The sponge analogy is such a great way to visualize hydration. Philip, I really love your videos.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Cheers Sandi :)

Phil, your advice is right on the mark! Thank you! You totally RULE!

Excellent presentation and explanation. Thanks for your good work.

Great explanation! Easy to the ear, info worth share.

That explains a lot!

Thank you! Your calculator is going to be a lifesaver, I can tell. I've just started learning. Although my bread is edible and rising better than it was, my preferred beginner recipe is as impossible as your sticky example and stays that way until baking- now there's hope I can find a solution!

Your crumb as shown in your video is absolutely amazing, definitely one of the best I've ever seen! Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and these great videos and calculator. I'm so impressed with your skills, much props to you mate.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Cheers bud, I'm just pleased you find the videos useful. Not all of my crumbs are that good, I have my fair share of dodgy loaves too :)

Thank you Phil! Great!!! I will watch your videos more to improve my small but a couple of years experience.

you are simply amazing! i have been baking sourdough at home for 3 years only to realize that there is so much more room for improvement! thank you!!

Thank you Phil again for another great episode with more tips for improvement. Really appreciate it.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

No worries Deebrake, pleased you enjoyed the vid :)

Great detailed video as always! 👍

Thank you! Very useful information!

Thanks Phil ! Have a nice Weekend

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

And you bud!

Great video and thanks for the calculator!!

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Cheers bud, hope you find it useful!

Hi Phil, my first loaf using your calculator and lower hydration, is amazing. I was going to post a pic, but can't figure out how. Anyway thankyou, you have solved my gummy loaf problems, and have saved me wasting so much flour. 😊

Thank you for this video. Always wondered why all my doughs were soooo sticky when following recipes!!

Thanks a lot for the calculator. As promised we are waiting for you to explain it to us to get the full benefits

That's helpful thanks

Thanks Phil, another great video! Good timing for me as I need to make some adjustments with a new flour.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

It might take a few test bakes but you'll work out the right formula. Keep me posted :)

Thank you for this video, in fact all of them! Finally I found something to get a proper, beautiful loaf! With rising temp in the summer, I was only baking "flatbreads", they tastet nice, but we're only edible the first day and even fresh off the oven often gummy. Watches this Vid yesterday, lowered the Hydration an today's loaf is picture perfect! Thank you!

Educational! Very true what you are recommending! The Culinary Art is a Science! Knowledge is Power!! Your advise apply not only to Sourdough Bread ! In general in the Kitchen !!!!! Every recepits need attention for perfection.!! In my opinion ... the desire to learn , to have devotion to the trade , will build the experience and perfection. In addition to that is a must to choose quality products, To give ourself the appropriate time to master all! This time is to put emphasis ,and knowledge in all facets to bake a delicious Soudough Bread! Thank you for sharing your Professional Talent. Greetings from Edith , Singapore.

What a wonderful video Phil!

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

Cheers Karen :)

I can now see why I was getting different results as I was learning to bake sourdough. I am retired and really enjoy baking, and having a good results keeps you inspired. Thanks for the tips and the calculator. 🍞

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

You're welcome Ben, I'm pleased the calculator and vids have been useful :)

Great episode. Brain draining for beginners but once you have baked a few loaves it becomes the Ah Ha! Moment. This has been a great reminder even for those of us who have been at it a while. My perfect hydration after many attempts is 71% with a mixture of flours. It took me a while to get to this point but it was all worth it. And even all those other loaves were not really fails because they were all edible. Here is a tip for everyone. The higher the hydration the longer it takes to get a golden colour on your toast. Took me a while to figure that one out. I thought my toaster was on the way out. 😅

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Hey Mandii, it does take longer to taste with higher hydration! Have you noticed it toasts quicker the older the sourdough gets?

@mandiigraham1596

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration No I haven’t but I guess that is because I freeze my sliced loaf and moisture is retained.

@alexandraprevezanou5448

10 ай бұрын

​​@@mandiigraham1596 Hello! Since you use a mixture of flours (like I do) may I ask how do you calculate the quantity of sourdough starter to be used? Thank you!

Thanks mate!

great tool... thanks you... may i ask, if i accidently added double amount of starter, it will makes my dough super wet, how can i fix it?

Thank you !

Another thing I've been doing recently is to hold back a little bit of water when using a new bag of flour, there can be a noticeable difference in absorption

I landed here after I found myself struggling with different sourdough “recipes”… After figuring out on my own (through a lot of practice baking), everything seems to hinge on hydration! 🤪 I found a hydration calculator online and it now it all makes so much sense! You should see the wonderful loaf I baked today! ❤

You mentioned in your System Reboot video that you would make a video on using the calculator. Would this be that video? Thank you for the time and effort in producing these great videos!

