Sourdough Calculator
Build your loaf
Work out a loaf from baker's percentages, with the flour and water inside your starter counted properly. Then tune it toward the crumb and crust you actually want, and find out how long it will take in your kitchen.
Enrichments and extras
Percentages are of total flour, the same as everything else. Egg is about three quarters water and milk about seven eighths, and both are counted toward your hydration figure rather than added on top of it. Whole grain drinks more water, so the tool will suggest a little extra.
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Mix in the evening, bake in the morning, with no levain to build and nothing to get up for. The trick is using far less starter than a daytime loaf, so the bulk stretches across the whole night instead of overproofing by two in the morning. Tell it how long you want to sleep and it works out how much starter that takes.
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Type in a recipe you already have and this works out how much starter to use, then takes the starter's own flour and water back out so the hydration lands exactly where it was.
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Pick what you are making and the dough tab fills itself in. Every one of these is a sourdough version, leavened with starter rather than commercial yeast.
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Pick what happened. Causes are listed most likely first, with what to do about it next time.
A levain is a starter built specially for one bake. Work it either way: say how much you need and it gives you the feed, or enter what you are actually putting in the jar and it tells you what you will get.
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Built by Brown Butter Sugar, where every recipe begins with golden butter and cozy flavor.
Jump to: Starter amounts · Yields · Egg and hydration · Flours · Every style · Discard bakes · What went wrong · Judging the bulk · Questions
How much starter, and why it matters
The starter percentage is the single biggest lever on how long your bread takes and how sour it tastes. It is not really about how much starter you add, though. What matters is how much of your total flour was already fermented before you mixed, which bakers call prefermented flour.
A 100 per cent hydration starter is half flour by weight, so adding 20 per cent starter preferments 10 per cent of your flour. A 50 per cent stiff starter is two thirds flour, so the same 20 per cent preferments 13.3 per cent. That is why the same recipe behaves differently depending on which starter you keep, and why the calculator above shows the prefermented figure separately.
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| Starter | Prefermented flour | Bulk at 24 °C | Flavor | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 to 10% | 2.5 to 5% | 8 to 12 hours | Very mild, sweet, wheaty | Overnight bulk, warm kitchens, baguettes |
| 10 to 15% | 5 to 7.5% | 6 to 8 hours | Mild with a little tang | A full day schedule, enriched doughs |
| 20% | 10% | 4 to 5 hours | Balanced, the usual target | Most loaves, and the default here |
| 25 to 30% | 12.5 to 15% | 3 to 4 hours | Noticeably sour | Rye, cold kitchens, same day bakes |
| 40% and up | 20% and up | 2 to 3 hours | Sharp and acidic | Panettone builds, very cold rooms |
More starter is not more rise. It is faster rise. A loaf with 10 per cent starter given twelve hours will out-rise one with 30 per cent given three, and it will taste better, because flavor comes from time rather than from quantity.
What a batch yields
Total dough weight is simply everything you put in the bowl, since almost nothing is lost before baking. A loaf then loses roughly 12 to 15 per cent of its weight in the oven as water evaporates, which is why a 900 g dough gives a 780 g loaf.
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| Making | Dough per piece | Baked weight | 1 kg flour gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country loaf | 900 g | about 780 g | 2 loaves |
| Small boule | 600 g | about 520 g | 3 loaves |
| Baguette | 280 g | about 240 g | 6 baguettes |
| Sandwich tin loaf | 900 g | about 800 g | 2 loaves |
| Bagels | 110 g | about 100 g | 15 bagels |
| Kolache | 70 g | about 62 g | 24 kolache |
| Dinner rolls | 70 g | about 62 g | 24 rolls |
| Pizza bases | 250 g | not applicable | 7 bases |
| Focaccia | 1000 g | about 880 g | 1 large tray |
| Cinnamon rolls | 120 g | about 110 g | 14 rolls |
Every flour, and how much water it wants
Absorption is the practical difference between flours. The same 75 per cent hydration feels slack in einkorn and stiff in dark rye. Click any flour to select it in the tool above. These figures are relative to strong white bread flour, and they are starting points rather than rules, since brands vary considerably.
