Pro tip: Hitting 100 loaves finally taught me one thing about hydration

I keep a little notebook where I jot down wins and fails. Last week I hit 100 loaves of sourdough since I started tracking 2 years ago. That number surprised me because I thought I baked way more. It mattered because it showed me my hydration level has been off for like 30 of those loaves once I looked back. Anyone else keep a fail log and notice a pattern you missed in the moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_miles11d ago

100 loaves in 2 years sounds more like a hobby than a big revelation to me. I've had plenty of batches where I messed up hydration and just adjusted next time without turning it into a whole thing. Honestly, sourdough is forgiving enough that 30 loaves being off by a few percent probably still made perfectly edible bread. Maybe overthinking it with a fail log just adds stress to something that's supposed to be fun. Unless you're trying to win a baking contest, who cares if hydration was 5% off?

mason_reed4710d ago

Yeah exactly, that's kind of where I land too. Like if the bread comes out good and you're eating it, who really cares if the math was off by a little bit? People get so wrapped up in being precise that they forget baking is supposed to be relaxing, not a science experiment where you need a spreadsheet to track every single loaf.