Don’t add all your moisture at once. The weather can change things a fair bit. Either flour or oil your hands.
Comment on Daily Discussion Thread: Monday, 17 February 2025
danwritesbooks@aussie.zone 5 days ago
I have a question for our bakers and chefs and general kitchen superstars - whenever I try to make something doughy - like pretzels or scones - the mix is always way too sticky. I follow the advice on the ingredients, but yeah, too sticky so I end up essentially eating half the mix off my fingertips.
Any suggestions on how to combat this? Is it simply needing to add more flour?
Seagoon_@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Use lots of flour on the bench or board, rub flour into your rolling pin and rub flour onto your hands before handling dough.
danwritesbooks@aussie.zone 4 days ago
I have floured the board and hands previously, but my work area isn’t the best and I need a bigger board too (and one that doesn’t move). Thanks!
melbaboutown@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Be careful when adding more flour as you can accidentally use too much and throw off the ratio. I’m told that continuing to knead makes it go smooth elastic and less sticky but maybe a dough scraper would help get it off the surface until that point.
I’m not a hugely experienced baker but hopefully that helps somewhat
danwritesbooks@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Thanks. I’m going to try make a pizza from scratch next weekend to put in the smoker so trying to figure out ways to avoid the sticky problem. I’ll see if I can grab a dough scraper as well :)
Taleya@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Ooh let me pester His Lordship, he’s all anout the puzza dough and long chain proteins and kneading
melbaboutown@aussie.zone 5 days ago
To be clear you can add flour! Just a little at a time. I’ve definitely added too much before and the dough becomes stiff and dense.
Also I googled and you can make dough less sticky by resting in the fridge.
Taleya@aussie.zone 5 days ago
he says do a lower hydration dough (ratio water to flour). He does a 60% hydration, 3-5 day ferment, allows more gluten to form. Kenji has a “fool proof no knead pizza” recipe online that’s easy and a banger apparently. Seriouseats.com
danwritesbooks@aussie.zone 4 days ago
Thanks! I’ll take a look. Might save me a headache.
StudChud@aussie.zone 5 days ago
I’ve made bread, pizza bases, focaccia, and pretzels - I tend to add the moisture in bits and used a silicone dough scraper or silicone spatula to mix it together initially in the bowl. Keep adding the moisture in bits and mix it in.
Sometimes it may require more flour or moisture than what the recipe calls for, depending on room temp and humidity, so add those in bits, mix in, and see what it looks like. Once it starts coming together naturally into a ball, add oil to your hands, lightly flour the benchtop and start kneading. Olive oil is good for making pizza bases, adds a lil flavour. For bread, try veggie oil, less flavour added to the dough.
Rest it until it doubles in size and follow the recipe (some call for another kneading and rest, others will say to move on to baking/rolling it out into pizza shape). You don’t need to bake the pizza dough before adding ingredients, but you can if you want a crunchy base.
If you’re using yeast, add just a small small pinch of sugar. Sugar helps the yeast get started, and a small enough pinch you won’t notice it in the final product. Be careful using American recipes, as they tend to want you to add quite a lot of sugar; their bread is quite sweet - which can be off-putting if you’re looking for a more savoury loaf.
If you’re making pretzels, shape into the pretzel shape, and you will need to boil them before baking. I don’t use lye (because I don’t know how to dispose of it safely while in an apartment), but baking soda does the trick.
melbaboutown@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Because I don’t know if I did it wrong - what about when you knead, rise, then knead again and roll it out? It turned out ok for my pizza dough but I have a feeling that wouldn’t work for bread
StudChud@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Pizza is fine for that process :) mainly because it is being rolled out so the gluten structures don’t need to be massive, and it’s going to be baked as a flat circle.
For bread loafs, I would knead, rise, knead, rise - then handle carefully into the bread tin (or whatever baking tin you’re using) without pounding or kneading it again. The kneading is to get the gluten to stick to itself and form “chambers”, and the rising is so the yeast gas is trapped in those “chambers” - makes it fluffy! By kneading it again before adding to the bread tin, it causes those bubbles to collapse, trapping less yeast-gas. Your going to collapse them slightly by moving the dough, but not as much by pounding it again :) Again, trial and error as room temp and humidity does affect it, my loafs turn out different in summer vs winter.
melbaboutown@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Thanks. I’m not really making either these days but it was something I was a little unclear on after so long
danwritesbooks@aussie.zone 4 days ago
This is awesome. Thank you :)
CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone 5 days ago
When you’re mixing in the bowl, if your dough is coming away from the bowl easy then you’ve got enough flour in there. Before you chuck your hands in there flour them too.
Thornburywitch@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Flour to HANDS, not to the dough. I’m serious. What is happening is that the oils/moisture on your skin is sticking to the dough (whatever sort). So wash hands, dry well and then dust with flour back AND front- use at least 1 tablespoon and shake off excess to one side to use under the dough later. Then punch the dough, fold and whack it until it comes together. At least 3-5 times. Then knead or not depending on recipie. DON"T KNEAD MUFFINS, and scones only lightly. Chilling the dough once it’s come together does help.
Or you can embrace the sticky, and then when the dough comes together rub off the sticky bits into the dough (only if hands are clean). Dough behaves a bit like bluetack in that it can be rubbed into balls that attract other balls.
danwritesbooks@aussie.zone 4 days ago
I have tried flour to the hands, and it does seem to improve it a bit. But the rest of what you said I haven’t. I will give it a go. Thanks :)