Jump to: White Wheat · Whole & Heritage · Rye · Gluten Free
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| Flour | Group | Water needed | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | White Wheat | same as white | Strong white flour, the baseline everything else is measured against |
| All-purpose or plain flour | White Wheat | 3% less | Weaker gluten, so expect a slightly slacker dough and a softer crumb |
| Italian Type 00 | White Wheat | 5% less | Very fine and low in absorption, made for pizza and pasta |
| French T65 | White Wheat | 2% more | A shade darker and thirstier than white, the classic baguette flour |
| High extraction or Type 85 | White Wheat | 5% more | Some bran left in, so it drinks more and tastes fuller |
| Cake flour | White Wheat | 10% less | Far too weak for bread on its own, but useful blended for tenderness |
| Whole wheat or wholemeal | Whole & Heritage | 10% more | The bran drinks hard and cuts gluten strands, so hydrate higher and expect density |
| White whole wheat | Whole & Heritage | 8% more | All the bran, milder flavor, slightly less bitter |
| Whole spelt | Whole & Heritage | 2% more | Absorbs like white but the gluten is fragile, so knead less and watch it closely |
| White spelt | Whole & Heritage | 2% less | Sweet and nutty, and it goes from underdone to overproofed quickly |
| Einkorn | Whole & Heritage | 15% less | Absorbs noticeably less than any other wheat. Reduce water or you will have soup |
| Emmer or farro | Whole & Heritage | 5% less | Weak gluten, lovely flavor, best blended at under half |
| Khorasan or Kamut | Whole & Heritage | same as white | Golden, buttery, and stronger than most heritage grains |
| Durum or fine semolina | Whole & Heritage | 5% more | High protein but the gluten is short, so blend rather than go all in |
| Light rye | Rye | 5% more | Most of the bran sifted out, still noticeably stickier than wheat |
| Medium rye | Rye | 10% more | The usual choice for a mixed rye loaf at 20 to 40 per cent |
| Dark or whole rye | Rye | 20% more | Drinks enormously, has almost no gluten, and ferments fast |
| Pumpernickel meal | Rye | 25% more | Coarse whole rye. Expect a dense, dark, long baked loaf |
| A commercial gluten free blend | Gluten Free | 5% more | Needs a binder and behaves more like a batter than a dough |
| Brown rice flour | Gluten Free | 5% less | The usual base of a gluten free blend, gritty on its own |
| Sorghum | Gluten Free | same as white | Mild and soft, one of the better gluten free bases |
| Teff | Gluten Free | 10% more | Dark, earthy and thirsty. Excellent for flavor at 20 to 30 per cent |
| Buckwheat | Gluten Free | 5% more | Strong flavor, no gluten despite the name, best blended |
| Millet | Gluten Free | 5% less | Light and slightly sweet, prone to dryness |
| Certified gluten free oat flour | Gluten Free | 10% more | Soft, moist and mild |
| Almond flour | Gluten Free | 40% less | No starch or gluten, so it cannot carry a loaf alone |
A note on gluten free sourdough. A starter kept on wheat flour is not gluten free, no matter how small the quantity. If you are baking for coeliac disease you need a starter built from scratch on brown rice, sorghum or buckwheat, and a binder such as psyllium husk doing the structural work that gluten normally does.
Every style, at a glance
The starting figures behind each preset in the tool. Click any name to open it in the tool above. All percentages are of total flour, the way baker's percentages always work. The liquid figure is everything: water, milk, egg and the water inside the starter. The discard bakes at the end are chemically leavened, with the discard there for flavor and tenderness rather than lift, so there is no bulk rise to wait for.
