A simple dough is a base for most well-known baked goods. One of the key ingredients of every dough is water. If you add too much water into dough you can fix it with a few simple but effective tricks. 

If too much water is added to the dough, it will not be able to rise. The dough can be affected in two ways. Either the dough is weighed down with water and can not rise, or the raising agent was diluted and rendered ineffective. The best way to rectify this is to add more flour.

With three essential ingredients, a little elbow grease, and heat, anyone can bake. One can easily make a mistake and add too much water to your dough. Let us take a more in-depth look at what happens to the dough if you add too much water. Join me in finding out how to potentially prevent this and how to fix dough if it does.

What Happens If You Add Too Much Water To Dough

If you accidentally add too much water to the dough, the loaf will not hold its shape and flatten while baking.

Adding too much water to the dough will dilute the raising agents. Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda will be too diluted to be effective raising agents. The yeast will not have a robust enough solution of sugar and starch to feed off and will starve and not raise the dough.

The structure of dough consists of water, gluten proteins, and scratch granules. If the ratio of these structural components is not respected, they cannot fulfill their roles.

By adding too much water to your dough, you are putting too much strain on the structural components of the dough, and your recipe will likely flop.

If the scratch granules in your dough become oversaturated, the gluten proteins that keep the starch in place won’t hold their shape.

There is always some point where you add too much water to the dough; no matter how strong the dough is made, the loaf will flatten while baking.

What Happens If You Put Too Much Water To Bread Dough

Too much water in bread dough will result in a dense, flat loaf. Too much water in bread dough interferes with the gluten structure, and the loaf will not be able to hold its shape.

If the yeast in your bread dough dies because of overhydration, the dough will not be able to rise adequately. This will result in unleavened bread. 

A common feature of bread dough with too much water is an uneven crust with big holes throughout and a dense crumb. The texture will be gummy and stick to the roof of your mouth. The flavor will be bland and tasteless.

Why Is My Bread Dough Always Too Wet

If you consistently yield a wet dough recipe, ensure that your measuring equipment is in the same units of measurement as your recipe.

The wet part of a recipe should always be added in a staggered manner while mixing. Adding the ingredients in this manner helps the wet ingredients mix thoroughly with the dry and prevent lumps and inconsistencies.

Environmental factors can influence your ingredients. If you live where humidity is high, your flour will absorb slightly less than flour in dryer climates. Allow for these factors when measuring.

Not all the recipes that we find online were tested by professionals. Be sure to look for recipes marked as tested.

TIP: Do you know what to do if you add too much flour to in bread dough? Check out this article:

Too Much Flour In Dough: What Happens And How To Fix It

How To Fix Dough With Too Much Water

Add more flour to your dough. This method seems obvious, but it can easily result in the problem of having too much dough. 

If your dough mixture has too much water in it, simply add extra flour to the dough, spoon by spoon to prevent a dry dough. Separating the dough into two more manageable portions could help when adding the correct amount of flour to reduce the moisture.

A way to prevent adding too much water to dough is to keep 2 – 5% of the liquid required by your recipe aside. Some external factors like humidity can influence the absorbency of your flour. Keep a small amount of liquid aside and only add as needed.

Sometimes we have to concede that our recipe is just too wet. Many recipes call for a wetter dough, also known as a batter.

Reimagine your recipe; some bread recipes are very soft, like Ciabatta; you can experiment by adding herbs and dry cheese. Fried doughs like Churros and doughnuts lend themselves well to a wetter dough. 

How To Fix Too Much Water In Bread Dough

The simplest way to fix bread dough that has too much water in is to add more flour. 

With this method, be sure not to add too much flour. Adding too much flour can render other ingredients like yeast and sugar ineffective. Add the extra flour one teaspoon at a time. To prevent having too large a recipe, you can discard 15% of your wet mix before adding flour. 

When adding more flour to your bread dough recipe, be sure to adjust fat and seasonings to accommodate the extra flour. Not adding additional flavoring and fat to accommodate the excess flour will yield an unpalatable, dry, and brittle dough.

Conclusion

Now that we understand the intricacies of how the dough is affected by too much water, it should be easy to avoid. We have established that the easiest way to fix too much water in the dough is to add more flour. Though this method seems simple, there are some caveats to consider.

