What Is Hydration in Sourdough? Clear Guide for Beginners

Understand hydration: how baker's percentages work, how hydration changes dough handling and crumb, and practical tips to adjust hydration for better results.

What to Expect

This page will give you a clear, actionable understanding of 'hydration' so you can control dough feel, crumb openness, and fermentation behavior. No math anxiety — just useful rules and examples.

What you'll learn:

  • ✓ How baker's percentage defines hydration
  • ✓ How hydration affects handling and crumb
  • ✓ How to change hydration sensibly for your flour and skill level

💭 You'll still need hands-on practice. Reading this lets you intentionally change hydration rather than guessing.

What You Need

Must have:

Digital Kitchen Scale

Accurate to at least 1 g for reliable percentages

⚠️ Get a scale before adjusting hydration → more

Large Mixing Bowl

Wide enough to mix and observe dough movement

⚠️ Any large bowl will do temporarily

Dough Scraper

Makes handling tacky dough easier

⚠️ Use oiled hands but a scraper speeds learning

Nice to have:

Why understanding hydration matters:

It's the main control knob for crumb

Higher hydration generally produces larger holes and a more open crumb because the dough is more extensible and steam expands gas cells during bake [1].

It changes fermentation speed

More water speeds enzyme activity and fermentation; reducing hydration slows it — so adjust proof times when you change hydration [1].

Handling changes with hydration

Low hydration (55–65%) is firmer and easier to shape; high hydration (75%+) is sticky and requires different techniques like bowl folds and wet-hand handling [2].

Flour matters

Different flours absorb water differently — whole grain and rye hold more water than white wheat, so the same hydration percentage feels different [2].

Ingredients

For: Concepts and quick reference

Definition: Hydration Water weight ÷ Flour weight × 100 Expressed as baker's percentage; starter, salt, and add-ins are considered separately
Example: 70% hydration 350 g flour + 245 g water 245/350 = 0.70 → 70% hydration
Starter note If starter is 100% hydration, count its water and flour toward totals This affects the final dough hydration calculation
Practical ranges 55–65% = stiff; 65–75% = versatile; 75–85% = open crumb, advanced Adjust for whole grain and rye

Step by Step

Use the scale, calculate hydration, adjust by feel, test, and adapt proofs

1

Always weigh

2 min

Weigh flour(s) and water on a digital kitchen scale and calculate hydration before mixing using the formula above.

✓ Numbers make changes repeatable
💡 Record your flour brand and hydration percent for future reference [1].
2

Include starter in calculation

1-2 min

If your starter is 100% hydration, add its flour and water to the totals when computing final hydration.

✓ Correct final hydration avoids surprises
💡 Many beginners forget starter contribution and end up with wetter dough than intended [1].
3

Start low, increase gradually

N/A

If you're new to a flour, start ~5% lower than your goal, then add water in increments after autolyse if needed.

✓ Dough is manageable and you can mix/fold without excessive sticking
💡 A 5% change (e.g., 70% → 75%) is noticeable; small steps let you learn flour behavior [2].
4

Assess by feel and windowpane

5-10 min

Higher hydration doughs will spread and be more extensible; perform a windowpane test to check gluten development.

✓ Dough stretches into a thin translucent membrane without tearing
💡 If dough tears immediately, either more mixing or reduce hydration slightly [2].
5

Adjust handling techniques

Ongoing

For wetter doughs use wet hands, bowl folds, a dough scraper and wide bowl to manage the dough.

✓ You can perform folds and shape the dough without losing all structure
💡 Use a large mixing bowl to give room for folding and dough expansion.
6

Baking and final crumb

Bake day

Expect more open crumb with higher hydration; ensure full bake and cool well to avoid gummy crumb.

✓ Crumb is set and not gummy after adequate cooling
💡 If moving from low to high hydration, increase steam retention (Dutch oven/cloche) and watch proofing times [1].

What If It Doesn't Work?

If hydration changes produce problems, here are targeted fixes:

Dough too sticky to handle

Likely: Hydration too high for flour or baker's skill

Fix: Lower hydration by 3–5% next time or use wet-hand technique and longer folds; use a [dough scraper](https://amzn.to/3LR1f5E) during shaping [2]

→ More info

Dense crumb despite high hydration

Likely: Underdeveloped gluten or under-proofed

Fix: Improve gluten development via additional folds or gentle mixing; lengthen bulk fermentation or proof slightly longer [1]

→ More info

Bread collapses

Likely: Over-proofed high-hydration dough or weak flour

Fix: Shorten proof, strengthen dough with more folds, or use slightly lower hydration; try stronger bread flour if necessary [2]

→ More info

Inconsistent results with same hydration % across flours

Likely: Different absorption properties of flours

Fix: Adjust hydration per flour: whole grain and rye need more water; keep notes and treat percentage as a starting point [2]

→ More info

💪 Hydration is a tool, not a rule. Small experiments and notes are the fastest route to consistent loaves.

What now?

Ready to try a new hydration
→ Bake a 70% and a 75% loaf side-by-side to compare
I want to understand starter contribution
→ Learn about counting starter hydration into totals
I prefer structured loaves
→ Try a lower hydration loaf for easier shaping
I want technique help
→ Practice stretch-and-fold and wet-hand shaping

Sources

  1. [1]
    The Perfect Loaf – The Perfect Loaf – Link
  2. [2]
    Plötzblog – Plötzblog – Link