My bakery mentor told me to never trust a wet dough - so I ignored it and ruined 20 loaves

3 comments

3 Comments

Did you try adding a little more flour to get it to the right consistency? I had a similar disaster when I started baking and learned the HARD way that wet dough is basically a trap. What worked for me was keeping a spray bottle nearby to add water SLOWLY instead of dumping it all in at once. Also letting the dough rest for 10 minutes before final kneading helped it come together way better. Hope your next batch turns out great, it took me three tries before I got it right.

mark_thomas21d ago

Funny enough, I just read a bread blog that said the same thing about wet dough being a total nightmare. The spray bottle trick is genius because you can control the hydration instead of drowning it like I always do. @oscar_ellis is dead on about that rest period too, I tried it last weekend and my dough went from a sticky mess to something I could actually shape. Took me four tries before I got a loaf that didn't look like a frisbee.

gavina731mo ago

Oh boy, this advice is spot on. I remember my mate Phil tried making sourdough last year and his dough was more like pancake batter than bread. He was nearly in tears about it. I told him exactly what @oscar_ellis said about the spray bottle trick, and he thought I was joking at first. But after he let it rest for a bit and worked the flour in slowly, it turned into proper dough. He ended up with a decent loaf that his kids actually ate. It's funny how such a small thing makes all the difference with bread.