80%+) are finished proofing and I think I always overproof them.
It's really frustrating. If I stick to around 75% hydration I'm fine. But if I go higher, around 80% or so, the dough doesn't seem to behave the same way. It never gets nice and shiny/glossy. It never gets nice and smooth. The finger poke test seems like it never works right for me so I don't go by that. The windowpane test seems okay but it usually ends up ripping, unlike when I use a mixer to mix the dough, and I can't tell if its due to overproofing or underproofing. I think it's overproofing but I cant figure out why. If I make the same recipe twice, one with everything the same but at 75% hydration and one with 80% hydration, the 75% one turns out fine but the 80% one not so much. Thanks for your help!
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I can imagine your flour just can't handle 80%+ anymore. Every flour is different and can fully absorb only a certain amount of water.
Well - if higher is a problem - why go through the hassle? It's not really needed to make good bread.
Window pane ripping - when you use a mixer you develope, I don't know, something like 10 times the gluten in 20 minutes, that you would get in a day without mixing. Basically, 24 hrs - enough gluten to make bread without issue, 48 hrs - now were getting into the good gluten, 72+ hrs - I found this didn't really do much to develope more gluten (my flour is just shy of 17% protein).
As mentioned - flour does have a limit on water, and too much can inhibit gluten development. Which always struck me as funny as you can't have gluten without water (water glutenin and gliadin make gluten - the last 2 are proteins in wheat flour), yet to much water keeps it from forming (or forming well at least).
The easy fix - use 70 hydration. Enjoy!