Over-sticky dough

[Possum-Pie]

Hi,
I made pizza dough last week, and baguettes today and had the exact same problem with both. They both started with a Poolish and I added the exact (digital scale) amount of water and flour. (baguette poolish 200g A.P. flour, 300g water, yeast) then next day add 500g flour and 220g water, and salt to the poolish and knead.
Both pizza dough and Baguette dough were a gloppy mess. I double-checked all ingredients and everything was right. 75% hydration is supposed to be sticky but workable. After the first rise, It wouldn't even stay in my hands to slap and tuck, it just oozed out onto the counter.
Does household humidity play a factor? Where I live is always humid.
I use all-purpose flour for both, adding the appropriate amount of vital gluten to make it more like bread flour.

 

[retired baker]

yep, humidity can put a lot of extra moisture in the flour, exact measurements for bread aren't reliable, you know what you are looking for so adjust the dough as you initially mix it until you get the correct texture.
If it feels wrong, it is wrong. Trust your intuition.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Thank you for your reply. It is difficult for new bakers- many experts say to stop using units of volume (cups, tbsps) as they are not as accurate as units of weight (grams, mls). I've found this to be very true- but the exactness goes out the window when one considers that different flours have different hydration abilities and the humidity of one's own kitchen is different from someone else's. Perhaps I should stay with one brand of flour and learn its hydration needs.

 

[retired baker]

Thank you for your reply. It is difficult for new bakers- many experts say to stop using units of volume (cups, tbsps) as they are not as accurate as units of weight (grams, mls). I've found this to be very true- but the exactness goes out the window when one considers that different flours have different hydration abilities and the humidity of one's own kitchen is different from someone else's. Perhaps I should stay with one brand of flour and learn its hydration needs.

it follows the weather in your house and how it was stored prior to purchase.
Its difficult to control precisely.
the same flour can give different results when conditions change.
Its probably worth your trouble to find hi-gluten flour rather than simulating it, amazon sells it.
Adding vital gluten to bread flour would be closer.

 

[Possum-Pie]

it follows the weather in your house and how it was stored prior to purchase.
Its difficult to control precisely.
the same flour can give different results when conditions change.
Its probably worth your trouble to find hi-gluten flour rather than simulating it, amazon sells it.
Adding vital gluten to bread flour would be closer.

Despite some folks warning me against it, I currently do add vital gluten to the AP flour which I already own.
I have 20 lbs of AP flour in 5-gallon buckets in my basement. Each 5 lb bag is wrapped in plastic bags and the lids are secured tightly. The AP is 10% protein, so I add 2.5% vital gluten and subtract that amount of flour from each recipe to bring my flour to 12.5%.

I've decided to do all of my proofing in my oven with a pot of boiling water as my house seems inhospitable to yeast-proofing. I'm hot-blooded and keep the house at 67 degrees all winter. My Thanksgiving rolls were not on the table until the meal was half-done as they took 3 hours to rise.

I have stopped following recipe water amounts exactly and add go more by appearance and feel now. That seems to have helped a lot. It wouldn't be so bad if everyone used metric weight rather than "1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plus a teaspoon."

 

[retired baker]

b

Despite some folks warning me against it, I currently do add vital gluten to the AP flour which I already own.
I have 20 lbs of AP flour in 5-gallon buckets in my basement. Each 5 lb bag is wrapped in plastic bags and the lids are secured tightly. The AP is 10% protein, so I add 2.5% vital gluten and subtract that amount of flour from each recipe to bring my flour to 12.5%.

I've decided to do all of my proofing in my oven with a pot of boiling water as my house seems inhospitable to yeast-proofing. I'm hot-blooded and keep the house at 67 degrees all winter. My Thanksgiving rolls were not on the table until the meal was half-done as they took 3 hours to rise.

I have stopped following recipe water amounts exactly and add go more by appearance and feel now. That seems to have helped a lot. It wouldn't be so bad if everyone used metric weight rather than "1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plus a teaspoon."

Based on that, I would go ahead and double the amount of gluten added.

 

[Mona]

It sounds like humidity might be affecting your dough. Since flour can absorb extra moisture in humid conditions, try reducing the amount of water slightly and see if that helps. Also, ensure you’re kneading the dough enough to develop the gluten properly and check if the amount of vital gluten you're adding is right. Adjusting these factors might solve the stickiness issue.