Understanding Sourdough Percentages
Sourdough recipes almost always use Baker's Percentages. This means every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the total flour weight. Total flour is always exactly 100%.
- Hydration (Water): 70% hydration means for every 1000g of flour, you use 700g of water. Lower hydration (65-70%) is easier to shape and perfect for beginners. Higher hydration (75-85%) yields a more open, airy crumb but results in sticky dough that requires experience to handle.
- Inoculation (Starter): The standard is 20%. This dictates how fast your dough will ferment. If your kitchen is very hot in summer, drop this to 10-15% to prevent over-proofing. In winter, you might increase it to 25%. (Note: This calculator assumes a 100% hydration starter, meaning half flour, half water).
- Salt: Almost universally set at 2% for bread. It tightens the gluten structure and slows down yeast activity slightly, preventing runaway fermentation.
How to Use This Tool
You can approach your bake in two ways:
1. Target Dough Weight: If you know you want two loaves weighing 850g each (total 1700g), type 1700 into the Total Dough box. The calculator will work backward to tell you exactly how much flour, water, and starter you need.
2. Flour-First: If you have exactly 500g of bread flour left in your bag, type 500 into the Total Flour box. The calculator will scale everything else to match.
The Baking Schedule
The timeline provided is a standard guideline for a 20% starter recipe at a comfortable room temperature (~72°F/22°C). Sourdough is a living thing — watch the dough, not the clock.
- If your kitchen is warmer, bulk fermentation will happen much faster.
- If your kitchen is colder, it may take hours longer than the timeline suggests.
- A dough is fully proofed when it has increased in volume by 30-50%, is jiggly, domed at the edges, and holds an indentation slightly when poked.