The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Add-In / Hydration Trade-Off

louiscohen's picture
louiscohen

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

tpassin's picture
tpassin

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

louiscohen's picture
louiscohen

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.