After perusing this article, you will be armed with the necessary knowledge to identify why your bread dough is always too wet, ways to prevent it from happening again, and fix bread dough with too much water in it.

TIP: If you are still not sure how much, when and why to add water in bread dough, check out the article below:

Water In Bread Dough: Why, When & How Much (Complete Guide)

All bread recipes call for dough. The main ingredient of dough is flour. But do you know what happens if you add too much flour to the dough? Read more here to find out how to solve one of the most common issues with dough, adding too much flour.

Adding too much flour to the dough mixture will result in a dry and unyielding dough. Too much flour in the dough is an easy mistake. This error can be fixed by adding more liquid. Alternatively, adding more fat to your recipe and mixing the dough with your hands can help to lubricate dry dough.

There are many different types of dough. A common mistake anyone can make when baking is; too much flour in your dough. That happens to dough with too much flour and, more specifically, bread dough with too much flour. Here is some advice on how to fix dough with too much flour.

What Happens If You Add Too Much Flour To Dough

Adding too much flour into your mixture will result in a very dry and extremely stiff dough. The dough will be too tight and tough to stretch when you attempt to pull it or roll it out. Overfloured dough could become crumbly and break and fall apart during the kneading process. 

It is also possible that the raising agent for this dough isn’t sufficiently activated. Raising agents like bicarb and baking powder need moisture to be activated. Not correctly starting these ingredients will result in an unleavened or flattened baked good.

Too much flour in the dough will interfere with the way that the other elements interact. Sugar, salt, and fat all play an essential part in making good dough. Having too much flour in your dough, you spread the other elements too thinly, resulting in an unpalatable baked good.

If there is too much flour added to the dough, the structure of the dough is compromised. A high flour content dough is a “strong” dough. If the strength of the dough is too high, the gluten proteins and starch molecules take the strain, and the dough will not rise.

What Happens If You Put Too Much Flour To Bread Dough 

Too much flour in bread dough will result in a dry dough that is hard to knead. It will be crumbly and unpleasant. 

If your dough is too dry, there won’t be enough moisture available to feed the yeast. The raising agent yeast is what creates the pillowy effect in bread. By releasing carbon dioxide, the yeast expands the gluten proteins that keep the starch in place. 

Moisture and manipulation are what activate the gluten proteins that make bread dough pliable. An under-activated gluten structure will result in a dense unrelenting dough.

If you were to proceed ahead and bake such a dry loaf, you would get a dry, dense, heavy loaf of bread. The bread will most likely be unpalatable and inedible. 

TIP: Do you know what to do if you add too much yeast to in bread dough? Check out this article:

Too Much Yeast In Dough: What Happens And How To Fix It

How To Fix Dough With Too Much Flour

The best way to fix dough that has too much flour and is too dry is to simply add more liquid or fat to the mixture and knead. Adding water, milk, eggs, or fat to the dough is important to rehydrate and activate the yeast and is responsible for the consistency of the dough. 

Add the extra liquid one teaspoon at a time, mixing thoroughly between spoons. Milk, water, or eggs are suitable.

Adding the liquid teaspoon per teaspoon will make it easier to mix thoroughly and prevent lumps. Staggering the addition of liquid in this way will also prevent unintentionally adding too much liquid.

Adding more fat to your dough can help. Many types of fat are used in baking. Butter, vegetable oil, and shortening are all suitable fats.

You can also use eggs to moisten your dough. They contain both liquid and fat and will lend richness to your baking. Add the fat in a staggered manner, one teaspoon at a time to prevent adding too much fat.

Use your hands to mix or knead the dough. If you have tried adding fat and liquid yet still have a stiff dough, try mixing it with your hand.

This method can be a bit messy but worth it. Automatic mixers can let you down. In this eventuality, reverting to manual mixing or kneading can help salvage a dry dough.

The heat generated by your hands will help to lubricate your dough by activating the gluten proteins and starch molecules. Getting acquainted with your dough intimately will help you to find and disperse any lumps or inconsistencies.

How To Fix Too Much Flour In Bread Dough

The most straightforward answer is sometimes the best. The best way to fix bread dough with too much flour is to add more liquid.

This seems obvious but proceed with caution as there is still some room for error. It is advisable to add water for bread dough if it has too much flour, though some recipes allow for milk, like Japanese Milk Bread (Hokkaido). 