Jump to: Rustic Loaves · Flatbreads & Pizza · Enriched & Sweet · Rolls & Small Bakes · Specialty · More Breads · Discard Bakes
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| Style | Group | Total liquid | Starter or discard | Salt | Per piece | Also carries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country loaf | Rustic Loaves | 76% | 20% | 2% | 900 g | 10% whole grain |
| Baguette | Rustic Loaves | 72% | 15% | 2% | 280 g | lean |
| Ciabatta | Rustic Loaves | 85% | 20% | 2.2% | 400 g | lean |
| Pain de campagne | Rustic Loaves | 78% | 20% | 2% | 900 g | 20% whole grain |
| Whole wheat loaf | Rustic Loaves | 85% | 20% | 2% | 900 g | 100% whole grain |
| Mixed rye loaf | Rustic Loaves | 80% | 25% | 2% | 900 g | 40% whole grain |
| Pumpernickel | Rustic Loaves | 90% | 25% | 2% | 900 g | 100% whole grain |
| Sandwich pan loaf | Rustic Loaves | 66% | 18% | 2% | 900 g | 5% egg, 6% fat, 4% sugar, 20% milk |
| Multigrain | Rustic Loaves | 82% | 20% | 2% | 900 g | 25% whole grain |
| Focaccia | Flatbreads & Pizza | 85% | 20% | 2.2% | 1000 g | 8% fat |
| Pizza, Neapolitan | Flatbreads & Pizza | 62% | 12% | 2.8% | 250 g | lean |
| Pizza, New York | Flatbreads & Pizza | 65% | 12% | 2.5% | 400 g | 2% fat, 1% sugar |
| Pita | Flatbreads & Pizza | 65% | 15% | 2% | 100 g | 2% fat |
| Naan | Flatbreads & Pizza | 58% | 15% | 2% | 110 g | 5% egg, 8% fat, 3% sugar, 25% milk |
| Lavash or flatbread | Flatbreads & Pizza | 60% | 12% | 2% | 80 g | 4% fat |
| Tortillas | Flatbreads & Pizza | 58% | 12% | 1.8% | 60 g | 12% fat |
| Brioche | Enriched & Sweet | 64% | 20% | 2% | 500 g | 55% egg, 50% fat, 12% sugar, 12% milk |
| Challah | Enriched & Sweet | 48% | 20% | 2% | 700 g | 30% egg, 14% fat, 12% sugar |
| Kolache | Enriched & Sweet | 56% | 20% | 1.8% | 70 g | 20% egg, 18% fat, 14% sugar, 32% milk |
| Babka | Enriched & Sweet | 54% | 20% | 1.8% | 700 g | 25% egg, 28% fat, 14% sugar, 25% milk |
| Cinnamon rolls | Enriched & Sweet | 57% | 20% | 1.8% | 120 g | 12% egg, 20% fat, 12% sugar, 38% milk |
| Hot cross buns | Enriched & Sweet | 52% | 20% | 1.8% | 90 g | 10% egg, 12% fat, 12% sugar, 35% milk |
| Panettone | Enriched & Sweet | 55% | 30% | 1.2% | 1000 g | 35% egg, 28% fat, 22% sugar |
| Milk bread, shokupan | Enriched & Sweet | 62% | 18% | 2% | 900 g | 8% egg, 10% fat, 8% sugar, 48% milk |
| Doughnuts | Enriched & Sweet | 50% | 20% | 1.8% | 70 g | 12% egg, 12% fat, 10% sugar, 32% milk |
| Bagels | Rolls & Small Bakes | 57% | 15% | 2% | 110 g | 2% sugar |
| Pretzels | Rolls & Small Bakes | 55% | 15% | 2% | 100 g | 4% fat |
| English muffins | Rolls & Small Bakes | 80% | 20% | 2% | 90 g | 4% fat, 30% milk |
| Dinner rolls | Rolls & Small Bakes | 58% | 20% | 2% | 70 g | 10% egg, 12% fat, 6% sugar, 32% milk |
