ahaahhaaa, so true :) no but really, it is of curious interest to know how wet or slack a wet dough truly is... in saying that using different flours can throw all relevance out the window.... I find when I read a recipe that gives hydration it just gives me an idea of what dough and final texture the loaf will be, and flavour , yes
It's a parameter relating to the dough that characterizes it's development and handling, as well as the texture and flavour of the final loaf. So it's a good reference point when documenting a bake, either for discussions (like here on TFL) or in bread formulae.
...smugly parade your skill at herding a sloppy mess into something resembling bread.
Oh, and so that you can scale a recipe and tell other people how to replicate your loaf using bakers' percentages. That too.
ahaahhaaa, so true :) no but really, it is of curious interest to know how wet or slack a wet dough truly is... in saying that using different flours can throw all relevance out the window.... I find when I read a recipe that gives hydration it just gives me an idea of what dough and final texture the loaf will be, and flavour , yes
It's a parameter relating to the dough that characterizes it's development and handling, as well as the texture and flavour of the final loaf. So it's a good reference point when documenting a bake, either for discussions (like here on TFL) or in bread formulae.