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.
Replies
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.