📌 The Tangzhong Cheat Sheet
Most bakers make the same mistake when they try tangzhong for the first time. They cook the paste right, then add it to the dough on top of all the water their recipe already calls for. The result is a sticky mess they can barely shape. The water in your tangzhong counts toward your total hydration. Don't add it. Subtract it. A 1000g recipe at 70% hydration uses 700g water total. Pull 5% of your flour for tangzhong, that's 50g flour and 250g water for the paste. Your main dough then uses 950g flour and 450g water. Same hydration, just redistributed. I put together a full visual guide that walks through the ratio, the right paste consistency, and why 5% is the sweet spot for sandwich loaves. 🔗 https://vowful-lichen-9kw3.here.now/ If you've been fighting tangzhong dough, tell me where it went sideways in the comments. Odds are it was the math, not your technique. ~ Henry ⭐🔥