Excellent video Phil! I stumbled exactly over the same issues in the beginning. Since I found my perfect flour, I only have to adjust the recipe to the kitchen temperature/climate. All about experience and experimenting. Love your lamentation & waiting technic, works like a charm every time! 🤗

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Cheers bud. I love laminating the dough. It's not the quickest route but it's the most enjoyable for me. I'm pleased it's working for you. Are doing one lamination or several?

@KS-ou6du

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration After mixing roughly all ingredients, I laminate three times with 30-40min waiting time in-between. Usually do that in the evening, then I've got time to have dinner or meal prep or just relax and the lamination as such is super quick. For me the easiest process, with the best results. Even that I make multi seed dough, it works quite well.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

@@KS-ou6du Scheduling at its best :)

I wish I knew this before I followed your recipe today.😂 I have a proofing oven to keep an even temp. But my dough is definitely soft. Oh well, it's going in the oven tomorrow. We'll see if it's a frisbee...lol

Thank you for this video! I just followed a recipe off another KZreadr and got a way different result. Disappointing sloppy, slumpy, sticky mess. I almost gave up on making sourdough altogether but I’m going to give it another try thanks to you. 😊

@CulinaryExploration

5 ай бұрын

Everyone's flour will have different absorption capabilities and your ability to handle the dough needs to be considered too. Balancing the hydration in the recipe is one of the keys to getting this right.

I could never get the dough to stretch out like yours for laminating. How did you manage to do it?

Hello Phil you mentioned a recipe with added rice flour and was wondering if that recipe is available?

Biggest lesson I learned was to make sure the flour was fresh. I bought a 10kg sack of flour a few years ago and didn't use it quickly enough. Net result was it absorbed too much moisture over the intervening period and all my doughs turned into a soggy mess despite a relatively low hydration. Bought some fresh flour, bingo!!! Perfect bread

@kristenmarie8655

Ай бұрын

Ah, this is helpful. This explains why my sourdough needed so much flour.

I’m not familiar with the intricate of all types of flower, so when you say strong flour, are you indicating any type of flour with 12% protein is bread flour better than all purpose flour?

Started baking bread in January, no experience whatsoever. Thought I was getting better and now when the warm weather arrived I am back to square 1. Wet sticky dough, manage to put it into loaf pan otherwise it would be a pancake. Tastes good though. So frustrating. Will try your formula. Thank you.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

You're not alone. And it does take some practice. But if you focus on balancing the hydration as I show in the video you will find a solid formula to use. Keep me posted :)

@fayabogush2956

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration I will. Thank you.

Hopefully, it's not too hot over in Greece right now. Thanks for the great info. Have been a subscriber to your channel since the pandemic. If I can ask, what part of the UK are you from? What brought u to Greece and what are the challenges of baking from there - it's very warm in summer.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Hey Daniel, I'm originally from Cambridge although spent many years cooking in London. I spent a summer season cooking on a Private yacht in Greece and fell in love with it. After a bit more cooking and travel I came back here to make it home. It does get hot in the summer, although it's still quite cool here for this time of year (it's about 29C). Once it goes above 30C I'll use my fermentation chamber religiously (unless I want to punish myself lol). I'm guessing you are for the UK? Have you been to Greece?

This is the first video of yours I’ve watched. I’m excited to try the calculator. I fed my starter this morning so the timing is perfect. Thank you. I have a question. What is the smallest amount of dough, in grams, do you recommend working with? I want to make smaller loaves at a time, enough for two adults and two young children.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Awesome keep me posted on your progress. I find an 800g dough perfect for my family (2 adults and 1 6yr old) and it lasts 2-3 days. Why don't you start there and then adjust the dough weight within the calculator accordingly? You'll figure out the hydration and dough weight that works perfectly for you!

@ro2670

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration The calculator worked perfectly. I’m mildly tech savvy and it got the job done, thank you for that. This was the best loaf I’ve baked so far. I will need to tweak it as you suggested but I’m at at great starting point. I haven’t invested in all the proper tools yet; proofing baskets, Dutch oven, quality lame, etc. I’m building up. I do use the best quality flours I can find and my starter is strong. 800g is the perfect size loaf. Even practicing I won’t waste as much flour on bad bakes. I watched a few more of your videos and I want to start using rice flour in my bread once I get my technique down. I played with changing flour types and percentages to test out the calculator. That didn’t work out well for me. Not a complaint at all. Thanks again.

