Extra High Hydration Noodles
Physical properties of materials and their desired application determine methods and instruments of their handling and processing.
While a clay pot can be made on a potter’s wheel, an iron one would require using tools for smelting and molding.
Now, think noodles.
Hard and dry noodles. Soft and chewy noodles. Can both these types be made using the same noodle making equipment?
While it depends on many different factors, usually the answer is NO (before we go into the details on what it may depend on, please refer to >this article< in our Noodle Master Labs blog for more situational awareness on the subject)
It all stars with flour and water:
- the less water is added the more powdery is the dough, which would then require a great amount of pressure to form it into noodles
- on the other hand, up from a certain point of hydration (i.e. the volume of water added relative to a given amount of flour), after mixing, the dough lumps would be too bulky and sticky to simply pass them between rollers, which in its turn makes it necessary to first press the dough into blocks, and only then roll and cut those blocks into noodles
(note: here we are not talking about the extrusion type of noodles – which usually have high hydration by default).
Various additional factors, such as protein content of flour or use of other ingredients, also play their roles in determining which processing method and type of equipment would be more appropriate to use for making this or that variety of noodles.
This makes it clear that to be able to produce noodles with such a high hydration level that would usually be impossible to make on a Roller-type noodle machine (like “Richmen“, which is equipped only with a mixer unit), in addition to standard mixing, we would need to add another dough-processing stage – pressing.

To learn more about the topic of how different hydration properties and desired noodle characteristics (texture etc.) affect which type of noodle making equipment would be most appropriate to use, join our free online class scheduled for April 28, 2022.
In particular, we will address the issue of producing extra high hydration noodles using Roller type noodle machines.
The class is Free, and its live broadcast is accessible by the link that will be sent to your email address after you sign up.
IMPORTANT:
a link to the class’s livestream will be sent to your email address 30 minutes before the start
(NOTE: we are looking forward for, and would definitely welcome your watching the live broadcast, but should that be difficult, you would still be able to watch a recording of the class using the same link)
Time schedule
Time (Japanese time) | Contents |
4:30~4:35 (P.M.) | Introduction |
4:35 ~ 4:50 | A general lecture on importance of hydration in noodle making, and its role in determining appropriate noodle making equipment |
4:50 ~ 5:20 | Practical demonstration of production techniques to make extra high hydration noodles on a Roller type noodle machine |
5:20 ~ 5:30 | Cooking and plating session for extra high hydration noodles |
5:30 ~ 5:35 | Q&A |
*April 28, 4:30 P.M. Japanese time will be:
April 28, 00:30 A.M. in Los Angeles;
April 28, 2:30 A.M. in Dallas;
April 28, 3:30 A.M. in New York;
April 28, 10:30 A.M. in Helsinki;
9:30 A.M. in Berlin;
8:30 A.M. in Lisbon
*Schedule and timetable may be subject to change
*The workshop will be conducted in English
How to register for the class
You will receive an email with instructions for how to log in to the class’s livestream.
NOTE:
Please feel free to tell us about what kind of noodles you would want to see featured or any particular topic covered during the class.
Featured in the class
