Many thanks for your reply, Barb! The perplexing thing about all my doughs in fall and winter is not the rise, it's the dough itself, which is invariably wetter in winter than it is in summer. And (insert drumroll here), in the last couple of days I finally might've figured out why, but not why it took me so long! This blog post and no end of other authoritative sources state it is more humid in summer than it is in winter. I sure do bet that is true in your region and elsewhere, but in the Seattle region it's the other way round. This region is humid all year (though it rarely feels that way, which is another story) and most humid in winter. That might explain why the one other Seattle area commenter on this article wrote, like me, that she has wet dough problems in winter, not summer. So, oddly, it seems I'm getting better dough in winter by following Ms. Hamel's advice for summer: that is, by reducing the liquid by 10%. I am continuing the experiment. This morning, I prepared the "Deli Rye Rolls" dough. The recipe states "the dough will be shiny and slightly sticky" after kneading. My dough was neither: it never really cleared the sides of the mixing bowl, and my final result was sticky as glue and not shiny at all. Assuming/hoping this batch is good enough to eat, I'm going to repeat the recipe with 10% less water to compare the results. Here's something I'd love to know: do your colleagues at the Bread Lab, which is just down the road from me, reduce liquid in winter? It could be in a professional kitchen it's a moot point, as I assume it's both warmer *and* drier than mine. Thanks again!

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