| Burger buns | Rolls & Small Bakes | 60% | 20% | 2% | 90 g | 10% egg, 10% fat, 8% sugar, 28% milk |
| Crumpets | Rolls & Small Bakes | 120% | 20% | 1.5% | 80 g | lean |
| Gluten free loaf | Specialty | 95% | 20% | 2% | 800 g | 6% fat |
| Discard crackers | Specialty | 40% | 60% | 2% | 300 g | 20% fat, 20% whole grain |
| Discard pancakes | Specialty | 110% | 80% | 1.5% | 80 g | 8% fat, 6% sugar, 40% milk |
| Discard waffles | Specialty | 100% | 80% | 1.5% | 100 g | 16% fat, 6% sugar, 40% milk |
| Croissants | Specialty | 50% | 15% | 2% | 80 g | 5% egg, 8% fat, 8% sugar, 32% milk |
| Rugbrød, Danish rye | More Breads | 95% | 25% | 2% | 1200 g | 100% whole grain |
| Fougasse | More Breads | 78% | 20% | 2% | 400 g | 6% fat |
| Ciabatta rolls | More Breads | 82% | 20% | 2.2% | 120 g | lean |
| Detroit style pizza | More Breads | 70% | 15% | 2.2% | 600 g | 4% fat |
| Stollen | More Breads | 42% | 20% | 1.5% | 800 g | 10% egg, 35% fat, 14% sugar, 25% milk |
| Bao, steamed buns | More Breads | 48% | 18% | 1.2% | 60 g | 6% fat, 10% sugar, 28% milk |
| Beignets | More Breads | 56% | 20% | 1.5% | 45 g | 12% egg, 10% fat, 10% sugar, 32% milk |
| Pasta | Discard Bakes | 93% | 35% | 1% | 120 g | 100% egg |
| Pie crust | Discard Bakes | 16% | 30% | 2% | 250 g | 65% fat |
| Biscuits | Discard Bakes | 26% | 50% | 2% | 80 g | 35% fat |
| Scones | Discard Bakes | 31% | 45% | 1.8% | 90 g | 10% egg, 30% fat, 10% sugar |
| Banana bread | Discard Bakes | 38% | 40% | 1% | 900 g | 20% egg, 25% fat, 60% sugar |
| Chocolate cake | Discard Bakes | 62% | 40% | 1% | 800 g | 25% egg, 30% fat, 100% sugar |
| Brownies | Discard Bakes | 42% | 35% | 1% | 700 g | 30% egg, 45% fat, 110% sugar |
| Muffins | Discard Bakes | 68% | 50% | 1.2% | 100 g | 18% egg, 22% fat, 55% sugar, 30% milk |
| Cornbread | Discard Bakes | 68% | 45% | 1.8% | 800 g | 15% egg, 20% fat, 12% sugar, 35% milk |
| Crepes | Discard Bakes | 140% | 70% | 1% | 60 g | 40% egg, 10% fat, 6% sugar, 80% milk |
| Pop tarts | Discard Bakes | 16% | 30% | 2% | 100 g | 60% fat, 8% sugar |
Where egg fits in a baker's percentage
A large egg weighs about 50 g and is roughly three quarters water, so 55 per cent egg in a brioche brings around 41 per cent water with it. This is why brioche recipes look dry on paper and are not. The tool counts egg water and milk water toward your hydration figure rather than adding them on top, which is how professional formulas are written and why a brioche at 64 per cent total liquid needs almost no water added separately.
Milk is about 87 per cent water, cream around 60, and butter about 16. Only the water part counts toward hydration. The rest is fat and solids, which do the opposite of what water does, which is why enriched doughs feel firmer than their numbers suggest.
