Hi everyone,
I'm just trying to figure out how to calculate hydration percentages.
I have two examples I'd like to get feedback on to see if I'm doing it right.
First recipe is 1 c + 2 tbsp water, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 3.5 c flour, 1.5 tsp yeast.
The problem is, I've seen estimates for the weight of a cup of flour anywhere between 4.25 oz to 5 oz. With 5 oz, 3.5 cups is 17.5 oz (about 500 g right?).
If it's 4.25 oz, then it's 14.875 oz (420 g).
The water is 255 g. If the flour is the smaller amount, then the hydration is 60.7%. That seems to be about right, isn't it? It's a French loaf, if that helps.
The second recipe is a bit harder for me. It is the one here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bread-machine-bread-andmdash-easy-as-can-be-recipe
The recipe is: 227 g water, 74 g milk, 43 g butter, 447 g flour, 35 g sugar, 1.5 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp yeast.
i'm adding up water + milk, + 20% of butter since I've heard butter is about 20% water.
So that leaves me with 309 g water and 447 g flour. That'd make 69.1% hydration.
Isn't that a bit high, though? It doesn't seem like an especially moist dough or anything.
Anyway I just wanted to see if this is correct. I appreciate the help. :)
Water/Flour x 100
I'd make 227g water, 74g milk, 43g butter, 447g flour as...
Liquid: 309.6 to be precise
Flour: 447g
309.6/447 = 0.6926
x 100 = 69.2%
So I'd agree with you.
How anyone would work out hydration in volume I don't know. And I'm never too sure when adding things in like butter and even milk (to some extent). But its safe to say you're very close.
I would leave the fat out of the hydration. For milk, I would not bother to make an adjustment and just call it liquid like above. But really it is something like 87% water. Normally it is substituted 1:1 in recipes though. Butter on the other hand is different. Butter has a lot more fat, so it is really only about 16-17% water. So in this case it is really 7 or 8g of water. Since there is both milk and butter, I would just have them cancel out any differences. So leave the butter out of the hydration equation and use the milk as if it was water.
So this would be closer to a 60% hydration enriched bread in my mind.
wet. This 'too' amount both high and low depends on the flour being used and the skill of the baker. Whole grains, especially fresh ground ones. are very thirsty and soak up the water. A 100% whole grain bread might have 100% hydration for some bakers and only 85% for others.
White AP flour is less thirsty than bread flour. A 78% hydration for a 100% AP bread might be fine for an experienced baker but a 71% might be way better for others. If using European flour you can knock 5% - 7% off the above rules of thumb.
So the flour used and skill of the baker is what determines the right hydration needed.
wet. This 'too' amount both high and low depends on the flour being used and the skill of the baker. Whole grains, especially fresh ground ones. are very thirsty and soak up the water. A 100% whole grain bread might have 100% hydration for some bakers and only 85% for others.
White AP flour is less thirsty than bread flour. A 78% hydration for a 100% AP bread might be fine for an experienced baker but a 71% might be way better for others. If using European flour you can knock 5% - 7% off the above rules of thumb.
So the flour used and skill of the baker is what determines the right hydration needed.
first, my apologies if this belongs in it's own thread, but it seems pertinent to this conversation -
I've read lots of books and websites, and they all talk about percentage hydration in one way or another. So if I'm making a 72% loaf (by recipe), and find that it's too wet to work, I'm told to add more flour. At that point I'm not really making a 72% hydration bread, right? That being the case, how can one make a 72% hydration bread alongside a say, 60% hydration bread, each recipe containing only the basic 4 ingredients, and both doughs be workable? It all seemed so easy to do the math and presto, a gorgeous loaf, but it's not quite like that. (Yes, I understand about the risings, kneadings, foldings, etc but I'm just addressing the hydration issue for now). And, that being the case, who cares about percentage hydration if you're going to meticulously weigh everything out, good technique, and then throw it all out the window by throwing in more flour (as the recipes all suggest) because you've got a sticky, shaggy mass that resembles anything but dough? Finally, addressing the issue of "fine for an experienced baker" - what does that mean? Speed with which one manipulates the dough?
Contrary to what the above paragraph sounds like, I've read a lot both on the internet as well as books, watched lots of videos, I've been through this website and others multiple times over the years that I've been a (silent) member, and I have made some really good bread, but I want to expand my horizons.
Thank you for the input. I've had this question for a couple of years and never quite got around to posting it!
Philip
While there are many variables, the two that have the greatest bearing on your question are the flour and the baker's skills.
If we limit ourselves to wheat flours, the first concern is the protein or gluten content, which aren't necessarily synonymous. A flour milled from North American hard wheat may have a protein content of 11-14%. It will absorb much more water than, say, a French flour with a protein content in the 8-10% range. For the same hydration level, the former will produce a stiffer and more elastic dough, while the latter will produce a looser and more gloppy dough. The second concern has to do with extraction rate or ash content. Flours with higher extraction rates or higher ash contents will be more absorptive because they still contain more of the bran. Such flours can also absorb more water than flours with lower extraction rates or lower ash contents before they feel gloppy.
The baker's skills come into play as the baker adjusts to the characteristics of the flour being used. S/he may elect to use a longer autolyse for whole-grain or high extraction flours so that the bran has time to hydrate completely. Or, knowing that s/he is working with a flour having less or weaker gluten, the baker won't try to push for higher hydrations, realizing that the flour simply won't produce the desired dough characteristics when using that much water. Or the baker will utilize different mixing and kneading techniques at differing hydrations because the dough will respond better with those techniques.
Perhaps I can frame it up this way: the baker doesn't aim for a hydration level. The baker aims for an outcome and chooses the hydration and the techniques to achieve that outcome with the ingredients at hand. It's quite amazing to see how a "sticky, shaggy mass" transforms into a workable dough. Yes, speed of handling comes into play, as does deftness and lightness of touch, and knowing how much bench flour is enough, and, and...
Keep working at it. Bread baking is very much one of those "practice makes perfect" endeavors. After almost 40 years of baking, I still see myself as a learner. My students, however, will see me do something that is (at long last!) almost second nature to me and think I'm some kind of dough wizard, which is not at all the case.
Paul
Thank you, Paul.
... Killing some time I built a gunkulator for us all to use. Please check it out at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/49887/hydration-calculator