Avoid This Sourdough Mistake (6 Consequences You Can Prevent)

Oops, I did it again 😱… the same sourdough mistake that almost every beginner baker makes! Don’t let overhydration ruin your bread. In this video, I’ll show you how adding too much water impacts your dough and the 6 issues you’ll encounter because of it. Plus, I’ll share a simple solution to prevent this in the future and improve your baking skills. Say goodbye to sticky dough and flat loaves—let’s make pro-level sourdough together!

Chapters:
0:00 The mistake
3:50 Kneading issues
12:00 Stretch & fold issues
14:40 Shaping issues
16:20 Banneton Issues
22:57 Overfermentation issues

#sourdough #sourdoughbread

[itsame_th]

High hydration is overrated in my experience. 60-65% is fine

[jansteyaert]

In commercial bakeries, they usually use between 55 and 58% hydration, this gives quite a stiff dough that doesn't stick too much and is easily processable (doesn't stick to machines, etc.). However, when making bread with all-purpose flour, 55% is generally a good starting point if you're making your first bread. the dough is very workable and very easy to work with. Usually another tip I would give people is to make yeast bread the very first time because the process is a bit more predictable (you can rule out starter problems). We did the same in high school (I did bread and pastry) and moved to sourdough later, and everything made a lot more sense.
My preferred method these days is using a poolish, bigga, Pȃte fermentée, yeast starter or a combination of sourdough and one of these with great results and amazing flavor. But again, when making your very first bread, basic yeast bread makes the most sense to me.

[mutzel]

09:18 German describing a "complete mess" 😂

[JavierLunaMolina]

"Too much hydration can mess up your dough, it is better to go from dry to wet than backwards" and "Don't just follow a recipe you find online, always tailor it to your environment" are two great lessons that I feel like made a huge difference in how I make dough (no matter the type!)

I do wanna share that high hydration has been one of my most valuable tools specially when baking pizza in a home oven, specially when not using any of the "steamy" techniques Hendrick shared in the channel (and in the book!). Home ovens require a lot of time to bake a pizza and the crust will dry out if you make the dough with low hydration.

Like, I don't want to say that high hydration is a must in that situation, but it is a very powerful variable to play with once you learn how. And while I also agree that it comes with a lot of new techniques you need to hone (handling high hydration is very tricky), it is well worth it and will make you a better baker.

Just take your time learning the basics and mastering low hydration before jumping to HH, that's also something I messed up :P

[tomannable]

Hallelujah! I have been struggling with my sourdough- making nice bread but lacking shape and hard to score etc. i was at 70% hydration as this was on the low side of what my books were recommending.
Then i watched this - reduced hydration to 64% and wow! Beautiful dough, scored perfectly and a stunner of a loaf. Can’t thank you enough. 😊

[timmienorrie]

This video is a gem. Super informative and has filled
in a lot of cracks in my knowledge. Super well done.

[lindachristman]

High hydration makes the bread soft but it’s too wet to toast nicely

[barrychambers]

I like a stiff starter for much of the same reasons that you discussed concerning your dough. Thank you Hendrik!

[simplybeautifulsourdough]

What a useful video - very handy!

Don't know if it matters at this juncture, but there's a repeat of flipping the lower-hydartion loaf out of the banneton & scoring. I know it's a pain to cut a chunk out in Studio, but though I'd mention it in case you'd like to.

[petterostberg]

I agree hydration is one of the keys to a good result, but I´d like a comment about the varyning environmental conditions in different places/time of year. A challenge to a nerdy german :)) For instance the air, and so the flour, has a much higher hydration in the summer, and specially compared between a kitchen in southern Europe in the summer vs. one in northern Scandinavia in the winter. Since your excellent vid´s are so informative and precise, it would be nice to have some comment in them on how much this affects the hydration in the dough. Otherwise there is no real point in going into fractions of decimals, or even within 2-3 decimals of dough hydration. When I´ve tried 60-65% here i Sweden it´s almost impossible to get a workable dough, it´s stone hard. To my experience there is much more of a "hands on" feel to it. A method of measuring the real hydration, not the amount of water you put in would be more accurate! And the sample jar for fermentation is the key to success! Thanks for your good spirit and encouraging vids!

[MrStellamonster]

Just made an amazing sourdough bread ( third attempt using a different recipe), but I followed your 30min guide and also bought your book, which is a very interesting read. After the failed attempts I was nearly ready to give up but your recipe has changed that, thanks mate your vids are very informative and easy to follow, have to highly recommended your book as well❤❤

[jbkhan]

Excellent video and very informative! thank you again and glad to see you back! :)

[ws.hicks]

Funny story. Coming from hobby cake baker over to bread baking, I was over confident in my baking ability and went with high hydration dough as my first attempts. Really shot myself in the foot there, as it now 4 years after I started venturing in this hobby that I can really say I had learned the ropes of bread baking. I imagined it'd only take me 1 year, or 2 years top to reach my current point had I stated from 60% dough as it should have been.

But, another funny thing is, I'm now more familiar with higher hydration dough that working with 60% just put me out of my comfort zone as my muscle and skills are now in handling wet dough that I always feel my kneading just make the mess out of the dough rather than developing it.

[MauzyrockRC]

Thank you! Awesome info and advice for my upcoming winter bake sessions!

[Dina_tankar_mina_ord]

Thanks for upload. Ive been searching for years no why a dough breaks and how to fix it. I dont know if its over or under neading. The doug gets more stringy than eleastic and no gluten has developed at all. do you have a video on this or mayby you can explain it here or in a nother video?

[Raul]

have you incorporated a pregelatinized starch into an open crumb format?

[holzsmsf]

A question...I do not use bakers flour but stone ground whole wheat Spelt or normal whole wheat flours. All the receipes show 80% + hydration due the the amount of bran in the flours. Thoughts??

[estoniaforever]

Welches Mehl genau hast du in dem Video für dein Brot verwendet?

[faekalkardinal]

for the germans, edeka type 405 wheat flour 13% protein, ez 80% hydration

[angelamaynard]

Do you ship your hard copy book to the UK?