Why discard works in a cake
A discard cake is not fermented. There is no bulk rise and the starter is not doing the lifting, which is baking soda's job. What the discard brings is acid, and acid does two useful things: it reacts with bicarbonate of soda for lift, and it tenderizes gluten so the crumb comes out softer. It is the same chemistry as buttermilk in a cake, which is why discard slots so neatly into recipes that already call for buttermilk or sour cream.
The flavor is subtler than people expect. In a chocolate cake or brownies it reads as depth rather than sourness. In crepes and pancakes, where there is little else competing, the tang comes through clearly and is much of the appeal.
Unfed discard straight from the fridge is what you want here. Ripe, active starter has less acid, which is the opposite of useful in this context.
What went wrong, and why
Every problem in the tool above with its causes ranked. Click any problem to open it there. If two things could explain what happened, the one higher up the list is usually the answer.
Jump to: The Loaf · Crust & Bake · The Starter
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| Problem | Area | Likelihood | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| It came out flat | The Loaf | Most likely | Overproofed | The gluten ran out of strength before it reached the oven. Stop the bulk at a 50 per cent rise rather than a doubling, and shape while the dough still has some spring. If you cannot judge it by eye, keep a small sample in a straight-sided jar and watch that instead. |
| It came out flat | The Loaf | Most likely | Not enough gluten strength | Too few folds, or a flour too weak for the hydration. Add a set of coil folds, or drop the hydration five per cent until you can handle it confidently. |
| It came out flat | The Loaf | Possible | Shaped too loosely | Shaping builds the surface tension that holds the loaf up. Preshape, rest twenty minutes, then shape with real intent. |
| It came out flat | The Loaf | Possible | Hydration too high for the flour | All-purpose flour at 85 per cent will pancake. Either use bread flour or come down to 72. |
| It came out flat | The Loaf | Less common | Oven not hot enough | A slow oven gives the dough time to relax before the crust sets. Preheat the dutch oven a full hour. |
| It is dense and heavy | The Loaf | Most likely | Underproofed | The most common cause by far. A cool kitchen slows everything down. Check your dough temperature rather than trusting the clock, and give it the time it actually needs. |
| It is dense and heavy | The Loaf | Most likely | Starter not strong enough | If it does not reliably double in four to six hours after feeding, it is not ready to raise bread. Feed it twice daily at room temperature for a few days first. |
| It is dense and heavy | The Loaf | Possible | Whole grain without extra water | Bran drinks far more than white flour. A whole wheat dough needs about ten per cent more water to feel the same. |
| It is dense and heavy | The Loaf | Possible | Not enough starter for the temperature | In a cold kitchen the same twenty per cent takes twice as long. Either wait longer or use more. |
| It is dense and heavy | The Loaf | Less common | Killed the starter with hot water | Anything above 40 °C or 105 °F starts damaging the yeast. |
| The crumb is gummy or sticky | The Loaf | Most likely | Cut too soon | Bread continues cooking as it cools. Cutting warm gives a gummy, compressed crumb every time. Wait at least two hours, and four for a large loaf. |
| The crumb is gummy or sticky | The Loaf | Most likely | Underbaked | Pale means underbaked. Take it further than feels comfortable, and check the internal temperature is at least 96 °C or 205 °F. |
| The crumb is gummy or sticky | The Loaf | Possible | Overproofed | Badly overfermented dough bakes gummy because the gluten has broken down. It will usually be flat as well. |
| The crumb is gummy or sticky | The Loaf | Possible | Too much rye | Rye is naturally gummier and needs a full day's rest before slicing. |
| The crumb is gummy or sticky | The Loaf | Less common | Too much steam for too long | Twenty minutes covered is plenty. Longer and the crust never sets properly. |
| The crumb is tight, with no holes | The Loaf | Most likely | Hydration too low | Open crumb comes from water. Below 72 per cent you will not get large holes however good your technique. |
