The trick is using more flour than you may think is okay, but as you'll see we aren't working the flour into the dough, we're just using it to keep the dough from sticking to our hands. As we gently handle the dough we add more flour. This allows us to shape, without overworking the dough.
If your dough is cracking it is too dry. This problem can be solved by increasing the amount of water used during kneading or by increasing the amount of oil added to the recipe. When adding water to the dough, only add a few drops at a time. If you add too much water, add a little more flour to offset the wetness.
Substituting milk for water in bread will usually add both fat (from milkfat) and sugar (lactose). The flavor will be richer (due to fat) and somewhat sweeter (due to sugar), though bread with milk but no added sugar will still not be noticeably sweet; nevertheless, the lactose will add a different flavor component.
Higher protein flour absorbs more water than lower protein flour. This means that a recipe that calls for bread flour may require more water than one that uses all-purpose flour. Stone ground flours absorb less water than conventionally ground flour.
Dense or heavy bread can be the result of not kneading the dough mix properly –out of many reasons out there. Some of the other potential reasons could be mixing the yeast & salt together or losing your patience while baking or even not creating enough tension in the finished loaf before baking the bread.
It is possible to leave bread dough to rise overnight. This needs to be done in the refrigerator to prevent over-fermentation and doughs with an overnight rise will often have a stronger more yeasty flavour which some people prefer.
You can easily adjust the dough as well, adding more flour if the dough is sticky (more on that here), for example. To knead dough by hand, one should push the dough down and forward then fold the dough over itself and repeat. Once the dough is soft, silky and springs back to the touch, the dough is done!
It's possible, due to the high temperatures and long preferment proofing time, that you've got too much acid in your dough. I basically turned my back on the "fold four times andet rest" cause at that point, THAT DOUGH NEEDED FLOUR. And then it was good. I might have put at least 2 extra cup of flour while kneeding.
What Makes Bread Dough Too Sticky? The most common reason for bread dough that is too sticky is too much water in the dough. Cold water can cause the glutens to leak out, and this will make your dough sticky. Make sure that you are using warm water when you mix your ingredients to make your bread dough.
Standard dough left to rise at room temperature typically takes between two and four hours, or until the dough has doubled in size. If left for 12 hours at room temperature, this rise can slightly deflate, though it will still remain leavened. Some doughs should be left to rise overnight or be kept in a refrigerator.
Water below 70°F may not be warm enough to activate the yeast, but rising the dough in a warm room will activate it-it just might take several hours. Water that's too hot can damage or kill yeast. The damage threshold is 100°F for cake yeast, 120°F for active dry, and 130°F for instant. All yeasts die at 138°F.
The Second Method: Adding FlourThe second method you can consider is adding an ingredient that counteracts the amount of liquid in the cookie dough. Even if you didn't add double the amount of milk to the dough, runny dough is often caused by too much liquid.
Bread flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour, but you have to keep in mind that bread flour, since it has a higher gluten content, requires more liquid.
Method
- Mix 500g strong white flour, 2 tsp salt and a 7g sachet of fast-action yeast in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the centre, then add 3 tbsp olive oil and 300ml water, and mix well.
- Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for around 10 mins.
This just refers to how wet the dough is – and it needs to be very wet. Bath-based baker and writer Richard Bertinet agrees: “Don't be scared to add water. For 500g of flour, you want 350-380ml of water.” It's this higher hydration that will let those bubbles expand and (hopefully) hold your dough together.
No, it doesn't count towards hydration. Fat can hamper gluten development (think brioche), but in small amounts like you're talking about it more just adds flavor and softens up the bread a little. Happy baking!
In general, the dough is considered wet enough when all of the dry ingredients have been combined and there are no dry patches or uncombined ingredients remaining in the bowl. The dough should feel sticky, firm, and a bit stretchy once it has been mixed together.
Toughness is usually the result of either too much gluten (which in turn comes from using a flour too high in protein), or not enough fat (or possibly adding the fat at the wrong time). Poor volume on the other hand is usually the result of using low-protein flour, and thus not having enough gluten formation.
