When your BREAD DOUGH just doesn't look right - 216 

I’m a 65 yr old starting to learn how to make bread when I was told about this great video on sourdough starters… this was the beginning of an amazing relationship with bread and an energetic, vibrant young man that just brightens my day every time I watch him. Thank you Jack, your knowledge is unbelievable…you encourage me and add a smile to my face everyday as I watch these wonderful videos 😊

Leaving "Cups" for weight was a BIG improvement in my breads, switching to METRIC system improved it even more! Good advice! I try not to notice "minor" inconsistencies with my bread dough with the little white lie to others as "It's artisanal bread!", but on the inside, I try to figure out what I did wrong, different, or find what else is different. Sometimes these little "accidents" give us something new and better (?)! Best reason to keep a Bakers Log Book. Mise en Place! Is the mark of a PRO!

Thanks Jack-over the course of lockdowns and all the other thrills of the past couple of years, you have been a reliable injection of wisdom, sanity and many chuckles into my homebaking learning curve. This video, however, OMG-SO GOOD! I look back on my early days of bread making and the anxieties when I thought something was wrong. Thanks to your videos, book and the Homebakers Club, I have become much more relaxed and confident and if something feels a bit skew whiff I no longer break a sweat-just take a note and get on with it. Thanks brother for all you taught me!

You are so helpful to so many people, and you ask nothing in return. You are wonderful. Glad you are better!

You probably forgot the most important one: Make sure the batteries on your scale are still ok 😄!

I just bought your book and am making your sourdough recipe today. I've made your recipe before when it was on your web site, and it makes a fantastic loaf, better than other recipes that I've tried from other books. It's so funny that I can hear your voice when I read your words; I'm sure it's because I've watched so many of your videos. You are a delight to watch and learn from. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and putting it out their to the masses. We appreciate you.

I ALWAYS get nuggets of wisdom from you, Jack! :) You also make me smile and often laugh out loud. You are a great teacher and entertainer. Your explanations are very clear. Thank you for this video. I often find myself in this exact situation. I will now hear your voice in my head as I am working and hopefully follow your advice.

You've just cracked me up with the margarine comment. Who would use something like that , 1 molecule away from plastic.. I have forgotten the salt before. Not good. But sliced up and lathered with "Garlic BUTTER" and toasted. MMMMMHHHH. I'll continue to watch the video now.

Such simple yet often overlooked bits of wisdom! Thank you, Jack!

Your videos are just wonderful. Love them, Jack. You always bring a smile to my face even on a wet, miserable July day in Devon. Now to make that bread ❤😊

Thank you Jack! Yes, you look much better this time! 🙂 Ah! And we're back in synchronicity! My bread is proofing as I watch. ☺️ Blessings always! 💜

This is my favourite video! Thank you for the comment about the different types of bread doughs having different hydration! I was making sourdough bagels for the first time and found the dough was far stiffer than I'm used to. Your comment made me feel so much better about it. PS They turned out perfect.

So glad you have recovered from your fall. Love your videos.

You are a delight, (with real butter ), as always. It brings pleasure inside when listening. Thank you so very much.

Thanks for continuing to share your helpful videos ☺️

seeing your bruises made me sad, but also made me grateful that you had not been seriously injured; it could have been so much worse. Glad to have our cheeky Jack back.

Great video! Very helpful!

I totally understood. What you said. Thank you

You explained it beautifully and logically. Thank you.

WOW! It's such a great class, thank you.

Great video! Such helpful information! You explained it all perfectly! Thank you!

This is a great video. So many things that I’d guess at and make a further mess. Now, I’ll write it down, pre measure and enjoy the process.

This was one of your best Jack. Thanks

I truly appreciate your humor! Thanks for the tips!

thank you for this video I have learned now why my bread dough is sticky and what to do next time when I make bread you are a lot of help with making bread and sourdough as well love what you do keep it up

Weighed ingredients helped me in the beginning. Much later I have finally learned how the dough should feel... Magic! 🥰

Excellent! Thanks for this!

Omg I’m laughing right meow. I just made a huge batch of bierocks using your simple bread recipe. I use it for everything. So I went to spray my amazing buns and realized I sprayed them with cleaner. My cleaner has a green label and my water has a grey label. Welp. No fixing that. I had to throw all my bierocks out. It was a sad moment. However I had some buns left over so I covered them in butter and honey and baked them and they came out fantastic!

I forgot to thank you for the laughter, you always make me smile

Great info, thanks!

Thank you , Jack, for a very clear ... and entertaining... video.

Yes, you’re looking very well. Back to your handsome self. For the first time ever I had dough that I couldn’t explain what happened, the dough was so loose, I must’ve done something wrong, but I was not sure what. After mixing the starter with the water, I realized I had used ounces for the starter and not grams. I went ahead and finished but the pre-and final steps were very difficult. But after a night in the refrigerator, I baked it and it’s not bad, my feeling is that sourdough does forgive you. But thank you very much for this video, extremely helpful.

