December 16, 2023 - 1:57pm
Add-In / Hydration Trade-Off
Here is the Workday 100% WW from "Bread" per the book (minus the honey) at 80% hydration
Workday 100% WW @80% Hydration
And here it is at 85% hydration but with 20% add-in's (walnuts and cranberries
Workday 100% WW at 85% Hydration with 20% Add-In's
At 85% hydration the crumb is noticeably more open, but with 20% add-in's the loaf doesn't have the same height.
Is there a guideline for the combination of hydration and weight of add-in's so that they won't affect the height that much? I think one source suggested no add-in's beyond 80% hydration, but are there other guidelines? Thanks
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Add-ins will reduce the height of a loaf even if they don't actively interfere with the gluten (I mean by cutting gluten strands or having an unfavorable chemical action). High-hydration dough is delicate and less resilient than lower hydration dough, so it will have less ability to lift up the weight of the add-ins.
I think you will just have to experiment with your ingredients and techniques to get a good feel for what can be achieved. And different add-ins might behave differently.
One technique that might help is to mix everything except the add-ins first and get the gluten network developing. Then add in the extras. I've had some success with this, as long as the add-ins don't contain too much of the total amount of water.
TomP
I think you're right.
I usually mix the dough (no additions) all the way and then do a few additional manual folds to work the add-in's in.