There is no magic formula that will guarantee a perfect loaf every time if the baker hasn’t made thoughtful ,observant attempts. In a sense, it’s like learning to weld. One can read the book and ace a written test. That doesn’t mean one can weld. The “feel” and timing that is needed only comes from many hours of experimentation “under the hood”. There are failures. Failures to be analyzed , then another attempt. You don’t get there by thought alone. You have to get your hands in it . I failed at sourdough for fifty years. Until I came here for advice. Phil isn’t offering magic formulas. He is providing a path, some axiomatic truths, and direction to produce your own success. It’s upon the observer of his videos to do their part along with the guidance of his expert advice. Worked for me.😁👍 Thanks!

Hello from hot and humid Puerto Rico. I've just began my sourdough journey. Im not able to get bread flour here only unbleached all purpose flour. Is there anything you can suggest?

@CulinaryExploration

8 ай бұрын

Hey there. You can use soft flour (AP) but you’ll need to keep the hydration on the lower side. I’d begin around 65% and see how the dough behaves. Reduce or increase the hydration in 2% increments if needed. In hot environments the dough will feel softer and have the potential to over ferment or proof easily. I’d suggest creating your own proofing box. You can use a cheap cool box for the chamber. Moderate the temperature by using ice bricks or a frozen bottle of water. It’s best to monitor the temperature with a thermometer. I hope this helps. (I’ve just released a new vid in the channel that dives into baking in hot weather). Let me know how you get on.

@MsJennifertorresdiaz

8 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration thank you.

So what to do if it’s already sticky, do we throw it away or there is a way to recover??

Great video i have a question about elevation. Does that play a role in figuring out proper hydration? I'm located 5500 Ft above sea level. It seems flour at this elevation absorbs more water? I remember when a famous donut shop from Portland opened a store here a few years ago. It took their master baker two months to tweek their recipes to compensate for the elevation.

@petiteboulangerie

4 ай бұрын

I have the same question. I'm at 6100 Ft. above sea level.

Great video, flour absorption is often overlooked in the community, and wrongly diagnosed as a lack of dough strength etc…

@hu_b

9 ай бұрын

Or you might think you overproofed when you've just added more water than the flour can handle.

Sorry but i can't seem to work out how to get the calculator. Can you help?

I learnt bread making initially was working in kitchens and doing my C&G 705/1, which most chefs did along with their C&G 706/1 706/2 back in the day. It’s heck of a lot easier when there’s someone there to show you or 'tell you' in that nice way head chefs had back then. KZread and especially this channel are fantastic, you simply recipes making them far more approachable and less intimidating. However, unfortunately you’re not there in the kitchen with your subscribers. Which gives me an idea, you could open a school and video your students and as you show them how to correct mistakes your newer subscribers would also learn.

I have experienced one of those so called bread flour but only workable for 65% hydration and less.

Excellent video! Just a quick question though based on the brands of flour and some plastic bags you use occasionally, do you have any connection with Greece?

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

I do, I live here! I'm originally from the UK but Greece is my home now. Are you living in Greece or have you moved?

@chrysovalantiskouimanis8892

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration I'm living in Chios (an island of the North Aegean Sea)! I hope you like it here in Greece!

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

@@chrysovalantiskouimanis8892 I've heard Chios is beautiful, I will make it there to see for myself. I absolutely love living here in Greece :)

@amaliavet

10 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration Hi! Well, that explains everything! LOL! The flours I saw. I said to my self, you are dreaming and you see everywhere Greek brand flours, on containers. By the way, Koula whole wheat flour is excellent for 100% whole wheat sourdough bread. It is easy to work, finely milled, even for me, the sadly clumsy beginner. Keep your excellent job and teach us! I am trying to master the Sourdough Calculator! Big hugs from Athens. Sorry for my English.

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

@@amaliavet I use the soft Koula for sourdough too, I'll try the wholewheat, thanks for the heads up! And your English is spot on :)

Hello from Australia Phil, I'm reasonably new to sourdough baking, and your videos are really helping me. The hydration is a challenge for me with the humidity on the coast, so I'll start at 65% as you suggested. How do I adjust the temps in your calculator please? I understand the room, flour, levain, but what should the desired dough temp be? Cheers, Julie

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Hey Julie! There is no "magic" temp for the dough. To put it in context; if it's 30C+ in my kitchen and I'm fermenting my dough in my chamber at 25C, I will mix the dough to 25C. If it's 30C+ in my kitchen and I'm going to ferment at ambient temperature I may mix the dough to 15C (to drop the temp and extend the fermentation a little). If it's winter and my kitchen is cold I may mix my dough to 28C to give it a bit of boost and get the fermentation going. I hope this helped give you some ideas on how the dough temp can be manipulated to suit the scenario. I'd suggest experimenting and finding what works best for you. Cheers, Phil

@gypsytraveller

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration thank you Phil for your reply. My first 65% hydration loaf using your calculator is waiting in the fridge overnight to be baked tomorrow. I'm excited to see the results, I'll let you know

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

@@gypsytraveller Keep me posted!!!!

