Water

A bâtard with one long score and an ear — the shape used in the teaching country loaf.

Printed from https://gourmetgastronomer.com/ingredients/water/

The second ingredient in bread dough by weight, and the medium of fermentation, gluten formation, and oven steam.

Appears in Learn sourdough · Previous: Wheat flour · Next: Sourdough starter

In bread, water is not a neutral backdrop. Hydration changes how Wheat flour feels, how Gluten develops, and how fast Fermentation runs. Starters are flour plus water before they are anything else.

Mineral content and temperature are real variables. This page does not invent a municipal water profile for San Francisco or anywhere else. Taste the dough; adjust ¹.

Formulas

Country loaf (teaching formula)

Ingredient

Connected from

Appears in pathways

Learn sourdough

Sources & further exploration

Cited in this article

Raymond Calvel. The Taste of Bread. Aspen Publishers. 2001. ISBN 978-0-8342-1646-4

Updated 2026-08-25. gg:ingredient:water · CC BY 4.0

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Gourmet Gastronomer. "Water." Gourmet Gastronomer. Updated August 25, 2026. https://gourmetgastronomer.com/ingredients/water/.

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Gourmet Gastronomer. (2026, August 25). Water. https://gourmetgastronomer.com/ingredients/water/