Showerthought: I hit exactly 72% hydration on my sourdough starter by accident this morning.

I was rushing and just dumped in what was left in my water jug, and my 6 a.m. bake turned out the most open crumb I've ever gotten, so does that specific ratio just work better for my kitchen's humidity?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowanj211mo ago

That's awesome when a happy accident works out. My starter seems to do best around 75% in my dry apartment. I tried sticking to 65% for months but the dough was always too tight. The higher hydration just gave it the slack it needed to really expand. Sometimes the environment calls for a specific tweak.

avery_roberts671mo ago

My old car ran way better on mid-grade gas than regular, even though the manual said it didn't matter. The humidity in my garage must have been just right for it. I've seen that a lot... the "wrong" thing for the setup you have ends up being the perfect fix.

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