A tip for shaping high hydration dough
High hydration dough can be a nightmare to shape. I am talking about 80% hydration loaves with say, 20% whole grain, so there isn't a lot of bran there to soak up the water.
I can't claim the tip as mine; I read it on an Instagram Q&A post by the great Season_Adam [1]. I've only tried it once, but it really worked well. I used a metal board, I'm not sure how well it would work on a wooden surface.
The tip is to do a wet pre-shape and a floured shape. So get a water spray and lightly mist your work surface, the top of the dough and your spatula. Gently turn out the dough with your spatula, scale and preshape, using the water spray as necessary.
Then do your bench rest - 20 minutes will probably be long enough at this hydration - and no need to cover the dough as it won't dry out.
After the bench rest, lightly sprinkle the dough and board with flour and shape as normal.
Give it a try!
Lance