KotiChef

When bakers talk about hydration, they're really talking about the relationship between water and flour in your dough. The calculation is simple: divide the weight of water by the weight of flour, then multiply by 100 to get your percentage. So if you use 400 grams of flour and 280 grams of water, you're working with 70% hydration.

But here's what matters more than the math: how that percentage translates to what you feel in your hands. At 60% hydration, dough feels substantial and manageable, like modeling clay that holds its shape. Push it up to 75%, and suddenly you're working with something that wants to stick to everything and seems to have a mind of its own.

The reason lies in how water interacts with flour proteins to form gluten networks. More water means more flexible, extensible gluten strands that can stretch further before breaking. This creates dough that's stickier and more elastic, but also capable of trapping more gas bubbles for that coveted open crumb structure.

Learning to read hydration isn't about memorizing percentages – it's about developing an intuitive sense for how different water levels behave. A 50% hydration dough will spring back quickly when poked, while an 80% hydration dough will slowly fill in the indentation, almost flowing back into place. The surface of low-hydration dough looks smooth and taut, while high-hydration dough appears slightly jiggly and soft.