Sourdough hydration calculator

A sourdough calculator is an essential tool for bakers that helps determine hydration levels, starter percentages, and flour ratios for creating the perfect loaf of sourdough bread. These calculators typically factor in variables such as:Total dough weight desiredHydration percentageStarter percentage and hydrationSalt percentageAdditional ingredientsLet’s say you want to make a basic sourdough loaf with:Target dough weight: 1000gHydration: 75%Starter: 20% (100% hydration)Salt: 2% Desired WeightHydrationStarter %Flour (g)Water (g)Starter (g)Salt (g)500g65%20%285185576500g70%20%294205576500g75%20%300225576500g80%20%307245576750g65%20%450292.5759.0750g70%25%425297.5106.259.0750g75%25%4003001009.0750g80%30%375300112.59.01000g65%20%606.25393.7512512.51000g70%25%58825214712.51000g75%30%57142817112.51000g80%30%53242516012.51500g65%20%90058518022.51500g70%25%850595212.522.51500g75%30%80060024022.51500g80%30%75060022522.5Sourdough Ratio FormulaThe sourdough formula is based on what bakers call “baker’s percentages,”:A sourdough formula consists of:Flour (100%)Water (varies, typically 65-85%)Starter (15-30%)Salt (1.8-2.2%)For a 70% hydration bread with 20% starter and 2% salt:Total flour weight: 500g (100%)Water: 350g (70%)Starter: 100g (20%)Salt: 10g (2%)How do you calculate sourdough ratio?Determine total flour weight (including flour in starter)Calculate water content (including water in starter)Factor in starter hydrationAdjust for desired final dough hydrationFor a 75% hydration dough using 20% starter at 100% hydration:Base flour: 400gStarter (20%): 80g (contains 40g flour + 40g water)Additional water needed: 260gTotal hydration = (300g water / 400g flour) × 100 = 75%What is the best ratio for sourdough bread?Hydration: 65-80% for beginners, up to 90% for experienced bakersStarter: 15-30% of total flour weightSalt: 1.8-2.2% of total flour weightTotal flour: 500g (100%)Water: 350g (70% hydration)Starter: 100g (20%)Salt: 10g (2%)The optimal sourdough ratio varies depending on flour type, desired outcome, and baker’s experience. How to calculate sourdough weight?Total Weight = Flour + Water + Starter + Salt + Additional IngredientsCalculating total sourdough weight involves adding all ingredient weights while considering the moisture content of each component.Flour: 500gWater: 350gStarter: 100gSalt: 10gTotal Dough Weight = 960gHow to figure out how much sourdough starter to use?For overnight fermentation (8-12 hours): 15-20%For same-day baking (4-8 hours): 25-30%For warm conditions: Reduce by 5%For cold conditions: Increase by 5%For a 1000g loaf with 20% starter:Total flour: 500gStarter needed = 500g × 20% = 100gDetermining the correct amount of starter depends on:Desired fermentation timeRoom temperatureFlour strengthRecipe requirementsWhat does higher hydration do for sourdough?Higher hydration in sourdough significantly impacts the final bread:Creates a more open crumb structureProduces larger holes in the breadResults in a thinner, crispier crustExtends shelf lifeIncreases dough extensibilityStandard vs High Hydration (1000g total dough)Standard (70%):- Flour: 565g- Water: 395g- Starter: 30g- Salt: 10gHigh (80%):- Flour: 532g- Water: 428g- Starter: 30g- Salt: 10gRelated Food Calculators:Raw Chicken to Cooked Chicken WeightRaw to Cooked Meat Weight ConversionVinegar Dilution CalculatorSubway Calories CalculatorSelf-Raising Flour CalculatorAlcohol Dilution CalculatorPulled Pork CalculatorBaker’s Percentage CalculatorSourdough Hydration CalculatorIce Cream Calculator Per PersonParty Drink CalculatorUnpopped Popcorn to PoppedBBQ CalculatorPriming Sugar Calculator Thanks for visiting and reading! My name is Garth, and I would like to welcome you to my personal birding space. Post navigation

Single Flour Multiple Flour Blend Choose Your Flour Type: Recipe Flour Weight (grams) Liquid Weight (grams): water, milk, etc. Sourdough Starter/Levain Weight (grams) Starter Hydration (%) (e.g., 100 for a 100% hydration starter) Important Notes: Overall hydration = (Total Liquid + Water from Starter) ÷ (Total Flour + Flour from Starter) × 100. In the Single Flour option, the recipe flour weight is entered directly. For blends, a weighted recommended hydration is calculated based on the mix. The starter/levain splits into flour and water based on its hydration percentage. Measure all ingredients in grams for best accuracy. How to Use This Calculator: Select “Single Flour” or “Multiple Flour Blend” above. If using a single flour: choose it from the dropdown and enter its weight. If using a blend: add each flour (using the rows provided) and its weight. Use the “X” button to delete a row. Enter your liquid weight and sourdough starter details. Click “Calculate Hydration” – the calculator will compute overall hydration and compare it to the recommended range.

