Please everybody remember that high hydration can only work with high gluten flour. I used to laugh at the former label on one KA flour "for bread machines only" because it made excellent hand kneaded bread at about 70% hydration.
My other secret is to start with the liquid and add the flour. The simple mixing begins to activate the gluten while the flour is going in. End result is easier to knead, IN the bowl, until I get that sharp transition from sticky to silky. Sorry to be technical but I learned that knowing such details makes a huge difference.
June 22, 2017 at 8:15pm