Brilliant Jack, as always. I love your approach to ‘faff’ leave it out! It’s good to see your face looking so much better. This was really helpful and very entertaining. 😊

NOW I know what to do...weigh everything!!! Thanks Jack!

Another winner Jack. Thanks for the 216th time!! If I may, another suggestion for dry or wet dough; climate. I've found dough reacts differently in summer and winter. But especially between sea level and mountain kitchens.

This came in a week too late 😂. I just threw a bowl of dough that I had kneaded for 30 minutes no less! Got fedup, chucked the dough and decided I’ll follow the measurements next time.

Yes I need to start keeping a baking journal! I’m really enjoying the Homebakers Club! I’m going to make the Banana bread tomorrow!

Thank you Jack so glad your do well now .xxx

Commenting for the butter. Butter is love!

Sound advice Jack. All of that should give people the tools to fix issues without stress and hopefully without binning anything. Well done.

"I don't know what to tell you…" You tell 'em, *_Buy some scales!_* 🤣

Great info here. Weigh - calculate - correct. Such an obvious thing to do, so simple. Hands up, how many of us never thought to do this ✋

I was taught in culinary school, to add either flour or water a tablespoon at a time until it seems right. I have done that and my wet dough came out perfect. But I took notes and will try your method next time.

Hi Jack you’re an absolute star, I’ve made several sourdough breads and happy with my starter, which is always ready when I want it. But I did make one loaf which was a bit tasteless… why….. I had forgotten the salt, this was fixed with a sprinkle of good quality salt over the butter (we now only buy unsalted butter, for the very reason so we know there’s decent salt going in it).

Great video with tons of good info. The best advice for many things in addition to bread making is to buy a notebook and use it. I would also add to time and date stamp the entries for future reference.

Perfect!!

Oh boy, Jack. I thought you had found a magic way to take an accidental extra ingredient out of the dough 🤣

Brilliant Jack I love your easy manner and am also a ‘Lock Down’ baker and always telling people to follow you. My general line is ‘he’s not just my Go To baker, he’s also my Life Coach as well 👨‍🍳👍.

You’re the best!

Love this one, Jack! Very helpful and informative. You're looking as handsome as ever, btw!

I forgot my yeast and didn't realise until it was supposed to be bulk fermenting but nothing was happening. I added the yeast to about 5 tbl of water and added a bit more flour till it felt right. Loaves came out great.

I just don’t have a decent set of scales jack, just. I know ok. But it’s metric cups for the foreseeable future. So, this is a handy video

Thank you so much! My brain said "yeah I know it's like 9pm, and I've never made bread before, but like...I wanna make milk bread!" I knew from the start that I wouldn't get what I needed since I wasn't weighing the flour, and I decided to not bust out the food scale anyways. And of course, I lived to regret it. "Oh cool is the bread still supposed to still be this sticky? Does it need more kneading? For how long? I'll add a little more flour but I'm nervous about overdoing it." Just from the video visuals alone and the fact I'm using all-purpose flour, I'm guessing it's not enough flour. Whatever the issue is, even if I can't fix it so late at night, I don't mind and I'll happily eat the mess I make lol. Given I have work tomorrow, I'll just throw caution to the wind, proof it, and go with the flow. But this video will be excellent for the future when I uh, decide to bake bread at a sensible hour. Cheers!

It’s a good idea to weigh your empty mixing bowl and write the weight in the back of your notebook. That way you already have it when you need it and don’t have to scrape your mixture into another bowl to weigh.

Here's what I want to know... I live in a very humid area and I believe this influences the feel of the dough. Recipes calling for cups of flour usually give a range, say like 4-5 Cups, so I add 4 Cups and mix, and if the dough is not becoming smooth or pulling away from the mixer bowl, I add additional flour a little at a time until it reaches the consistency the recipe author describes in the recipe (usually a smooth dough, unless otherwise stated). But in recipes that call for you to weigh your ingredients, it doesn't allow for adjustment if its been raining for a week and you feel like you are baking in a tropical rain forest. I use my mixer to help my arthritic hands out, but always hand knead some before shaping. I believe I end up using excessive amounts of flour on the counter in the kneading process on those recipes that I trust the weights, whereas I could have adjusted in the bowl if I felt I had the permission of the recipe when it provides a range. So the question is, if you were baking in extreme weather (either very humid OR arid), would you tweak the recipe or be a stickler to the weights, and how would that affect the end result. The times I have stuck to the recipe, I ended up using an unknown amount of flour on the counter top trying to get the dough into a condition that it would shape up, so now I've still tweaked the recipe, but in a way that is hard to document for future reference.

Oh for gods sake now I need a bread journal

I'm a poor stubborn American.. I have to use cups until I can afford a kitchen scale. Glad you are feeling better!

8:23 I like my Country Crock thank you very much. :P

in my experience, if i simply follow the recipe precisely (bake with jack) it never looks "not right." so my first suspicion if it's not right would be "did i follow the recipe?"

I'm sure this isn't recommended, but I tend to add water and/or oil if it's dry, or I add flour if it's wet. I'm just lazy.

Forgetting to add salt is my common error!

