Starter Math (First Post)

jfried

So recently I recieved some starter from a friend, many years ago I had tried to create my own starter and met with mold. Overall I am new to bread making I have made less than 5 batches of bread.

So I have been having fun with my new starter. My current project is to make realy good sourdough french bread. So its a work in progress. I think right now my kneading is the primary factor for improvement. My Last two loaves were awsome, and I think it can only get better from here.

 

my French Bread II 

  •  unbleached flour 82%
  • whole wheat flour 18%
  • water 56%
  • starter (100% hydration) 20%
  • salt 2.2%

 

So I read somewhere that french bread traditionaly uses 60% water. So being the nerd I had to make some formulas to help me determine final dough hydration and salt content.

 

So here is some formula for (100% hydration starters)

Hydration

s = % starter in dough, w = % water in dough, h = Final hydration % of dough.

w = (s * ( h - 1) + 2h ) / 2

Salt

s = % starter in dough, n = % salt added to dough, f = final % salt in dough

n = ( f * (s+2) ) / 2

 

Now if you have a different hydration level of your starter these formulas become more complex

sh = starter hydration %

Hydration

w = (s * (h - sh) + (sh + 1) * h) / (sh + 1)

 

Salt

n = ( (s + sh + 1) * f) / (sh + 1)

Have fun.

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LeadDog's picture
LeadDog 2010 June 10

 I used my spreadsheets and got an overall hydration of about 60% and salt 2%.  I have read somewhere that French Bread has a hydration of 67% and have seen variations of a few percents from that.  Last of all welcome to the forum.

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