The day a 70-year-old baker showed me how to fix my sticky dough without adding flour

I was at this tiny bakery in Portland last fall, struggling with a batch of ciabatta that was just a gluey mess. This old timer, must have been 70, came over from the next table and just watched me for a minute. He didn't say anything at first. Then he took my dough, wet his hands with water from a cup, and worked it gently for maybe 30 seconds. It stopped sticking completely. He just said "flour makes it tough, water makes it smooth" and walked off. I've been doing it his way ever since. Anybody else got a trick like that from an unexpected source?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler_baker8d ago

Wait so did he do it with just water or was there some special technique to how he worked it in? I tried that once and it took forever to get it all mixed through without making it even more of a sticky disaster. Also curious if he had a certain temperature water or just tap cold like normal.

adamcoleman8d ago

The guys over on the bread sub swear by using your hands for the initial mix, not a spoon. Sounds weird but the heat from your fingers actually helps the flour hydrate faster. I read a post where a baker used slightly warm water, like 90 degrees, and said it cut the sticky phase down to almost nothing. Did he let it rest for 10 minutes before the final fold? Because that autolyse step changes everything with sticky dough.