Very wet dough : Brianna’s Pugliese

Question

I am wondering about the water content of my bread. The resulting bread is wonderful but it is so wet that it is hard to manipulate. I live in the desert so it is very dry and my flour(KA bread flour) must have a very low water content but if I use the amount of water asked in the recipe it gives a VERY wet dough. I have on occasion decreased the amount of water but I still wonder about the reason……I think that logically, I should have to increase the water coo tent….
Do you have any ideas? Thank you.

M.Dumont · Answer

Many thanks for your answer.  The crumb and the crust are beautiful and the taste lovely. I was probably asking for too much but, I manage the shaping of the bread by using a lightly wet metal scraper. Thanks again .

drbabs · Answer

You're right; I was confused.  I guess the point is that in both the original recipe and the adapted one, the dough hydration is around 77-78%, which is a pretty wet dough.  Its hard to handle, but it's probably why you get the flavor and texture that you love.

M.Dumont · Answer

I am not talking of the big à which I make and have no problems with. I am talking of the bread that I make using the biga. I just took it out of the oven and it looks nice as always but my dough is an extremely wet dough…

drbabs · Answer

Sorry, this is the biga. The page above is the bread recipe.

drbabs · Answer

That is a very wet dough.  I’ve done some research, and the dough for a Pugliese bread is supposed to be wet. Greater than 100% does seem excessive. I got the book the author refers to, The Bread Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum, and looked at the recipe for Brinna's Pugliese Bread. The ingredients list here is for the biga. I'll put the ingredients list for the bread in another comment.

Very wet dough : Brianna’s Pugliese

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