Why is my dough suddenly so wet?
I'm hoping that one of you experienced folks can give me some insight. For the past 14 months I've been working with the very same sourdough recipe, using it as kind of a training ground to learn, practice and perfect my techniques. During that time I've gone from flat, pale, over proofed loaves to now making some very nice bread that is in high demand from friends and family (funny how that works, isn't it?).
For the first 6 months I tweaked my recipe, but have held it absolutely steady for the past 8 months. I have not changed brands of unbleached flour (King Arthur), rye flour (Hodges on Mills), or my started (using the same starter that I created 14 months ago. And in that time i've made 100+ loaves of bread. But suddenly, about 6 weeks ago, something changed. Suddenly my dough is so wet that it is *almost* very difficult to work with. Without a lot of stretching and folding, and using a fair amount of flour during shaping, it would probably be impossible to work with. As it is, it is almost impossible to slash the loaves because the dough sticks so badly to the lame.
So my question to the masses: what the heck changed???
Recipe follows:
Unbleached APF: 450g
Rye: 60g
Water: 325g
Starter (100% hydration): 185g
Salt: 11g
--Brad
but it appears that your recipe is around 70% hydration, this shouldn't present any type of problem I don't think, maybe your scale has a problem, aside from the ingredients has anything else changed? times, temps, gluten development technique ect?
So much of working with a starter involves adaptation . . . a starter (and its levain-spawn) is not going to behave consistently over the course of 6 months, 8 months, or a year. It changes with age, with different flours (although you may be using the same brand of flour, the wheat from which the flour is derived is changing -- at least, you should hope it is), and especially, with different environmental conditions (humidity, temperature, etc.). It is possible that your dough is becoming overly slack because of recent increases in temperature and humidity; it is also possible that your starter has become extremely acidulated, which could also explain the degradation of your dough structures.
Although I cannot claim to be an expert (I, too, am a home baker with several years experience), I have run into very similar problems. Maintaining temperature is usually the most important aspect of the process, and also paying close attention to fermentation. With higher temperature, over-fermenting is a danger of which you should remain extremely wary . . . yeast love beach weather, and sometimes they go a little overboard with the alcohol (they are like teenagers for Pete's sake !).
You might be well served by slowing down your fermentation process by throwing your dough in the fridge for bulk fermentation and/or final proof. Personally, I do it for both during the summer months here in the Northeast US of A, because without A/C, I'd be looking at some dangerously fast ferments, resulting in undesirable doughs. (And what fun is making bread if the dough isn't fun to work with???). Additionally, some more aggressive stretch and folds, or some slap and folds à la dabrownman (he usually does them in 3 sets -- either 8 min, 2 min, 1 min; or 6 min, 1 min, 1 min -- that I have seen), which I have found very useful.
Keep us posted, and best of luck to you!
I experience the same at the moment, although I use the same Ingredients and my scale is in full working order.
I believe it is the weather , the warm weather that is to * blame * for those changes.
Yesterday I had to add 50g more flour to my bread dough while mixing to get it to the same consistency as the many doughs before him.
I do my Bulk fermentation in the fridge over Night and the final proof at room temperature but I guess I only do 1.5 hours of that instead of the 2.5 hours.
You ask the right question, and sometimes it takes some time to figure out just what has changed.
I had a similar experience and while I had not changed ingredients or the formula, the bag of flour (same brand) was from a bad batch. I replaced it and was back on track. But until that insight, I was at a complete loss, frustrated, and demoralized.
You might consider a more complete process of considering all the elements in a process of elimination.
To the O.P.: Did you buy a new sack of either flour? It's possible you got some flour that doesn't absorb water as well.
This sometimes happens to me in summertime when it is hot and humid.
The air temp and ferment time is probably the most important factor, but don't forget that the summer weather affects your baking in other ways. Your flour starts absorbing the moisture in the air the minute it is produced. So from the factory, to the truck, to the store, to your car, and even in your cupboard the flour is taking in some of the moisture in the air. In the humid summer months this can mean that your dough needs slightly less water to reach the moisture content you want, since your flour isn't as "thirsty" and doesn't drink up water as much as it does when the air is drier.