Why does nobody talk about how much humidity changes your bread dough?

I've been baking bread at home for about six months now, mostly basic sourdough and sandwich loaves. Last Tuesday it was super humid here in Portland and my dough turned into this sticky mess that I could barely shape. I figured I just messed up the hydration ratio but then I looked it up and found out that on a humid day your flour can absorb like 5-10% more moisture from the air alone. That blew my mind because all the recipes I see online assume perfect dry conditions. I had to add almost a quarter cup of extra flour just to get it back to a workable texture. Has anyone else dealt with this or do you just adjust your water by feel when the weather changes? I'm trying to figure out if there's a simple rule of thumb for this.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_thomas25d ago

Oh man, humidity is the absolute WORST for bread! I live in Georgia where the air is basically soup from May to October, and I've absolutely had dough turn into a sticky monster that I wanted to throw at the wall. My rule of thumb is just to hold back like 10-15% of the water in the recipe and add it slowly on humid days until the dough feels right. I've definitely had days where I added a half cup of extra flour and still ended up with something that looked like a science experiment gone wrong. Honestly I just go by feel now and ignore whatever the recipe says for water amounts.

simon71725d ago

Oh man, totally feel you on this! I'm in Florida so I know exactly what you mean about the air being basically soup. Last summer I followed a recipe to the letter and my dough turned into this weird gluey pancake situation, I swear I could've used it as wallpaper paste. Now I just look at the humidity level outside before I even start, and if it's over like 60% I automatically cut the water way back. My kitchen scale is my best friend at this point, but honestly I still mess it up half the time and end up adding flour little by little until it finally behaves.