
weather and hydration question
Help!
I've seen reference in various threads to the effects of weather on dough, but this is ridiculous!
I set up my usual sourdough to rise last night; it's just an ersatz adaptation of no-knead,
1/2 cup whole wheat starter
1 5/8 cups water
3 cups white unbleached bread flour
1 tsp salt
So far it's worked a charm if I start it in late afternoon, fold 2 or 3 times, then leave it alone until the next morning. Fold again a time or two, shape, and rise in a cloth lined bowl, then bake in a preheated pot. It's a pretty slack dough, but the folding and stretching generally makes it behave nicely.
Now, I live in the Northeast (US), so yesterday's weather gave new meaning to the word sloppy; we started with 6 inches of snow on the ground in the morning, and it was all gone by evening in torrential rains. So to say the air was fairly high humidity would be fair.
When I started the dough last night it really didn't seem any different than usual, though the folding and stretching didn't make it firm up quite the way it usually does. This morning, on the other hand, I was greeted with what looked like the pancake batter I made with the extra starter. I had a puddle of goo staring at me from the counter when I took (pured) it out of the bowl.
So what do you do when it's that wet the next morning? Can you just dump in more flour and let it do another bulk ferment? I'm going to try to bake it as is, if I can get it out of the bowl and into the pot, but I'd love any advice anyone can offer!
Thanks,
edh
