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Had an old timer show me the 'window test' for dough hydration and it changed how I bake
So I was at this tiny bakery in Portland last summer, just grabbing a loaf, and the baker noticed me staring at his croissant lamination. He was probably 70, hands all floury, and he just said 'You're overthinking it, kid. Watch.' He took a piece of my dough and stretched it thin against the window until I could read a sign through it. Told me that's how you know the gluten is right, not by time or recipe numbers. I've been doing it ever since and my breads come out way more consistent. Has anyone else picked up a weird old trick like that from a random baker?
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the_leo1mo ago
That "window test" thing is gold, I learned it from a baker in Italy who just grunted and pointed at the light coming through.
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nancyjones1mo ago
Oh absolutely, let me tell you why that window test is overrated and kind of pointless. That old baker might have been a nice guy but using light to see through dough tells you nothing about actual hydration or gluten development compared to just feeling it with your fingers. The window test only works for certain doughs and certain flours, so if you switch to whole wheat or rye, you'll never get that see-through effect anyway. Plenty of people get perfect bread without ever holding their dough up to a window, it's just a quirky ritual that old timers pass down because it looks impressive. You can have great gluten development and still get a tear in the dough from a dry spot or a seed, so relying on that test is asking for trouble. Honestly, I'd rather trust a calibrated scale and a proper stretch and fold schedule than playing shadow puppets with my bread.
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