Well...I have to admit. I'm the "dump in what's missing (wet/dry) and keep dumping until the dough feels right". As you can see, I'm not a perfectionist. 😉😜And....I rarely stress about mistakes. But I will say this is still a helpful video bc it makes you think AND most importantly - you are fun to watch!! Keep up the great work and glad you have healed up!

Pleased to hear you weigh water (milk is the same to all intents and purposes). 1 litre (1000ml) is 1000grams. I weigh the oil directly into the well of flour in the bowl. Saves washing another dish/spoon. Because I use 250g of wholemeal and 250g of white bread flour then I find 315g of water is better. Mungoswells flour. I start the yeast off in 215 g of cold and 100g of boiled water and half to one teaspoon of sugar. Wait until it froths. Then add the oil and then the yeast/water (1 level teaspoon of yeast is sufficient. Even 0.5 teaspoon.) It just takes a bit longer to prove. I fully agree with measuring. That way you can adjust for the flour you use and like you say, make notes..

Always start from a "to wet" stage if you try something new. So keep 2 tablespoons flour to the side. you can always add in flower easy but adding in water is a lot more bothersome.

Things like altitude and weather can make a difference to dough no matter how accurately you weigh stuff.

This was great for me, first off, pre-weighing the ingredients! Second, get a note book and a pencil😃

For no-knead baguettes, if I don’t use 400g of water to 500g of flour, the bread turns out too dense and without air holes. But the dough is sticky and hard to work with.

Looking good Jack..well better than you did 😂. Thanks for another fun video. You make everything so much easier and certainly less stressful. I'm still enjoying the process and now haven't bought a shop bought loaf since 2020 first lockdown. My bread is so much better than the c**d in the supermarkets! 😊

Hi Jack sorry i did not whatch it! Flour is flour not ! Strenght was it mention CRUCIAL.

Love making bread made a cheese loaf yesterday weighed my jug as well as the water so left dough dry lol

What did you do to get a black eye?

Hello Jack. I’m Vicki from Brisbane Australia. I have made your starter from scratch but it won’t rise at all and there is no smell to it whatsoever. I don’t know what I’m doing doing wrong. I will keep feeding my starter and starts a new starter off as well. Kind regards.

Had a potentially bad bread day recently that might amuse you.. I wanted to take a loaf to my brother and was making a multigrain loaf (Dan Lepard) and realised too late that I'd weighed up 200gm of wheat/rye grain required in the recipe, then cooked/soaked it and the next morning bunged the lot into my dough... by which time it must've weighed more like 300+ gms. Well, rather than waste it as it was full of lots of good things I carried on, but just in case of a disaster decided to make a stonebaked bloomer (yours, from Bread Everyday) but halve the ingredients to make just one .... again I realised TOO LATE that I'd put in the whole quota of olive oil. So I did what you say in the video... added the other half of the ingredients again, without the olive oil.... Well, the end of the story is that the multigrain loaf was a little bit weird and didn't rise a great deal but actually tasted okay, and the two bloomers were fab - my brothers both thought I'd bought them from a fancy artisan bakery.... ho hum.

I live in a very humid climate. Is that going to affect my dough?

Help Jack! I’ve completely mastered the sourdough starter, even doubling to 100g. (Thank you) But I’d like to know how can I make 200 to 300 grams? Is it as simple as just add that much to the scrapings and it will be ready in the morning or would the scrapings not be enough to feed that much flour/water add? Maybe I need to have 2 separate jars of starter. Please let me know! Thanks Jack!

You look great even with a banged up face! Thanks for the info!

Hi Jack. I’m making your whole meal sourdough for the second time and it’s still really wet and not rising. I’ve weighed the ingredients and it’s bang on. My starter was really bubbly. But it’s so wet that after 3 hrs (1 +1.5 +.5) it’s still just a wet flop in the bowl, holding together and stretchy but no rise or shape (unlike your over fermentation video). I’ve decided to just put it in the fridge overnight and see what happens tomorrow. Was that right? Thank you 😊

Why not butter??? It's called being allergic to dairy 🧈

I don’t get it, your videos have thousands of views and only a few hundred likes. Come on people! Smash that thumbs up button!

Where was this video when O started baking and I thought bread flour was just more expensive AP flour and kept ripping my hair out wondering why none of my breads had any strength?

How do you find out how much a dough is supposed to weigh, especially if the recipe is written in cups/tops, etc? Along those lines, how do you convert a recipe from cups to grams since you mention that different flours have different weights?

I had a go at making a sourdough for the first time last week. Big fat fail! I watched all your videos about making the starter and got really excellent results with my starter, it was nice and excited, lots of good bubbles and volume growth. But when I made the dough it just did not rise in the slightest over the many hours of resting and folding. I gave up, left it overnight and came down in the morning to an over prooved bowl of mess. Fortunately I went into it with very low expectations, I had heard somewhere that most peoples first attempt fails, but I confess that it has put me right off trying again. I can't justify all that time commitment and ingredients on the possibility that it may or may not work.

I’m going to ask an expert…does it make a difference if you sift flour in a yeasted recipe? 😮😮😮

👍👌🏻