It’s the percentage of water compared to flour in your dough. This is one of the numbers that changes everything. Higher hydration gives you a softer dough and a more open crumb, but it’s stickier and harder to handle. Lower hydration gives you more control, but a tighter crumb. That’s the tradeoff. In your kitchen, if your dough feels loose and sticky, you’re working at higher hydration. If it feels firm and easy to shape, you’re lower. Start paying attention to how hydration changes the feel of your dough in your hands. Hydration is one of 150 baking terms inside the Crust and Crumb Glossary. If you want to go deeper on how water content affects dough handling and crumb structure, come find us at Crust and Crumb Academy, the #1 bread baking community on Skool. Come bake with us. https://skoo.ly/crust-crumb-academy ~ Henry ⭐🔥

... about the way you cook, eat, or experience food — what would it be? More confidence? More time? More creativity? More commitment? Or maybe just being able to describe it better. 👉 Your turn:What’s the one thing you’d change? Drop it below 👇 🔗 https://www.skool.com/how-to-write-about-food-8335/about

What’s something you’ve done in your life that 90% of people haven’t?💪 Big or small… doesn’t matter. I’ll start in the comments!👀

We just crossed 800 members in 15 1/2 weeks inside Crust and Crumb Academy…and I’m still letting it sink in. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼: Crust and Crumb Academy is where home bakers come to actually get better at the craft. Not likes. Not content for the sake of content. Real teaching. Real bakes. Real community. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲: 🔥 Saturday Bake-Alongs every week. We bake together. I teach live while we’re in it. The thread is where the learning happens. 🎓 A full Classroom Sourdough, enriched doughs, scoring, yeasted breads…and even the business side if you want to sell. 📚 The Recipe Pantry Every recipe built to a Gold Standard. Baker’s math. Dual measurements. Phases. Troubleshooting. A glossary built right into the recipe so you understand the why. 🧭 Tools that actually help150-term Crust and Crumb Glossary 🧭 Fermentation Compass to read your dough in real time 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: 🥇 #1 Bread Baking Community on Skool 🥇 #1 Sourdough Community on Skool ⭐ #1 5-Star Certified Community on ProveWorth 🏆 Top 1% of all communities on Skool 📈 #9 in Hobbies on Skool If you’ve been trying to figure out bread on your own…and you’re tired of the noise… Come join us. 👇 🔗 https://skoo.ly/crust-crumb-academy Bakers don’t come here to get likes. They come here to get better. 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙. 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨. Henry ⭐🔥

Nine signals. One verdict. No charts to print. I built this because bulk fermentation is where most bakers struggle. Most advice is either “just guess” or a three-page lab report. Neither helps you in the moment. The Fermentation Compass reads what your dough is telling you right now: rise percentage, dome shape, surface bubbles, wobble, windowpane, smell, and more. Everything rolls into one clear call: → Underproofed → Getting close → In the zone → Pushing it → Overproofed It also adjusts for your dough. High hydration. Whole grain. Low leaven. It accounts for it. This is a free tool for Crust & Crumb Academy members. Built for bakers who don’t come here to get likes, but to get better. Come bake with us 👉 https://skoo.ly/crust-crumb-academy