To use our sourdough bread calculator, you just need to input your desired final bread weight. This will allow the calculator to determine the amount of flour, water, salt, and sourdough starter you will need to make your bread. Yes! As easy as that!Optionally, you can also input the hydration percentage, which is the ratio of water to flour in your dough. We have set the default hydration to 70%, but you can adjust this to your preference. Just keep in mind that a higher hydration percentage will result in a more wet and sticky dough that can be harder to work with.You can also input the percentage of any inclusions, such as seeds, nuts, or dried fruit, that you want to add to your dough. This will allow the calculator to adjust the amounts of the other ingredients accordingly.Once you have input all of the necessary information, the sourdough bread calculator will provide you with the exact amounts of each ingredient you need to make your bread. You can then use these quantities to start mixing and baking your sourdough bread.If you’re feeling intimidated to start, let me tell you this, don’t be. Come and join us in Mom’s Cooking Club. Find out what we’re all about and let’s have some fun together! The baker’s percentage is a technique used by bakers to specify the proportions of ingredients in a recipe. Instead of measuring ingredients by weight, the baker’s percentage expresses the ratio of each ingredient relative to the total amount of flour used in the recipe. This allows bakers to easily adjust the quantities of ingredients when scaling a recipe up or down, or when substituting one ingredient for another.To calculate the baker’s percentage for a particular ingredient, you first need to determine the weight of the flour in the recipe. This is known as the “base” or “100%” ingredient, since all other ingredients are expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. For example, if a recipe calls for 500 grams of flour, the weight of the flour is the base and it is equal to 100%.Once you know the weight of the flour, you can calculate the baker’s percentage for each other ingredient by dividing its weight by the weight of the flour and multiplying by 100. For example, if a recipe calls for 300 grams of water, the baker’s percentage for the water would be

Acceber 2009 December 6 I keep coming across N % hydration in various recipes... how do you calculate it?Thanks! Replies Maedi 2009 December 6 Hi AcceberI'm sure others will pitch in but according to Dom in his Sourdough Experiment #3:Hydration refers to the proportion of water in a dough relative to the amount of flour. It is usually expressed in terms of percentage of total flour weight. To calculate hydration add up the weight of all of the liquids in the dough (including water in the starter), and divide by the total weight of flour in the recipe (including that in the starter). Multiply by 100 to get a percentage.Might I add that the recipes section automatically calculates hydration and bakers percentages for you when you upload a recipe.Hope that helps. All the best!Maedi margaret simpson 2010 March 4 I'm a beginner at sourdough baking, but I've got a really good starter that bubbles up nicely and smells nice and kind of bready/yeasty, started from the dried started that Graham sent to me. I followed his instructions and feed 150g water & 150g flour to about 25g starter each day.I've tried his recipe 4 times, and the Norwich Sourdough recipe from WildYeast, but it seems no matter what I try, I keep getting a very flat, dense loaf. It rises well during proving but just doesnt spring up in the oven, though I'm using a stone. I typically halve the quantities so I only make one loaf at a time. I'm in Sydney, its reasonably warm here.I have two questions; firstly, hydration -- I saw you recommend the Pain de Campagne recipe as good for beginners, and I see that it requires 80% hydration starter. Since my starter is always fed a 50:50 mix of flour/water, I gather my starter

Maker and the time and place in which it was made.” A sourdough starter is a perfect demonstration of “hand taste” at work. For this reason alone, no two starters you encounter will ever be the same. And that’s a beautiful thing. How Do You Make a Good Sourdough Starter? Serious Eats / Tim Chin There's more than one right way to develop a strong, active starter. Based on my side-by-side testing of different flours and flour blends, many options work well. But flour is only one variable. You have latitude over several other factors as well, from fermenting temperature, to hydration level, to the feeding schedule and feeding ratio. Some variables are easier to control than others, and often will depend on your experience or equipment available. While you don't have to understand the underlying science behind sourdoughs, it can help to learn a bit about what's actually happening on a microbial level. If you’re keen on that explanation, you can read about the science of sourdough starters. Still, there are a handful of important concepts to know and variables to understand. Let's take a closer look. Key Sourdough Starter Concepts and Variables Hydration Level Making a starter involves mixing "equal parts flour and water." That’s technically for a 100% hydration starter. But starters can exist and thrive at varying hydration levels. For example, you could mix in half as much water to make a 50% hydration starter in the style of an Italian lievito madre. If this is your first time working with sourdough, I'd recommend beginning with a 100% hydration starter (equal parts water and flour by weight). 100% hydration starters are the most common type of starter to use. They are easy to maintain, easy to mix into a dough, and are easier for calculating additions to a bread recipe. Drier starters require more maintenance, are harder to mix into doughs, and the math is a little trickier. Meanwhile, wetter starters (over 100% hydration) eat through their supply of starches very quickly, requiring more frequent feeding and attention. Starter Batch Size It’s a common misconception that you need several pounds of flour to start and maintain your starter. Unless you plan on baking dozens of loaves at a time, it’s better—and less wasteful—to start small. In theory, you could use exceedingly small amounts (even micrometers (sic), according to Kristen Dennis) of flour and water to build a starter, but if your batch is too small, it can become difficult to gauge how high your starter is rising. At the very least, you want a quantity that will fill the bottom of its container. That way, your starter can climb the sides and give you a clear visual indicator of its activity. For a small, narrow 1-cup jam jar, I've found that 10 grams each of water and flour is more than enough. Feeding Schedule As the microbes metabolize the flour's sugars in a starter, eventually those sugars run out. At this point, it is essential to