✦ Baker's Tools ✦
"Hydration is just flour and water getting to know each other. Let's do the math."
"Tell me your flour and water, and I'll tell you her hydration."
Hydration is the weight of water in a dough as a percentage of the weight of flour — 500g flour and 375g water is 75% hydration. It's the single biggest lever you have over how a dough feels and bakes: higher hydration makes a wetter, stickier dough with a more open, airy crumb; lower hydration makes a firmer dough that's easier to handle and shape.
"New to this? Stay around 65-70% until you get a feel for handling wet dough. You can always work your way up."
Save your starters in Bless Your Loaf and every bake schedule accounts for her hydration automatically.
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