| The crumb is tight, with no holes | The Loaf | Most likely | Underproofed | There was not enough gas to make the holes in the first place. |
| The crumb is tight, with no holes | The Loaf | Possible | Shaped too tightly | Aggressive shaping squeezes out exactly the large bubbles you spent the day building. |
| The crumb is tight, with no holes | The Loaf | Possible | Knocked the air out | Handle the bulked dough gently. Degassing is for sandwich bread. |
| The crumb is tight, with no holes | The Loaf | Less common | Flour too strong and underworked | Very high protein flour needs more time or more folds to become extensible enough to open up. |
| It is far too sour | The Loaf | Most likely | Bulk ran too long | The longer the ferment, the more acid. Use less starter and stop the bulk earlier. |
| It is far too sour | The Loaf | Most likely | Long cold retard | Fridge time builds acetic acid specifically, which is the sharp, vinegary sourness. Shorten it to eight hours, or skip it. |
| It is far too sour | The Loaf | Possible | Starter kept in the fridge and underfed | A neglected starter is heavily acidic. Feed it twice a day at room temperature for three days before baking. |
| It is far too sour | The Loaf | Possible | Stiff starter would help | A stiffer starter at 50 to 60 per cent hydration produces noticeably milder, sweeter acidity. |
| It is far too sour | The Loaf | Less common | Whole grain and rye | Both ferment faster and sour more. Reduce the proportion if it bothers you. |
| It has no flavor | The Loaf | Most likely | Fermented too fast | Flavor comes from time. Use less starter and let the bulk run longer, or bulk somewhere cooler. |
| It has no flavor | The Loaf | Most likely | No cold retard | An overnight proof in the fridge is the single biggest flavor improvement available. |
| It has no flavor | The Loaf | Possible | All white flour | Even ten per cent whole wheat or rye adds a great deal. |
| It has no flavor | The Loaf | Possible | Not enough salt | Two per cent of the flour weight. Under 1.5 and bread tastes flat. |
| It has no flavor | The Loaf | Less common | Underbaked | Much of what we taste as bread flavor is crust. Bake it darker. |
| No oven spring | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Overproofed | There was nothing left to give. This is the usual answer. |
| No oven spring | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Oven or dutch oven not hot enough | Preheat a full hour at maximum. A cold vessel absorbs the heat that should have gone into the loaf. |
| No oven spring | Crust & Bake | Possible | Not enough steam | Without steam the crust sets in minutes and physically stops the loaf expanding. Lid on for the first twenty. |
| No oven spring | Crust & Bake | Possible | Scored too shallow | The cut needs to be about a centimetre deep and at a shallow angle, not a scratch. |
| No oven spring | Crust & Bake | Less common | Dough too warm going in | A cold dough straight from the fridge springs better and scores far more cleanly. |
| The crust is pale and soft | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Underbaked | Almost always. Add ten minutes uncovered and accept a darker loaf than you think you want. |
| The crust is pale and soft | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Overfermented | A long ferment consumes the sugars that would have browned. Shorten the bulk. |
| The crust is pale and soft | Crust & Bake | Possible | Steam left on too long | Take the lid off after twenty minutes so the crust can dry and colour. |
| The crust is pale and soft | Crust & Bake | Possible | Oven runs cool | Most domestic ovens do, often by 15 to 25 degrees. An oven thermometer costs very little. |
| The crust is pale and soft | Crust & Bake | Less common | Cooled in the tin or on a board | Trapped steam softens a crust that was perfectly good. Cool on a rack. |
| It burst open in the wrong place | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Underproofed | An underproofed loaf has a lot of force left and will find its own way out. Give it longer. |
| It burst open in the wrong place | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Scored too shallow or at the wrong angle | One decisive cut, a centimetre deep, at about thirty degrees to the surface. |
| It burst open in the wrong place | Crust & Bake | Possible | Seam not sealed | A loose seam is the weakest point and will open before your score does. |
