New country, same recipes, different results
I started to bake bread and sourdough breads when I lived in Boston, and got great results. A year ago I moved to Israel and everything has changed. The dough feels so different, usually much more wet although I use the same recipes as in the US. It rises much less, and oven spring is significantly more modest.
I don't know which factor is responsible for that, but there are many. Of course it is warmer here (although our apartment in Boston was heated very well during winters). The flours are different (in the US I used KA bread flour, which contains 12.7% protein. Bread flour in Israel has only 11). My oven is different too - I have 90cm broad oven, for which I have a great difficulty getting good steam (although baking in a dutch oven improves my results very modestly).
Today I started Anis Boubsa baguettes. I don't remember having such a wet dough that resembled more of a cake batter than a dough! And it was exactly the same recipe as before.What a disappointment. I used more flour at the end, and the consistency improved. But the last time I baked those baguettes in Israel they were so flat.
Once I tried to add gluten to the flour. But the dough became so elastic that it was really hard to work with, and it didn't really improve rising.
I miss so much the breads I used to bake in America, with those beautiful big bubbles. My breads became so dense, and they don't rise much.
i will appreciate any idea for improvement.