Dough was sticky today, why?

[ourlife]

I'm a long time reader and first time poster. I am really confused as to why my dough has been really wet the last few days. I use a fresh yeasted poolish. I let it stand for 24 hours and then add to the final mix with no other yeast added. However, over the last few days it is really wet and sticky in the mixer, it actually sticks to to bottom. What confuses me is that I have been using this formula many times before and the dough after my 20 min mix would ball up in the mixer and not stick to the sides or bottom. Any suggestions as why this is happening is greatly appreciated.
I also need to stress that the balls did not rise very much today. I usually let them rise at room temp for 8-10 hours.

[Tscarborough]

Relative humidity, age of flour, temperature, etc.

[ourlife]

Tscarborough, thank you very much for your reply. With respect to humidity, not much has changed over the last few days. However, the outside temperature has risen by about 10 F. Finally The age of the flour, I'm not too sure. It is a blue Caputo flour, and the expiration date has not matured yet. Can the increase in the temp by about 10-15 F make the dough more sticky and wet?

[dellavecchia]

Temperature may have an effect on dough. You may need to adjust your hydration levels up or down in areas that have wide changes in temperature (I live in New England, and have experienced the same issues at times). In your case, just gradually add a small amount of flour during the mix and you should get the results you need. Or, conversely, work with the dough as-is and see if the end result - the bake - is affected.

John

[Bill/SFNM]

You are weighing your ingredients, right?

[thezaman]

 please check your flour i have had dough made with caputo that took a lot more flour than normal.i thought i messed up the formula but realized i double checked all measurements. the dough didn't stretch but tore easily and the pizza rose very poorly. look at your flour when you dump it from the bag if it has little balls of flour it is a sign that it got wet. this has happened to mw twice. i started purchasing my caputo from a different source and the problem went away.

[ourlife]

Thank you all again for the replies.
dellavecchia, I think the variation change in temperature by 10 F may be not enough to cause such a drastic change. I think thezaman's response could be a strong factor. As not only did my dough not rise well, but it was very different. I will open another Caputo bag tomorrow to see if things changed. Since I do measure very carefully all my ingredients, which would also answer Bill's question.

[c0mpl3x]

measuring is not weighing

[ourlife]

Sorry, I should have been more exact. I do weight all the ingredients, not measure.

[ourlife]

I changed the batch of flour and the problem seems to be solved. As thezaman stated I think my flour had got moisture inside as it was heavy and balled up a little. With the new bag of caputo, things went back to normal.
Thanks for all your inputs and help.

[c0mpl3x]

put your flour in a giant pan into the oven at its lowest temp for an hour