| It burst open in the wrong place | Crust & Bake | Less common | Too many scores | Several shallow cuts spread the force and none of them opens properly. One good ear beats five scratches. |
| I want the blistered crust | Crust & Bake | Most likely | Retard longer | Twelve to twenty four hours in the fridge. Blisters rarely appear on a same day loaf. |
| I want the blistered crust | Crust & Bake | Possible | Uncover for the last hour | A slightly dried surface blisters more readily. |
| I want the blistered crust | Crust & Bake | Possible | Bake hotter | Maximum heat with the lid on for the first twenty minutes. |
| I want the blistered crust | Crust & Bake | Less common | Slightly higher hydration | More water gives more surface bubbles to expand. |
| My starter will not rise | The Starter | Most likely | Too cold | Below 20 °C a starter barely moves. Find somewhere around 24 to 26 °C, such as an oven with only the light on. |
| My starter will not rise | The Starter | Most likely | Underfed | A starter fed once a week cannot leaven bread. Twice a day at room temperature for three days will usually revive it. |
| My starter will not rise | The Starter | Possible | Chlorinated water | Leave tap water out overnight or use filtered. |
| My starter will not rise | The Starter | Possible | Too young | A new starter takes two to three weeks to become reliable, and it often looks promising then stalls around day five. That stall is normal. |
| My starter will not rise | The Starter | Less common | Fed too much at once | Feeding 1:10:10 when it is weak leaves too little culture to work with. Drop to 1:1:1 until it is lively. |
| There is liquid on top | The Starter | Most likely | It needs feeding | Pour the hooch off or stir it in, then feed. If it appears within a day, feed twice daily or use a larger feed. |
| There is liquid on top | The Starter | Possible | Kept somewhere too warm | A warm starter burns through its food faster. Move it somewhere cooler or feed more often. |
| There is liquid on top | The Starter | Less common | Hydration too high | A very loose starter separates more readily. Try 100 per cent rather than 125. |
| It smells strange | The Starter | Most likely | Acetone or nail polish | Hungry, not spoiled. Feed it more often or with a bigger ratio and it will come back within a couple of days. |
| It smells strange | The Starter | Most likely | Sharp vinegar | Overly acidic from underfeeding. Same fix: feed more often at room temperature. |
| It smells strange | The Starter | Possible | Nothing much at all | A young or cold starter can be almost odourless. Warmth and regular feeding usually wake it up. |
| It smells strange | The Starter | Less common | Pink, orange or fuzzy growth | This one is genuine spoilage. Any pink or orange streaking, or fuzzy mould of any colour, means discard the whole thing and start again. Do not try to salvage it. |
| It rises but very slowly | The Starter | Most likely | Too cool | Every few degrees roughly halves or doubles the time. Twenty four to twenty six degrees is the sweet spot. |
| It rises but very slowly | The Starter | Possible | Weak flour | A little whole rye or whole wheat in the feed gives the culture considerably more to work with. |
| It rises but very slowly | The Starter | Possible | Feed ratio too large | 1:5:5 takes far longer to peak than 1:2:2. Match the ratio to how long you want to wait. |
| It rises but very slowly | The Starter | Less common | Recently out of the fridge | It usually takes two or three feeds at room temperature to get back to full speed. |
How to tell when the bulk is done
Every instruction here talks about a percentage rise, which is useless advice without a way to measure it. The answer is an aliquot jar. Pinch off a small piece of dough after the last fold, press it into a straight-sided jar, flatten the top and mark the level with a rubber band. It sits beside the bulk and experiences the same temperature, so when the sample has risen by half, so has the dough.
It has to be straight-sided, or the maths does not hold, and it has to be the same dough taken at the same moment. A shot glass or a small spice jar works. This single trick removes most of the guesswork from sourdough, and almost nobody mentions it.
Questions bakers ask
How much starter do I need per loaf?
