I am a big fan of sourdough breads with milk, but from my own personal experience you have to be flexible with the hydration. Milk breads tend to be more dense and can be very hard to knead. Usually I up the hydration even further than the recipe suggests: When my usual breads tend to have a ~70% hydration, I often go up to ~80% when working with milk.
I find milk breads easier to work with, but I use long cold ferments. At three days anything over about 60% is going to be sticky, but smooth. Shorter ferments can be quite supple, but it depends on ambient temperature.
Neat! But how do y’all manage to knead / work such high hydration dough? Every time I go above 60% it is like I’m working with temperamental mud; half of it stays on whichever surface I’m using.
Wet hands help. Also put it in a covered bowl, and instead of kneading actively, stretch it, fold it over, and give it a quarter turn 4 times, every half hour. After a few hours it’ll have good gluten development. I do 90% hydration bread this way.
Interesting. I have never tried to do such long ferments with milk breads. I have to try that out. Thanks for the tip!
Yes. For the hydration of this bread, I start with the 75% in the recipe and usually add a bit of extra water until it feels right.
