working with wet dough
Hi guys, been a while since I last posted on these forums! Hope you are all well.
I have been trying to work with a wetter dough the past few days, but for the life of me I just can't handle it. Now when I say wet, it is what the recipe suggest. (its a very basic 500g flour/ 300ml water combo)
I use the term wet, because I have deliberately been adding more of the water than I usually would, I tend to go with slightly less so I can work with the dough more easily. But I have been reading some bread books and it seems the general feeling is that "wetter is better". The thing is that I just can not shape it into a loaf that will hold structure while proofing. It just spreads out, not up.
I assume it is probably something to do with my technique along the way somewhere, either in kneading or shaping. Just wondering if you lovely people could throw some wisdom my way? I am determined to get comfortable with the wetter mix.
Thanks a million, and happy new year all!