Take care not to make your recipe too big accidentally. It is wasteful, and too much liquid will strain the yeast in your dough and result in unleavened bread.

To fix bread dough with too much flour in, add your chosen liquid one teaspoon at a time. It will ensure that the liquid is mixed thoroughly and prevent lumps from forming.

Before adding more liquid to your bread dough, discard 8% to 12% of your over-floured dough. This step will keep the size of your loaf regulated. 

Some bread recipes call for butter or oil; in this case, adding a little extra fat will help moisten your bread dough. The fat should be added one drop at a time, as adding too much fat will flatten your loaf while baking.

Only add warm liquids to dry ingredients when using a yeast bread recipe. If the liquid is too hot, it will destroy the yeast and prevent it from rising, whereas if it is too cold, the yeast action will slow down or stop.

TIP: If you are looking for the best flour for your bread I recommend using flour produced by companies mentioned below (Amazon links):

• Semolina flour
• Matthews flour
• Wrights flour
• Heygates flour
• Marriages flour
• Doves Farm Organic Flour

Conclusion

Now that we know what happens when you add too much flour to your dough, we need to understand how to fix this common mistake.

With these valuable insights and quick problem-solving solutions at hand, baking will be a hobby to approach with confidence.

Let’s wash our hands, put on our aprons, and bake something delicious. From the humble daily loaf to the highest tier of patisserie; everyone enjoys freshly baked goods.

TIP: If you are still not sure how much, when and why to add flour in bread dough, check out the article below:

Flour In Bread Dough: Why, When & How Much (Complete Guide)

Yeast, tiny magical grains that turn flour and water into bread and other dough to create anything edible from croissants to pizza bases, can be astounding and intimidating to work with. Often, in baking, you lose your place in the recipe, and before you know it, you have added too much yeast. 

Too much yeast in dough will affect the desired result in your bread baking experience enormously. Fortunately, thanks to many experts out there, you can do several things to rectify this problem before entirely giving up and driving to your local bakery to buy some fresh bread. 

Yeast has been cultivated for various reasons, and baking in particular over many years. The packet of store-bought yeast you buy will be good enough to make the perfect loaf of bread. 

Since baking bread at home is such a sought-after kitchen skill, it is essential to know what happens if you misread the recipe or somehow have added too much yeast in your dough and how to fix it. 

What Happens If You Add Too Much Yeast To Dough

Adding too much yeast to dough could prevent the dough from rising properly by releasing the gas from the dough before the flour is ready to expand. This could result in poorly risen bread with a light crust that tastes yeasty and smells like beer! Too much yeast inhibits glutens’ ability to stretch.

Dough needs time for the gluten in the flour to develop. If you accidentally add too much yeast to your dough, the yeast will make the dough rise too quickly. This will cause the glutens of your flour not to develop entirely, causing your dough to become overly sticky.

For yeast to develop and release CO2, it makes your dough rise and gives it bubbles and structure. You have to ‘feed’ it flour to develop glucose and start the fermentation process of the dough. 

Many recipes also include a tiny amount of sugar to speed up the process and help the yeast with the fermentation process.

You also add salt, not only for taste but to help the yeast function better. However, too much sugar or salt can also negatively affect yeast. That is why it is crucial that you follow the recipe when it comes to quantities. 

What Happens If You Put Too Much Yeast to Bread Dough

If you have put too much yeast in your bread dough, the end result of the bread can have one or many of the following faults:

• It can smell and taste like yeast and not bread
• It can also smell and taste like alcohol since yeast is also used to make alcohol
• Be pale in color
• Have a ripped and cracked crust
• Have huge oven spring which can cause the bread to get stuck in the oven
• The huge oven spring can result in the bread sagging when you cut it or can even while it’s still in the oven
• The holes will be irregular throughout the bread crumb
• The bread’s quality will be low due to the dough being over gassy

What Happens If You Double Yeast in Bread Recipe

If you are mixing a double batch of bread dough, you will need to double all ingredients, not only the flour and water. That is because it will take double the work for the yeast to convert the flour into gluten and create a good loaf of bread.

If you double the yeast in the bread recipe by accident, it will have the same effect as mentioned above. Luckily you can fix it by following the instructions below. 

