With Eric’s Artisan recipe I find that, using his measurements, my inital mixing of the dough is too dry at the end resulting in my having to add a bit of extra water and , by hand, mixing the dough until I have a cohesive mix, although at this point my whisk can not be used and the dough is too wet to touch so I leave it rise like that for the 12-`14 hour period.The dough does rise, not much, and is still too wet to handle or shape so I wind up placing it in my proofing baskets as best as I can ( after flouring the counter of course.
Any suggestions about how to improve what I am doing ? Thanks for all your help.
I’d recommend you don’t add that extra water. Try continuing mixing, perhaps with a 5 minute rest partway thru so the existing water has a chance or be absorbed.
Thanks foe the response Melissa. I guess my question is why my dough at some point gets clumpy, that I can not really stir but need to knead it before setting it aside to rise. Could it be the type of flour I am using ? Could it be the temperature of the water ?
The end result has always been delicious though. And I have found at times, adding that extra bit of water that to form the dough for the final rise it is too wet…I am just looking for some sort of clarity as to why all this is happening.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Maybe the next time you mix the dough, you can take a pic? I’m having trouble visualizing what you mean. That said, some flour IS very thirsty. Different brands and harvests have different characteristics. Using more water is fine. The dough is sticky from the rye and molasses no matter how much water you use.
Here are some tips I put in the comment for the recipe, along with photos. You can see that my dough looks like a chocolate cake batter 