Room temp water changed my sourdough more than any recipe

I struggled with dense loaves for about 8 months, tried every hydration tweak and folding schedule from three different bakers in Portland. Then I switched from cold tap water straight to a measured 78 degree mix before adding it to the flour, and the crumb opened up completely on my first try. Anyone else find that water temp matters more than the actual recipe percentages?

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james_butler24d ago

Did you try warming your flour too? Room temp water helped me, but the real game changer was mixing the water and flour together first, letting it sit for 30 minutes, and then adding the starter and salt. Once I did that, the dough felt completely different and I stopped chasing hydration numbers altogether.