It is also a good idea to let your bread dough rise enough time but not let it over-rise. Bread usually takes about 45 minutes to rise correctly. It can go 5 to 10 minutes, less or more, depending on the bread you are baking and the yeast you are using. The dough should about double in the first rise. 

TIP: Do you know what to do if you add too much water to in bread dough? Check out this article:

Too Much Water In Dough: What Happens And How To Fix It

How To Fix Dough With Too Much Yeast

The best thing to do when you have added too much yeast to your dough is to lower the dough’s temperature for the first rise. Because colder conditions slow down yeast production, the cooler temperatures will slow down the fermentation of the dough, giving the glutens enough time to develop. 

To speed up cooling it down, you can place the dough in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes while in the mixing process to help it cool down. 

Underproof the dough with the second rise by not letting the bread rise fully for the second round. This way, it will give more opportunity to have a big oven spring without the bread crust cracking or sagging. 

If you have not yet mixed in all the flour, try to incorporate a whole-grain flour of some sort. Whole-grain flour takes longer for the glucose to form, which will give your glutens additional time to develop. 

If you know how much extra yeast you added, you can add more flour and water to bring the ratio closer together.

How To Fix Too Much Yeast In Bread Dough

To fix too much yeast in bread dough, you can look at the tips above to help you solve the problem. 

Sometimes in bread baking, there are other reasons for having too much yeast in your dough and not only because you added too much yeast. 

1. Over raising the dough:

As mentioned, bread needs only a certain amount of time to rise for fermentation. If it over-rises, more yeast will develop, so ensure that you do not over-rise the bread and stick to the times in the recipe.

2. Ensure utensils are clean:

Since we can find good and bad bacteria everywhere, it is crucial to ensure good hygiene when mixing and working with your bread dough. Ensure that utensils and surfaces are always residue free.

3. Correct temperature:

When mixing dough, the water should be lukewarm, 105 to 115°F. When you go above 115°F, you risk the yeast dying, and it will not be activated if it is too cold. For storage temperatures should be 75 – 85°F.

4. Correct kneading:

Properly kneading the dough is a vital part of the process to ensure you incorporate all the yeast evenly into the dough. The evenly mixed dough will result in an even texture throughout your loaf. 

Conclusion

It is incredibly satisfying when you have baked a loaf of bread that looks good and tastes well.

There are various options and recipes out there when it comes to bread baking which can be overwhelming by itself. The best would be for you to experiment with different recipes and methods before finding what works for you. 

Remember that whatever you plan to make with your dough, stick to the set-out ingredient list and times as per the recipe to get the best possible result. 

TIP: If you are still not sure how much, when and why to add yeast in bread dough, check out the article below:

Yeast In Bread Dough: Why, When & How Much (Complete Guide)

Making a bread dough without flour is (almost) impossible. Knowing when and how much flour to add to bread dough is really important to make good bread. So do you know why is important to add flour to bread dough?

Flour is used in bread dough to provide structure to the bread loaf. When mixed with water, the proteins found in flour are responsible for the formation of gluten. The amount of flour required in bread dough can vary depending on the recipe and ultimately the desired size of the bread loaf.

Anyone with a passion for baking and experimenting in the kitchen will understand the importance of each ingredient needed for their recipe. When it comes to bread dough, flour is one of the essential ingredients necessary to bake the perfect loaf. It is vital to have a thorough understanding of its role, how much to use, and when to add it.

Why Put Flour In Bread Dough?

The use of flour in bread dough is essential to provide structure to the bread loaf. Any other ingredients used are simply for added flavor, nutrition, color alteration, or even to alter the character of the crumb. These four ingredients serve as the foundation of any good bread dough recipe.

In any traditional bread dough recipe, there are four essential ingredients needed to get you started. These four ingredients are:

• Water
• Yeast
• Salt
• Flour

There are various types of flour that can be used or mixed together to create unique textures, densities, and flavors.

Aside from the traditional all-purpose flour or bread flour, there are many alternatives that are growing in popularity, like almond flour, chickpea flour, coconut flour, or quinoa flour, to name a few. 

It will be helpful to note that some of these flours may not perform exactly like all-purpose flour or bread flour. So, if you are using any of these as a substitute for a more traditional flour, you may need to add a few additional ingredients to reach the desired effect.

