How seasonal differences can affect your baking

My kitchen has a large window with a southern exposure. During the winter months, I enjoy the sunlight that floods the space with light, but in July…not so much. The kitchen becomes stifling hot and humid to boot. Over the years I’ve discovered that with the transition from one season to the next, changes in temperature and humidity can result in disastrous outcomes with your bread baking. It’s too bad I didn’t have this helpful advice from King Arthur Flour to provide me with a solution to this problem.

Yeast loves heat and humidity, but you can have too much of a good thing. If the dough gets overheated it can rise too quickly, robbing it of flavor compounds that only develop over time. If the dough gets too wet, it will not achieve the consistency necessary to form it into whatever shape it’s supposed to be. You might not think that the differences in temperature and humidity levels would affect flour, but flour is hygroscopic, meaning it will absorb moisture from the air. Small differences can result in big changes in your dough.

The good news is that you can make adjustments to compensate for these differences. KAF recommends reducing the water in your dough by about ten percent during the humid summer months to keep the moisture level where it should be. The more you bake, the more you will be able to recognize what your dough should look like for best results, and you will be able to more precisely calibrate the moisture level. If your kitchen is warmer than about 85 degrees F, they recommend reducing the temperature of the water or other liquid that goes into the dough.