For a standard 900 g loaf made from about 500 g of flour, 20 per cent starter means 100 g. That is the usual figure. Use less and the bulk runs longer with a milder flavor, use more and it runs faster and tastes sourer. The amount changes the speed, not the rise.
Does a stiff starter need different amounts than a liquid one?
Yes, and this catches people out. A 50 per cent stiff starter carries two thirds flour against a liquid starter's half, so the same weight preferments more flour and ferments faster. The calculator handles this, subtracting the starter's own flour and water from what you add separately.
What is prefermented flour?
The proportion of your total flour that was already fermenting in the starter before you mixed the dough. It is a more useful number than starter percentage, because it is the same whichever hydration your starter is kept at. Ten per cent is a comfortable target for most loaves.
Why does my whole wheat loaf come out dense?
Almost always underhydration. Bran absorbs far more water than white flour and it cuts through gluten strands as it hydrates. A whole wheat dough at 85 per cent feels like a white dough at 75. Give it an hour's rest before judging, and expect it to ferment faster than white.
Can I make sourdough bagels or pretzels the same way?
Yes, but the dough is much stiffer, around 55 to 57 per cent. That is where the chew comes from. Both benefit enormously from an overnight cold retard, and both are boiled or dipped before baking, which sets the crust before the oven ever gets to it.
How do I convert a yeasted recipe to sourdough?
Replace the yeast with starter at about 20 per cent of the flour weight, then subtract the starter's own flour and water from the recipe's flour and water so the hydration stays where it was. Expect it to take three or four times as long. Enter the original figures in the tool above and it does the subtraction for you.
What water temperature should I use?
Work backwards from the dough temperature you want, usually 25 °C or 77 °F. Multiply that by four, then subtract your flour temperature, room temperature, starter temperature and a degree or two for mixing friction. The timing tab does this arithmetic.
Why is my sourdough flat?
Overproofing and weak gluten account for most flat loaves. Stop the bulk at about a 50 per cent rise rather than waiting for a doubling, add a set of coil folds, and shape with real tension. If your flour is all-purpose rather than bread flour, drop the hydration by five per cent as well.
Why is my sourdough dense?
Usually underproofing, and usually because the kitchen is cooler than the recipe assumed. A starter that does not reliably double in four to six hours after feeding is the other common cause. Check the dough temperature rather than trusting the clock.
Why is my crumb gummy?
Nearly always cutting it too soon or underbaking it. Bread keeps cooking as it cools, so give a large loaf four hours before slicing, and bake until the internal temperature is at least 96 °C or 205 °F.
My starter has grey liquid on top. Is it ruined?
No. That is hooch, which is alcohol, and it means the starter is hungry. Pour it off or stir it in and feed. Pink or orange streaking, or fuzzy mould of any colour, is different and does mean discarding the whole thing.
How do I work backwards from the size of loaf I want?
Enter the weight you want each piece to be and how many you want, and leave the flour blank. The tool works out the flour needed. A 900 g loaf at 76 per cent hydration takes about 505 g of flour, so two of them need a kilo. Fifteen 110 g bagels need about 930 g.
Does egg count toward hydration?
Yes. A large egg is about 50 g and roughly three quarters water, so it contributes around 37 g of water each. Any formula that ignores this will read as far drier than the dough actually is, which is the usual reason a brioche recipe looks wrong at first glance.
Can I use sourdough discard in cakes and pasta?
Yes, and both are excellent. In cake the discard's acid reacts with bicarbonate of soda for lift and tenderizes the crumb, exactly as buttermilk does. In pasta it relaxes the gluten so the dough rolls thinner and more willingly. Neither is fermented, so there is no rise to wait for and no hydration to calculate.
Is sourdough discard the same as starter?
No. Discard is unfed starter, past its peak and more acidic, with far less leavening power. It is excellent in pancakes, waffles and crackers where bicarbonate of soda does the lifting, and unreliable in bread.
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