Functions Of Flour In Bread Dough

As previously mentioned, flour is an essential ingredient in the making of bread dough. When flour is mixed with one of the other vital ingredients, namely water, a reaction occurs between two proteins found in flour called Gliadin and Glutenin. When these two proteins are combined, it causes gluten to be formed in the dough. 

Gluten is an essential ingredient in making bread dough. It is responsible for ensuring that the dough has an elasticity to it, making it easy to stretch. Once gluten is stretched, it creates room for the gasses that cause the leavening of the dough. 

Ultimately, gluten is responsible for giving bread the shape and texture we have all come to know and love. Gluten plays a vital role in the kneading or mixing, rising, and baking stage of bread dough.

However, flour comes in handy in a few other ways too. If you have ever worked with dough before, you will know that it can get quite sticky.

If the dough you are working with is too sticky, it can be rather challenging to work with. Sprinkling a little bit of extra flour over your dough will reduce its sticky-ness and ultimately make it easier to work with.

With that exact principle in mind, it can also be a good idea to sprinkle the surface that you are working on as well as your hands with some flour to make sure that your bread dough does not stick to the counter or your hands when trying to pick it up off of the counter or move it around.

When To Add Flour To Bread Dough

Make sure that you do not add the flour first, otherwise, when the water is added on top of the flour, it can cause the flour to stick to the bottom of the mixing bowl, as well as cause it to form clumps which will ultimately cause your bread to be somewhat lumpy if it is not adequately mixed.

Now, this is where we get to the fun part, where, if you do not have an electric mixer, your hands will get a little dirty.

The mixing process is where all of your ingredients get thrown in together (after they have been carefully measured out), and you are one step closer to your kitchen, beginning to smell like heaven. 

Once your key ingredients have been gathered and carefully measured out, namely your water, flour, salt, and yeast, it is time to mix them all together to make some bread dough.

This may seem like a relatively straightforward process, but the order in which you do things will determine how much of an ease or a struggle the process is for you. 

Before adding your flour, start by first pouring the water into the mixing bowl. Once your water is added, now would be an excellent time to add in the flour, followed by the rest of your ingredients. 

TIP: You might be interested in reading this article too:

Water In Bread Dough: Why, When & How Much (Complete Guide)

How Much Flour To Add To Bread Dough

In most traditional bread dough recipes, a safe ratio that is commonly used is 5:3 flour to water. When it comes to the quantity of each ingredient required for bread dough, this can, of course, differ slightly from recipe to recipe, especially when altering the size of the bread loaf. 

When measuring out your flour, it is highly recommended that you use a digital kitchen scale. They are relatively inexpensive and will go a long way in making sure that your bread dough experience is so much more enjoyable. 

When compared to standard measuring cups, a digital scale is far more accurate.

If you are only using a cup to measure the flour, the weight and the overall amount can change drastically with each cup depending on how tightly compacted the flour is. This will ultimately cause inaccuracies that will negatively affect the final result. 

How Do I Know If I Added Enough Flour To Bread Dough?

Baking is considered by some to be a fine art, and for a good reason. When it comes to baking bread dough or baking anything for that matter, there are so many variables involved that even the slightest alteration can affect the overall outcome, whether positively or negatively.

To know whether or not you have added a sufficient amount of flour, you will need to pay close attention to the bread dough, and, as previously mentioned, you will definitely need to get your hands a little dirty. 

Adding too little flour to your dough or too much flour to your dough will negatively affect the final product and can easily make you feel like all your efforts in making the perfect loaf of bread have gone to waste. Here we will cover what to look out for and what you can do to ensure that that’s not the case.

If you have not added in enough flour, the bread dough will be very sticky. As previously mentioned, this will consequently make the dough much more challenging to work with.

Bread dough will definitely be quite sticky and wet at first, and that is entirely normal. Make sure not to add more flour too soon. First, give the kneading process some time.

However, after just a few minutes of kneading, it will become less sticky as the gluten causes the dough to form a glossy-like skin.

You will even find that the wet, sticky dough will be removed from your hands during this process. If, however, the sticky-ness of the dough does not disappear after a few minutes, it means that there is not enough flour. 

Simply add a little more, and the problem should be solved. Remember, it is a good idea only to add small amounts of flour at a time so that you do not end up creating the issue of too much flour.

It is pretty common for people to add in too much flour during the kneading process. Adding too much flour to your bread dough will cause the final product to be very crumbly, which is not ideal. 

