Hydration: water as percent of flour
Baker's percent compares every ingredient to the weight of the flour. Hydration is water weight divided by flour weight, times 100. With 500 g of flour and 350 g of water, that's 70 percent. Weigh in grams, because a cup of flour varies.
Wetter dough gives an open crumb
Wetter dough is looser, so gas bubbles expand freely and the crumb turns open and irregular, with big holes. It's also stickier and harder to shape. Around 60 percent hydration gives a tighter, more even crumb that's easier to handle.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
A dough has 500 g of flour and 350 g of water. What is its hydration?
About 70 %. 350 divided by 500 is 0.7, so the hydration is 70 percent.
True or false: A dough at 80 percent hydration is wetter than one at 65 percent.
True. Higher hydration means more water per unit of flour, so a dough at 80 percent is wetter.
You want large, irregular holes and can handle sticky dough. Which hydration fits best?
About 80 percent. A wet dough lets bubbles expand into big irregular holes.
A recipe uses 800 g of flour and 600 g of water. What is its hydration?
About 75 %. 600 divided by 800 is 0.75, so the hydration is 75 percent.
Fill the blank: Baker's percent always compares an ingredient's weight to the weight of the ___.
Baker's percent always compares an ingredient's weight to the weight of the flour. Every ingredient is a percent of the flour weight.
What went wrong? You want 75 percent hydration with 600 g of flour, so you add 75 g of water. The dough comes out stiff as clay.
The water should have been 450 g, not 75 g. 75 percent of 600 g is 450 g, and the baker used the percent as grams.