The Myth of Air Humidity and Dough Management

Good morning, dear friends and fellow adventurers in the kitchen. I hope this message finds you with your hands in dough or at least with the aroma of freshly baked bread wafting through your home. Today, I want to take a moment to be with you and tackle one of those discussions that often crop up when we start kneading our beloved pizza or a lovely loaf for dinner.

You know those gray, humid days when it feels almost like swimming in the air? It’s during those moments that someone, perhaps a neighbor or that friend who thinks they're an expert, pops up to warn you. They caution that since the air is humid, you should use less water in the flour, or else the dough will become sticky and impossible to manage. Get comfortable because today I want to dismantle this house of cards and clear your doubts so you can go back to kneading with a light heart, unconcerned about the weather.

A Myth to Debunk

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of someone preparing a lovely tray of pizza for the family. We’re in the kitchen, the scale is ready, the flour is already in the bowl, and a storm is raging outside. The first thing we think is that the humidity we feel, the kind that makes our hair frizz or makes our clothes feel slightly heavy, somehow magically enters our dough, changing everything.

In reality, this is one of those urban legends passed down from generation to generation, much like the stories told around the fire, but with no real basis. If we take a moment to reflect calmly and do some simple calculations, we discover that we’re dealing with a virtually negligible effect.

The Numbers that Dispel the Myth

Imagine we’re in our home laboratory, that is, the kitchen. Even if it seems like the air is full of water, the amount of vapor surrounding us is tiny compared to how much water we pour in with the jug. Let’s consider a concrete example without resorting to complicated terms.

Think of a normal room with a pleasant temperature, let’s say around 68°F (20°C). If in that room the relative humidity is at fifty percent, a fairly common value, do you know how much water is contained in a cube of air measuring one meter on each side? Just ten grams of vapor. Ten grams: just a little over one tablespoon.

Now imagine you have in front of you your mixer with two pounds (1 kg) or four pounds (2 kg) of flour and about 21 oz (600g) to 24½ oz (700g) of water. Even if, absurdly, all the water contained in that cubic meter of air suddenly decided to plummet into the bowl, which of course never happens, would it really change anything? It’s like emptying a shot glass into a swimming pool: no one would notice.

Why the False Myth Persists

This is the key point we must firmly imprint in our minds to not let ourselves be confused …