Having too much flour will also cause the dough to be too dry. If there is too much flour and not enough water present in the bread dough, the yeast will not be able to ferment correctly, and, ultimately, the dough will not be able to rise properly. All you’ll need to do is to add just a touch more water to hydrate the dough a little and continue kneading.

Do your best to follow your bread dough recipe as closely as possible to reduce any issues along the way. And remember, having a digital kitchen scale will help ensure that your amounts of flour and water are as accurate as possible!

TIP: If you are looking for the best flour for your bread I recommend using flour produced by companies mentioned below (Amazon links):

• Semolina flour
• Matthews flour
• Wrights flour
• Heygates flour
• Marriages flour
• Doves Farm Organic Flour

Flour To Water Ratio For Bread In Cups

As we have previously mentioned, the amount of flour you need to add can differ from recipe to recipe. However, in most traditional bread dough recipes, a safe ratio that is commonly used is 5:3 flour to water. 

Here is a simple example to make that a little more practical. If you are going to use one cup of flour, which will weigh approximately 120 grams or 4,23 ounces, you would need to measure out 72 grams or 2,5 ounces of water to mix with it, which is just over half a cup. Most recipes, however, work with anywhere from two to six cups. 

So, as an in-between, using that same ratio, if you needed to use four cups of flour which would weigh approximately 480 grams or roughly 17 ounces, you would need to add about 288 grams or approximately 10 ounces of water, which is just under 2,5 cups.

If you are already starting to stress about how you are going to work out all of these calculations yourself, don’t worry! The internet is a great place to find free-to-use ratio calculators that will do all of the hard work for you. What a relief!

Flour To Salt Ratio For Bread

Salt is, of course, one of the four key ingredients needed in any traditional bread dough recipe. Although one of the more apparent reasons for the use of salt in bread dough is that it adds flavor, it also has a few other vital functions that it performs. These include:

• Strengthening of gluten – the presence of salt causes gluten to tighten, which ultimately makes it more robust, enabling it to hold carbon dioxide effectively. (Carbon dioxide is released into the bread dough as a result of yeast fermentation). Failure to add salt can result in the volume of the bread loaf being underwhelming. 

• Controlling the fermentation of yeast – through the process of osmosis, yeast releases water to salt, slowing down the process of fermentation. Without salt present, the yeast will start to ferment too quickly. Too much salt and the yeast will not ferment enough, resulting in a reduced bread loaf volume.

• Salt can also work wonders in preserving the flavor of the flour that is being used.

The ratio between flour and salt can, of course, differ from recipe to recipe, as well as each person’s preference in taste. However, a good ratio that you can make use of for flour to salt is 120:2.

To put that in more understandable and practical terms, that means that for every 120 grams of flour that you use, you’ll need roughly 2 grams of salt. (Or, for approximately every 4,23 ounces of flour, you will need 0,07 ounces of salt.)

Once again, a free-to-use online ratio calculator will be of great help for these kinds of calculations. Don’t just wing it; follow the recipe as closely as possible and do the necessary calculations in order to be as accurate as possible. 

Conclusion

Diving into the nitty-gritty of each ingredient involved in making bread dough can be an overwhelming experience.

However, having a thorough understanding of each ingredient, how they work together, and the necessary amounts required is what separates the professionals from the amateurs! You’re all set to get started on the perfect loaf of bread!

TIP: Do you know what to do if you add too much flour to in bread dough? Check out this article:

Too Much Flour In Dough: What Happens And How To Fix It

Water is one of the key ingredients of every dough so it is really important to know why, when, and how much water to add to bread dough. Adding water to bread dough may seem like science but is it not so complicated when you know simple facts and rules.

The use of water in bread dough is essential to the overall consistency of the bread. Adding water to bread dough is necessary for the fermentation of yeast and is also required for the production of gluten. When you should add water and how much can differ depending on the bread dough recipe.

It’s no secret that baking bread, or almost anything for that matter, can be a little daunting. However, a thorough understanding of all the ingredients and how they work together can go a long way in helping you bake the perfect loaf of bread! Let’s look at the role and the importance of water in the making of bread dough.

Why Put Water In Bread Dough

Water is directly responsible for the consistency of bread dough. Once the water comes into contact with flour, it causes it to soften and swell up. Having a softer dough is preferred over more firm doughs since the process of yeast fermentation happens faster in a soft dough.

