🍞 KneadyMoms
Where Sourdough Meets Real Life

Hey there,

You’ve been baking at 70-75% hydration. Safe. Manageable. Reliable.

Today we’re going to 80%+ hydration. The dough will be sticky, slack, and borderline liquid. And the results? Worth every frustrating moment.

Reading time: 5 minutes. Wrestling with sticky dough: Character building.

💧 THE KNEADY HACK: High Hydration = Open Crumb

The math:
Hydration = (weight of water / weight of flour) x 100

70% hydration: 350g water to 500g flour (what you’ve been doing)
80% hydration: 400g water to 500g flour (noticeably wetter)
85% hydration: 425g water to 500g flour (almost batter-like)

Why it matters:

More water = more steam during baking = bigger holes = open crumb

The trade-off:
• Harder to handle
• Requires better gluten development
• More likely to spread if over-proofed
• But: Superior texture, larger holes, more dramatic oven spring

When to use high hydration:
• You want that holey, artisan crumb
• You’re comfortable with basic shaping
• You have time for extra folds

When to stick with lower hydration:
• You’re still building confidence
• You need predictable results
• You prefer a tighter, more sandwich-friendly crumb

👋 THE SLAP-AND-FOLD METHOD

Traditional stretch-and-folds don’t work as well with very wet dough. Enter: slap-and-fold.

What it does: Develops gluten through a more aggressive technique. Turns liquid-ish dough into something workable.

How to do it:

1. Wet your hands (prevents sticking).

2. Scoop the dough onto a clean counter (no flour).

3. Pick up the dough from one edge with both hands.

4. Slap it down onto the counter forcefully, letting it stretch.

5. Fold the part still in your hands over the part on the counter.

6. Rotate 90 degrees. Repeat.

7. Continue for 2-3 minutes (about 30-50 slaps). The dough will transform from sticky mess to smooth and elastic.

Watch for: The dough starts pulling away from the counter and becoming cohesive. That’s when you know it’s working.

Frequency: Do this 2-3 times during the first hour of bulk fermentation (instead of stretch-and-folds).

🍞 RECIPE: 85% Hydration Open Crumb Sourdough

This is for the bold. The experienced. The ones who want those Instagram-worthy holes.

🙌 SHAPING HIGH HYDRATION DOUGH

The secret: Minimal handling. Work fast. Use flour strategically.

Technique:

1. Flour your work surface well.

2. Turn out dough gently. It’ll spread—that’s fine.

3. Flour the top surface.

4. Use a bench scraper to fold edges toward center (like an envelope).

5. Flip seam-side down.

6. Use the bench scraper to drag/push dough in short motions, building surface tension.

7. Work quickly (60-90 seconds total). Over-handling deflates the air.

8. Lift into banneton seam-side up.

Key: Confidence. Hesitation makes it stickier.

🚨 TROUBLESHOOTING HIGH HYDRATION

Dough is impossible to handle:
Possibly under-developed gluten. Do more slap-and-folds early on. Or your flour has low protein content.

Dough spread flat during baking:
Over-proofed. High hydration dough has less structure—easier to over-proof. Pull it from the fridge earlier than you think.

Crumb is gummy:
Under-baked. High hydration needs longer baking. Make sure internal temp hits 205-210°F.

Not getting the open crumb:
Could be weak starter, under-fermentation, or too much shaping pressure. Review each variable.

💬 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Marcus from Seattle started at 68% hydration in January. Slowly increased by 2-3% every month. By April, he was comfortable at 82%. ‘Each jump taught me something new about dough handling. Now I can feel when the dough needs more water just by touching it.

⚡ QUICK WINS FROM THE COMMUNITY

• Keep a spray bottle of water nearby—spritz your hands instead of using flour (from Cindy H)

• Use a wet bench scraper to cut and handle dough (from Sandy N)

FINAL RISE

High hydration isn’t for everyone. Some bakers love 70% and never go higher. That’s completely valid.

But if you want to push your skills, if you’re chasing that open crumb, if you want to see what your starter can really do—try high hydration.

Your first attempt will be messy. Your second will be better. By the third, you’ll wonder how you ever thought 70% was wet.

Until next Tuesday,

Leah + The KneadyMoms Community

P.S. What’s the highest hydration you’ve attempted? How’d it go? Reply and tell me—I want to hear your war stories.