Let's make some dough!

Every bread in this series starts with the same four ingredients: flour, water, salt, and mother dough. So why does one batch become a stiff pretzel and another a glassy, honeycombed Pan de Cristal?

Water.

In fact, these breads have far more in common than not. Each one uses the same 400 g of flour, the same 8 g of salt, the same 40–80 g of mother dough, the same fermentation time, and the same hot oven — 500°F for almost all of them. The one big difference is the water.

That difference is called hydration, and the math is easier than it sounds. Just compare the water to the flour:

300 g of water to 400 g of flour is 300/400, or 3/4, or 75%.

That's it. Change that one number and you change a lot: whether you have to physically knead your dough or can simply stretch and fold it, how defined your bread's shape is, and how tight or light the crumb is.

What's crumb? It's the inside of the loaf — the pattern of holes you see when you slice it. A dense crumb has small, tight, even holes, like a bagel. An open crumb has large, irregular holes — perfect for holding butter.

The chart above shows where each classic bread lives. The dark bars show the traditional range. The light bars show the extremes bakers have documented — real recipes that push each bread past its usual limits.

Notice how much the bars overlap. That overlap gives you license to shape a dough outside its normal shape, and grace when your measurements are a little off. A little extra water won't ruin your bread. It just moves you along the scale.

As you move up the scale, a few things change together. Lower on the scale, a dough will probably require physical kneading. Higher up, you may eliminate kneading altogether and simply use a few stretch and folds. The wetter the dough, the easier it is to mix, the harder it is to control its final shape, and the more open the crumb.

Here's the full spectrum, from stiffest to wettest.

50% — Pretzels & Grissini

The stiff-dough floor. At 50%, the dough is hard to mix and will probably require physical kneading, but it tightens into a smooth dough that holds any shape you give it — twists, knots, or pencil-thin breadsticks. The trade-off is a dense crumb. It's the easiest dough to shape and the best place to build hand skills.

See: Sourdough Pretzels & Grissini

55% — Bagels

Still firm — you may need to knead it a few minutes — but with a purpose: chew. The dough resists you, and that resistance teaches control. Minimal spread, strong structure, and a brief boil that sets a shiny, chewy crust before the oven ever does.

See: Sourdough Bagels — Strength and Chew

60% — Pizza

A long fermentation builds both flavor and extensibility.

See: Pizza (coming soon)

65% — Baguette

The stick. Firm enough to roll into long, thin loaves that hold their shape and score cleanly, yet wet enough for airy holes and a crisp crust. How it feels in your hands depends on its fermentation and gluten content: it may be elastic, springing back as you roll it, or extensible, stretching easily. The challenge is getting that signature shape without twisty, bulging loaves.

See: Sourdough Baguette

70% — Oval or Batard

The oval. Excuse my French, but the batard's name hints at its mixed parentage: it sits between the boule (the ball) and the baguette (the stick).

See: Sourdough Oval Loaf (Batard)

75% — Cannonball Loaf (Boule)

Our foundation loaf, and the one everything else builds from. Right in the middle of the hydration spectrum — soft enough to mix easily, firm enough to shape into a ball that holds. The easiest shape of all, and universally recognizable.

See: Cannonball Loaf (Boule)

80% — Focaccia

Now the dough gets sticky. Many of my students are intimidated at first — then discover how forgiving it is. No tight shaping: just stretch it into a pan, dimple, and let the oven do the work. The reward is a light, airy crumb that soaks up olive oil.

See: Focaccia – Easy, Flavorful, and Foolproof

85% — Ciabatta

Almost pourable. Very wet and sticky — work with wet hands and handle it as little as possible. Shaping it into a rough rectangle, circle, or oval is quick and easy, and it stays where it lands. But if that isn't the shape you wanted, it's hard to change. Extra folds build strength and reward you with big, open holes and a chewy texture.

See: Ciabatta – Light, Airy, and Irresistible

100% — Pan de Cristal

Up to equal weights of flour and water. Extreme and advanced: a dough my students call soup. It's quick and easy to shape into a blob, and it stays where it lands — but as it runs, puddles, and spreads into place, controlling its final shape is difficult. The payoff is a large, open crumb and a crust that shatters like glass.

See: Pan de Cristal (Crystal Bread)

The Order to Bake Them

Don't work the list from top to bottom. Start in the middle and cycle outward, back and forth across the scale:

1. Cannonball Loaf / Boule (75%) — the ball, home base

2. Oval / Batard (70%) — the in-between loaf

3. Focaccia (80%) — a step wetter

4. Baguette (65%) — the stick, a step drier

5. Ciabatta (85%) — wetter still

6. Bagels (55%) — drier still

7. Pretzels (50%) — the stiff floor

8. Pan de Cristal (100%) — last, because it's so extreme it's best left to seasoned bakers

Each step teaches your hands something the next one needs. Stiff doughs teach shaping. Wet doughs teach restraint. Moving back and forth across the middle, you'll learn to feel the difference between hydrations, and by the time you reach Pan de Cristal, you'll know what a 75% dough feels like with your eyes closed. You'll also know what to do when a dough comes out wetter than you planned.

Every hydration has a personality. This chart is your key to understanding any bread dough.

Until next time, let's give thanks for our daily bread…

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