Simply put, water is one of the essential ingredients in any bread dough recipe. 

During this process, the presence of water is also responsible for the production of gluten, which gives the dough the stretchy quality that is needed. 

As for the other ingredients used in bread dough like sugar, salt, and yeast, water functions as a dispersing agent and is also necessary for dissolving each of these ingredients. 

What Kind Of Water Is Best For Bread Baking?

When compared to the other ingredients involved in making bread dough, the quality and type of water are often overlooked. For example, when it comes to flour, most people will be pretty specific as to what type they would prefer to use. 

With regards to the type of water used in bread dough, using tap water or filtered water is down to your personal preference. It is the quality of the water used that is more important than most are made aware. The quality of water can be broken down into just two components:

• Soft water
• Hard water

By now, you might be thinking, “How on earth can water be hard or soft?”. However, this has nothing to do with the texture of the water but instead their mineral content. The hardness or the softness of water is measured by the number of particles per million minerals. 

Water that contains 0 to 50 particles per million minerals (PPM) is considered to be soft. In the 60 – 120 PPM range, water is considered Medium-Hard.

Hard water has a PPM range of 120 – 180 and Very Hard water measures above 180 PPM. The best water to use for bread baking is medium-hard water of roughly 100 – 120 PPM. 

The amount of minerals, specifically Magnesium and Calcium in medium-hard water, is an ideal food source for yeast. If there are too few minerals, the yeast will not ferment.

Too much, and the proteins in your flour will struggle to absorb all of the water and can even tighten the gluten, which will ultimately negatively affect the texture of the bread.

To know whether the water you are using is hard or soft, you are able to purchase Hard water test kits from most home improvement stores at relatively affordable prices (roughly $5 – $10). However, there is a basic way to test it yourself, though it might not be as accurate. 

All you’ll need is a clear glass or plastic bottle that can be sealed, water, and some liquid soap. All you need to do is fill your bottle with the water that you want to test, add a few drops of liquid soap, close the bottle, and then shake it for a few seconds. 

If the number of fluffy bubbles is minimal and the water appears to be cloudy or milky, the water is definitely hard. On the other hand, soft water will have significant bubbles, and the water will be clear. 

 Why Use Ice Water For Dough

The temperature of the water used in bread dough will have a significant effect on the final product. This is mainly to do with how the temperature affects the yeast in the dough. 

During the mixing process, if the dough is too warm, the yeast will begin to ferment too quickly, which will cause the dough to tear when stretching it, and its taste might also become sour. 

Using ice water ensures that the dough, and specifically the yeast, stays cool during the mixing process. This causes the yeast to ferment at a much slower pace, which results in more complex flavors being developed, and the dough will also be much easier to stretch.

TIP: You might be interested in reading this article too:

Yeast In Bread Dough: Why, When & How Much (Complete Guide)

When To Add Water To Bread Dough

Especially when using a mixer, it will be a good idea to add your water BEFORE the flour, as this will prevent the flour from clumping and ultimately cause your bread to be lumpy. Make sure not to add more water once the dough has already started to rise.

How Much Water In Bread Dough

Using too much water will render the dough unable to hold its shape in the baking process and negatively affect the crumb of the final product. Too little, and the dough will become dry, negatively affecting the gluten, which will prevent the dough from being easily stretched. 

Using the correct amount of water in any bread dough recipe is essential to ensure adequate hydration of the dough. Ultimately, the exact amount of water that you use will depend on the size of the loaf you are attempting to bake.

Ratio Of Water To Flour In Bread Dough

The amount of water you used in your bread dough recipe is directly linked to the amount of flour needed. Having an adequate ratio to work with will be very helpful when wanting to change the amount of the recipe that you are following.

A safe ratio to use that is common to many bread dough recipes’ is a ratio of 5:3 flour to water (including your salt and yeast.)

 Conclusion

Even though it is an essential ingredient, water, without doubt, plays a much more intricate role in the making of bread dough than many realize. The Why, When, and How Much are essential things to know to make the perfect loaf. Now that we have each of those covered, you are all set to make your best loaf of bread yet!

TIP: Do you know what to do if you add too much water to in bread dough? Check out this article:

Too Much Water In Dough: What Happens And How To Fix It