Picked up a tip from a bakery in Portland that fixed my sticky dough problem

I was visiting a small bakery in Portland last month and watched the baker sprinkle water on his hands before handling the dough, not flour like I always did. He told me flour just gets absorbed and makes the dough tough, but water creates a barrier without changing the consistency. Has anyone else tried this trick and did it work for you too?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva_gibson17d ago

Dude yes, this trick is a game changer. I was making a really wet focaccia last week, the kind that sticks to everything, and I remembered reading something similar. I just wet my hands under the faucet before folding the dough, worked like magic. No more wrestling with sticky mess on my fingers and the dough stayed soft and airy. Flour always made mine dense and chewy, totally ruined the texture. Now I keep a little bowl of water next to my work station just for this.

jade_hunt4817d ago

Flour always made mine dense and chewy" YES that is exactly what I noticed too. It's the same with ANY sticky situation in life honestly. People always reach for MORE of the thing causing the problem instead of just changing their approach. Like when I'm trying to clean a sticky pan and I keep adding soap instead of just letting it soak. We all have this reflex to do the SAME thing but harder and it never works. Water trick is brilliant because it's a whole different mindset, not just a different tool.