@gypsytraveller

10 ай бұрын

@CulinaryExploration Hi Phil, I need a little help on using this recipe for ciabatta with your calculator please? Or other recipes using levain. Thank you, Julie Levain 200 gram Wheat flour with 11.5% protein content. 200 gram water 60 gram sourdough starter 100% hydration Final dough 400 gram Wheat flour with 11.5% protein content 280 gram whole spelt flour with 12% protein content. 490 gram water 15 gram olive oil 20 gram sea salt

So, if my bread dough collapses after turning it out, how do I "rescue" it? Or do I just take up drinking wine instead? Lol.

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

LOL - Drink some wine while adjusting your recipe for the next bake ;)

@Kayenne54

10 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration Sounds like a good plan!!What could go wrong??? 😂😂

@craze75

2 ай бұрын

Go with the wine! I did, worked perfectly….

@luisafairhurst7390

29 күн бұрын

Use the dough to make pizza crust and enjoy with your wine!🎉

I hate to comment off topic, but do you have a good μπουγάτσα κρέμα recipe that you can make a video of someday? Or have link to a recipe you like? I learned sourdough from your videos, and my attempt at your tsoureki recipe turned out fantastic!

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

I'm pleased you enjoyed the Tsoureki recipe! I don't have a recipe for μπουγάτσα κρέμα, but I understand why you want it! Sorry I can't help on that one :)

This was great! I couldn’t really do the PNF each time he did but I’ll try tmrw once I have something to help me lift myself up higher. Still felt myself get more comfortable in the stretch tho & the breathing was really helpful.

Hello from Athens, Greece. I tried twice to get your hydration table, but no success. No email even to the unwanted folder. Can you kindly help?

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

Hi there, it can happen but don't worry I'll get it sorted for you. Can you drop me an email at explorationculinary@gmail.com using the email address you registered with and make sure it's sorted out. ATB, Phil

@alexandraprevezanou5448

10 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration thank you!

Hi and thanks for the video! I live in Malta and if I remember correctly you are in Greece, so climate is more or less similar. Dough stickiness does not bother me, I can handle it. I have had a few wonderful successes over the last couple of years, but in the majority of cases, no matter which method I follow and how religiously, my problem is that the dough does not hold its shape until just before baking. I am starting to blame the flour and not believing the writing on the packet (13% protein). Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks once again!

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

Hey Mark. Yep, I'm in Greece, so similar climates. It's tricky to pinpoint the problem without watching your process. If it's collapsing or deflating after turning it out of the basket, it could be over-proofed or perhaps a touch over-hydrated. Strong white bread flour with a protein content of 13% should produce a nice strong dough, but high protein content doesn't necessarily mean the flour is thirsty. I'd explore the proofing and hydration. Hope this helps :)

@markdebono1273

11 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration Hi Philip, thanks for your feedback. The dough is collapsing from the first stages of the process, after each stretch and fold, that is supposed to build the structure of the loaf. In other words, the dough simply does not hold its shape at any time, independent of the method I use for tensioning the surface.

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

@@markdebono1273 Try another flour mate and see how that goes. It's good to get a comparison.

@markdebono1273

10 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration I definitely will, and will also take a closer look at your spreadsheet. Thanks once again for your excellent videos!

I recently bought beautiful flour (rye and wheat) from a small local mill and discovered your calculator. I am wondering why the protein content (9.5% and 10.5%, respectively) is not part of the calculator input fields? Would it not allow for the calculator to be more precise in a simple way? If you tell me I have missed the plot, I will also understand. 😅

@CulinaryExploration

Ай бұрын

I'm adding a protein calculator to the pro version we use in the community but to be honest I don't think it's really needed. No matter the protein content the hydration needs to be balanced during the test bakes. There isn't a way to know how much water you need based on the protein content and that's only one consideration of the flour. But I'm interested, how do you see the protein calculator making things more accurate?

@rickgartner3621

Ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration As a novice with a numbers fetish, I was assuming (wrongly, it turns out), that if all other things are equal (kitchen temp, humidity, filtered water, etc.), there would be a lineair relation between hydration % and protein percentage. Testing is the key. I keep telling my wife that: after only 10 loafs, she urges me to add raisins, nuts, etc. I tell her that I might try that by 2026...😂 I really appreciate your interaction with commenters!

