Dough Hydration Explained: A New In-Depth Article on the Effects of Hydration

[Yuvalvv]

Hi everyone,

I'm sharing a new article on dough hydration, a topic that's always in the spotlight. This is probably the most thorough, in-depth guide available on the subject, specifically for pizza makers. It covers everything a baker needs to know, from how to properly calculate hydration (should you include oil or not?) to how it affects dough handling, the baking process, and the final product.

The article can be found here: The Ultimate Guide to Dough Hydration: What Every Baker Should Know [Impact on Dough, the Baking Process, the Final Product and More]

In my opinion, it's a must-read for any baker. Enjoy!

[Timpanogos Slim]

Very exhaustive. I am impressed. 

Now, is a 20-gram difference in flour significant enough to make the dough "lighter" or more "digestible" when eating an entire pizza? I highly doubt it.

An entire pizza you say? sorry, the cheap comedian in me wanted me to remark, again, that any pizza is a personal pizza if you believe in yourself. 

Starch retrogradation might not be the whole story depending on the local microclimate. I agree that generally speaking, when a baked good becomes more stale, it's initially about crystallization and maybe mostly about crystallization throughout. 

But some of us live in legitimately dry climates where overall loss of water content is a thing that still happens. 

[Yuvalvv]

Very exhaustive. I am impressed.

An entire pizza you say? sorry, the cheap comedian in me wanted me to remark, again, that any pizza is a personal pizza if you believe in yourself.

Hey, I don't judge. I personally eat an entire 16" pizza by myself

Starch retrogradation might not be the whole story depending on the local microclimate. I agree that generally speaking, when a baked good becomes more stale, it's initially about crystallization and maybe mostly about crystallization throughout.

But some of us live in legitimately dry climates where overall loss of water content is a thing that still happens.

Added a clarification!

[nanometric]

But some of us live in legitimately dry climates where overall loss of water content is a thing that still happens. 

Among the effects of Utah high desert: new 50# bag of flour requires reducing normal hydration for a few bakes, until the flour dries out. 

[Heikjo]

Thanks for the article! Hydration has always been an interesting topic. After years of baking, the practicalities and calculations are fine, but I've never fully understood the effects on both baking and the finished product, be it pizza or bread. Especially with the increasing popularity of higher hydration. For social media, I get it, but many that don't share anything worthwhile on those channels has also gone the high way.

You bring up aspects of the implications on the bake and final product that I haven't read before, very interesting to read.

[Yuvalvv]

Cheers Heine

[Heikjo]

How should you approach testing different hydration levels? Changing the recipe is easy enough, but if you only do that, is the finished product representable for the different hydration level if you keep all else the same? Should you change temperature, time or something else?

I haven't done a lot of experimentation on hydration, but I think I've tried 58-67% for NP. These days I've settled on 64%. Now and then I try 60-62%, but I don't like how it changes the finished pie. The pies at 64% are softer and nicer to eat. The bake time is what it is that day, usually within 60-80 seconds, and I use the same temperature. Should I change something else or is that a good enough representation of that hydration? Ideally, you want to try it several times to prevent something being a bit off in a single bake.

[Yuvalvv]

is the finished product representable for the different hydration level if you keep all else the same?

Generally speaking, yes. As long as the crumb has set properly (i.e., isn't under-baked), the result should reflect how hydration affects the dough, assuming all other factors are equal.

The mechanism remains the same:

• Heat generates steam, driving the oven spring
• More steam (from higher hydration) = greater oven spring
• Various affects on the crumb and crust

[Pete-zza]

One place where the hydration value can be altered is if the dough recipe calls for oil. In that case, the late Tom Lehmann said that the sum of the amounts of oil and water should be equivalent to the rated absorption value of the flour used. I discussed this point in greater detail in Reply 3 at:

Really, I just wanted to tell you all about my mixer ...

Peter