The Science of “Crumb”: How Hydration Percentages Change Your Bread
If you’ve ever walked into an artisanal bakery and marveled at a loaf of sourdough with those giant, lacy “holes,” or wondered why your homemade sandwich bread feels like a brick compared to a light-as-air ciabatta, you’ve already felt the effects of dough hydration and the mystery of the crumb.
To the untrained eye, it looks like magic. But in the baker’s kitchen, it’s actually mathematics. Moving into the world of professional baking means moving away from “cups of water” and into the world of hydration percentages. Today, we’re demystifying the science behind the soak and showing you how a simple shift in water content can completely transform the architecture of your bread.
Also read: Secrets to Perfect Yeast Breads: Unlocking the Art of Baking
What Exactly Is Hydration?
In professional baking, we use “Baker’s Percentages,” where every ingredient is measured as a weight relative to the flour. If you have 1,000 g of flour and you add 700 g of water, you have a 70% hydration dough.
It sounds technical, but it’s the “master key” to baking. The more water you add, the more “open” and wild the crumb becomes. Why? Because water translates to steam. In the heat of the oven, that water turns into gas, pushing the gluten walls outward to create those beautiful, airy pockets we all crave.
The Hydration Spectrum: Finding Your Style
Every loaf of bread sits somewhere on the hydration scale. Understanding where your favorite falls is the first step to mastering the bake:
- Low Hydration (50%–60%): Think of bagels or pretzels. These doughs are stiff, easy to handle, and result in a tight, uniform crumb. They are sturdy, chewy, and hold their shape perfectly.
- Medium Hydration (65%–75%): This is the “sweet spot” for most artisanal sourdoughs and baguettes. It’s tacky to the touch but manageable. It yields a soft interior with a crisp, thin crust.
- High Hydration (80%–90%+): This is the world of Ciabatta and Focaccia. The dough feels more like a thick batter. It’s difficult to handle, but the reward is a “shatterable” crust and an interior that is almost translucent with giant air bubbles.
The Baker’s Trade-Off: Handling vs. Holes
Here is the truth every experienced baker knows: higher hydration equals greater difficulty. When you increase the water, the dough becomes “extensible”—it wants to flow like a liquid rather than hold its shape like a ball. To master a high-hydration loaf, you can’t use traditional kneading. Instead, you move into the world of “Stretch and Folds.” By gently folding the wet dough over itself every 30 minutes, you build strength without deflating the precious air bubbles.
Why Education Changes the Way You Bake
Once you stop looking at a recipe as a set of instructions and start seeing it as a ratio, you gain total creative freedom. You realize that your “failed” sticky dough wasn’t a mistake—it was just a high-hydration loaf waiting for the right technique.
Rising to the occasion as a baker means understanding these invisible forces. When you master the science of the crumb, you aren’t just following a recipe; you’re engineering an experience.
Also read: How To Bake Bread
Conclusion
Learning hydration feels like being handed a map to a world you didn’t know existed. At first, it’s confusing terrain—wet doughs, sticky hands, sagging shapes. Then, slowly, the patterns appear. You stretch, fold, wait, and bake—and suddenly there it is: a loaf full of air, life, and flavor.
That moment changes you. Because once you know how hydration shapes your crumb, you stop wondering whether you’re cut out for baking—you know you are.
And each loaf becomes something better: not just food, but proof of how far you’ve come.
Disclaimer: This blog is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Results may vary depending on ingredients, equipment, and technique. Always follow safe baking practices and use caution when handling hot ovens, sharp tools, and food.