High hydration breads, ie., those made with sloppy doughs, are generally not for the faint-hearted! Go to the library and borrow: The Bread Bakers' Apprentice by Reinhart and The Italian Baker by Carol Field. These should help. Also visit alt.bread.recipes and pose your question. You may get a reply from John Wright, a tyke amateur baker (the King of Glop) who specialises in VERY sloppy doughs. Also visit the abr FAQs at:
I'm afraid there is no easy answer. You just have to practise handling these doughs.
Here is John's method that I saved some time ago:
STRETCH AND FOLD TECHNIQUE It's not my recipe - the formula is Peter Reinhart's - the method is derivedfrom his - I use more folds and I have simplified some of the quanbreasties. Focaccia after (and greatly indebted to) Peter Reinhart. This bread requires an overnight rest in the fridge for full flavour though avery fine bread can be made easily in one day. Makes 2 X 23 centimetre round Focaccia. INGREDIENTS 500 grams of the highest protein content white flour you can find.350 grams warm water70 grams good olive oil2 teaspoons salt2 teaspoons instant (sometimes called fast-action) dried yeastMore olive oil for the tins and the proving dough - to taste - see later.Salt for the tops of the loaves - to taste. EQUIPMENT A large mixing bowl, you want room to sweep the spoon under the dough.A chopstickA large metal spoon.A small bowl or jug containig cold water to wet the spoon2 X 25 cm round shallow, metal, pans.A dough scraper often called a "bench knife".A flour shakerA pastry brushClingfilm A food-grade plastic bag large enough to contain the dough.A water spray misterBakestones - optional, they don't make that much difference in this bread.A cooling rack. MIXING Put the flour salt and yeast into the bowl and mix. Add the water and oil andstir with the chopstick (You wondered about that didn't you? Sounds crazy butfor initial rough mixing a chopstick is perfect.) to roughly combine. Dip thespoon in the cold water and get under the roughly mixed dough in the bowlstirring and scooping, 3 or 4 times. Wet the spoon again and scoop and stir thedough. Repeat until the dough shows a little cohesion and forms a sticky mbuttthat balls when you scoop the spoon under it. Takes about about 2 minutes orless for me. Leave the dough to relax for 10 minutes then dip and mix anotherminute. Flour the counter well, wet the spoon again and use it to scrape thewet glop in the bowl onto the counter. The mixture will not be smooth. STRETCH AND FOLD 1 Flour the scraper and glop (Don't worry - it doesn't stay that sticky), and shape it into a rough square cover with clingfilm and leave for 10 minutes.Flour your hands, grip one side of the dough and pull it sideways until 3 Xoriginal length and repeat for the other side, forming a rectangle. Fold onethird of the rectangle into the middle and then fold the remaining third overthe top of the first fold. Rotate the dough, horizontally through 90 degrees,flour lightly, brush off excess flour, cover with clingfilm and leave in awarm place for 20 minutes. Repeat the stretching, folding and turning 3 times. The dough will be moreelastic and easier to handle after each fold. If the dough sticks to the counter (it often does in the early stages), flourthe scraper and slide it under the dough to release it. For best flavour you now need to slow down the fermentation by chilling thedough overnight but if you don't want to wait you can proceed to stretch andfold 2. OVERNIGHT Wrap the dough loosely in clingfilm, put into a plastic bag, seal with a tieand place in the fridge. Leav overnight. STRETCH AND FOLD 2 Take the dough out of it's wrappings, place on the floured counter, cover andallow to start rising again (1 1-2 hours or so, lots of variables here) thenstretch, fold and turn twice more. The dough should now be very elastic SHAPING AND PROVING Leave to rest for 10 minutes, cut into 2 pieces and shape each piece into aball. Rest for 10 minutes. Oil the pans to taste. I like olive oil so I use 2tablespoons per pan but it's up to you. Place the balls of dough in the centreof the pans and brush the tops generously with oil. Using your fingertipsdimple and spread the dough to the edge of the pans, this may take up to anhour of repeated small spreadings interspersed with rests. When the dough isout to the edges of the pans, brush with more oil, sprinkle with salt totaste, I Iike lots, cover with film and leave for round about 1 1-2 hours (manyvariables here also) until soft puffy and bubbly - you will be able to see thebubbles under the top of the dough. The pans should feel light. BAKING The oven will have been preheated to 230 C, bakestones optional, while thedough proves. Mist the tops of the bread with water, sprinkle a few drops ofoil over and place in the heated oven and leave for 15 minutes. After 15minutes test the dough by tappping the base (tricky with flat bread like this)or measuring the internal temp (95 C) - as a guide mine normally take 20minutes. Slide out of the pans onto racks, brush the edges and rim with oil andlet cool for 40 minutes. Eat and marvel at how easy it is to makebread of this standard.. "Your mouthwill love you for the rest of your life." John
