Simply Baked by Roni

10/20/2026

10/20/2026

🍞📚 SOURDOUGH LEARNING CORNER!

Helpful methods vs. learning your dough! 👀

🫙 The aliquot method
🥣 A sample container on top of your dough
💧 The float test
📏 A straight-sided container

These methods can be helpful, but none tells the whole story!

A straight-sided container is a great tool for tracking rise, but even then, YOU STILL NEED TO USE YOUR EYES! 👀

Watch the rise, bubbles, texture, elasticity, and overall appearance. Learn to recognize what YOUR dough is telling you instead of relying on one test or measurement.

❤️ Tools help you measure. Observation helps you understand!

🍞 Simply Baked by Roni
❤️ Sourdough Codependency Club

10/18/2026

🫐 SUNDAY SOURDOUGH EXPERIMENT! 💙🍞

Today I’m going old school! No mixer for this loaf — I mixed everything by hand, just me, a bowl, and a little curiosity. 🙌

My starter was right at peak, so the timing was perfect to try something new! I’m experimenting with Top Crop Straight Up Berries blueberry juice in my dough to see what happens. The color is already beautiful, and I’m so curious to see how the loaf turns out!

One of the perks of living here in South Jersey, near the Blueberry Capital of the World, is discovering products from companies right here in our own backyard! 🫐

And now I’m eyeing their cranberry juice, too, because that looks like another fun experiment! 👀❤️

Will the blueberry juice bring flavor, color, or both? Only one way to find out!

Stay tuned for the finished loaf! 💙🍞

Crop Straight Up Berries

10/18/2026

🍞 LET’S TALK SOURDOUGH HYDRATION!

💧 Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100.

With 500g flour:
• 300g water = 60%
• 350g water = 70%
• 400g water = 80%
• 450g water = 90%

Higher hydration usually means wetter, stickier dough, but more water doesn’t automatically mean better bread!

🌾 FLOUR MATTERS!
Bread flour, all-purpose, whole wheat, and rye all absorb water differently. The same hydration can feel completely different depending on your flour.

💦 DOUGH TOO STICKY?
Let it rest 20–30 minutes before adding flour. Stretch-and-folds and coil folds help build strength. When trying a new flour, hold back some water and add it gradually.

⚠️ DON’T FORGET YOUR STARTER!
A 100g starter at 100% hydration contains 50g flour and 50g water.

For 500g flour + 375g water + 100g starter:
• Added-ingredient hydration = 75%
• True hydration = 425 ÷ 550 × 100 = 77.3%

Want 75% TRUE hydration with 500g total flour?
450g flour + 325g water + 100g starter gives you 500g total flour and 375g total water.

📏 Baker’s percentages use flour as 100%. For 500g flour, 350g water is 70%, and 10g salt is 2%.

❤️ Remember: fermentation, gluten development, temperature, and flour all matter. You don’t need high hydration for a beautiful loaf!

Happy baking! 🍞