@CulinaryExploration

Ай бұрын

@@rickgartner3621 LOLOL I know what you mean about a numbers fetish. Protein is a helpful to consider but it's not the be all and end all. Hmmm, 10 loaves... if you are feeing brave I'd add some inclusions. Pick two and add 10% of each, be prepared to test bake and then use the hydration to balance the formula on future bakes. Keep me posted :)

@rickgartner3621

Ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration Your calculator is proving invaluable! And I have now added sunflower seeds (to the bottom of the cake tin I use) and now cardamom to the dough. Wonderful!

@CulinaryExploration

Ай бұрын

@@rickgartner3621 Awesome! That's great. Once you get up and running with it you'll never put it down. I use it daily

And now my question is : How to calculate sourdough starter for a mixture of different flours? I make bread using equal parts of strong flour, white all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Thank you.

Can this calculator be used with only all-purpose flour?

@CulinaryExploration

10 ай бұрын

Hey there. The calculator is only a tool to work out the formula. You can use any flour you like. After test baking, you will need to adjust the hydration accordingly. ATB Phil

@alexandraprevezanou5448

10 ай бұрын

​@@CulinaryExplorationHello again Phil. At your formula you define sourdough/levain/starter as 20% Do you adjust this factor? On what criteria? Thank you!

@hu_b

9 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration Can you explain how to the levain calculation is done? I'm looking at your main dough ingredients in your spreadsheet at 3:58 in the video. The levain percentage is set at 20%. The total flour is 431 g and the levain amount is 96g... which is 23% right?

@CulinaryExploration

9 ай бұрын

@@hu_b Yep, it would be 23% but you forgot to add the weight of the whole wheat flour. The total weight of flour is 479. Hope this helps bud

@hu_b

9 ай бұрын

@@CulinaryExploration Ok thanks. I looked at your spreadsheet again. I was reading the right side with the main dough, not the total ingredients. Good video btw. Confirms what I slowly figured out on my own, that hydration was the main issue not overproofing. Well sometimes it's overproofing too!

I'm a bit disheartened. I've developed a great starter and baked a white loaf each day for a week. I kept a diary and tweaked it each day - adjusting the hydration and number of laminations- and each loaf was a little better than the last as I got a feel for it. I used your calculator to make adjustments. Then I saw your old faithful recipe and gave it a go on 2 consecutive days. The first day the dough got stickier and didn't rise at all over several hours. It got put in the bin. Day 2 and I reduced the hydration and altered my timings so I could use a levain fresh that day at it's peak rather than one prepared the night before. Again, the dough didn't rise and got stickier as the hours passed. Another one in the bin. My temperature was a consistent 24⁰C each day I baked so I'm totally confused why adding Integral flour to the white should produce something unusable 🤔

@ianbown3543

10 ай бұрын

when you say integral flour do you mean wholemeal? what % are you adding? Anytime you add different flours it can have huge effects on the dough but above 20-25% makes the dough much more difficult to handle in my experience. I always finish the bread even if it looks bad because it generally comes out much better than you expect! Not rising after a couple of hours is no problem especially if your kitchen is only at 24c. Perhaps your starter is not as strong as you think?

How much does your method of storing your flour enhance the outcome? For example, for a person living in a relatively higher humidity area, so 55% relative humidity. This person is using a freshly open bag of flour at room temperature and begins their preparation to make dough. That same person a few days later, opens their loose lid flour container to prepare making dough. With the example that both days are following the exact same recipe and hydration %, would there be enough change in the dough to effect your recipe?

1000000 like

I mostly use a Stiff Starter, 10% Starter, 28% water, and 50% (King Arthur, Whole White Wheat flour, which has a 12.2% protein content). Is there a way to calculate for a Stiff Starter with your calculator?

so if my bread is not sourdough, i’m still in trouble? or do this apply to other kind of bread? i use about three part white flower to 1 part whole wheat, and no preferment. any help? i know i need to adjust something. but not sure what

i tried to get the calculator and all i got was, what's your email and thank you for subscribing. no calculator

@CulinaryExploration

3 ай бұрын

Hey there, can you reply to the email and I'll make sure you get the link?

Hey Phil. Long time no see you in Instagram 🥲. You give so precious information here❤️... I would be great to share this on Instagram too 🔥

@CulinaryExploration

11 ай бұрын

I promise I'll get back over there very soon. I've been working on our community over the last few months so time has been tight. Cheers Julia :)

@juliavolk5245

11 ай бұрын

​@@CulinaryExploration❤