Bread CalculatorSourdough Bread Calculator
Calculate your perfect sourdough recipe. Adjust loaves and hydration to match your skill level.
Presets
Bake the first 30 minutes with steam (a tray of water, the oven's steam setting or a Dutch oven's lid), then 20 minutes without.
1 · How much
🧑🍳 Solo Baker Perfect for personal practice!
Standard is 500g per loaf. Smaller for rolls, up to 2000g for sandwich loaves.
Easy to handle. Good structure with slight stickiness.
Great balance! Adds flavor while keeping dough manageable.
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Bread flour 400g (80%)Whole wheat / rye / spelt 100g (20%)Total Flour 500g (100%)
- Water (room temp) 300g (60%)
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Active stiff starter 25g (5%)
- Salt 10g (2%)
2 · How fast?
Starter for a cool kitchen, as in winter.
Fresh yeast, three times the dry amount.
3 · Your sample day
How the numbers work
A standard sourdough loaf uses about 500 g bread flour at 60% hydration (300 g water), 2% salt (10 g), and 10% starter (50 g). Everything scales by baker's percentage, so you can bake any number of loaves from the same ratios.
💡 Understanding Baker's Percentages
All percentages are relative to the total flour weight (100%). This makes it easy to scale recipes up or down.
- 💧 Hydration Guide (55-75%): Lower = easier to handle, Higher = more open crumb but trickier
- 🦠 10% starter: Balanced fermentation time (~8-12 hours at room temp)
- 🧂 2% salt: Standard for flavor and gluten strength
- 🌾 80/20 flour mix: Bread flour for structure, whole grain for flavor
🎯 Hydration Guide
Easy to shape. Great for learning. Denser crumb.
Good balance. Nice oven spring. Open crumb.
Sticky but rewarding. Big holes. Light texture.
Focaccia territory. Use oiled hands!
Nearly batter-like. For specialty breads only.
Equal flour & water. Bread scientist mode! 🔬
Ready to bake?
🍞 Start Guided Bake❓ Frequently asked questions
How much sourdough starter do I need?
Anywhere from 1 to 20% of the flour weight, depending on how ripe your starter is and how warm your kitchen is: 10 to 20% at 20 °C, 5 to 10% at 25 °C, 1 to 5% at 30 °C. Less starter means a longer, steadier fermentation and more flavour.
What hydration should I use for sourdough bread?
The book recommends around 60% for most flours: easier to handle and less prone to over-fermenting, and it makes bread, buns and pizza from one dough. Add water slowly from there if you want a more open crumb.
How long should bulk fermentation take?
Until the dough has risen roughly 50% and feels airy. The Sourdough Framework aims for 8 to 12 hours, which is where the enzymes have time to work; use less starter in a warm kitchen to get there rather than rushing it.
Why is my sourdough bread dense?
Usually under-fermentation or a weak starter. Make sure your starter rises reliably after a feed, give the dough the full 8 to 12 hours of bulk the book aims for, and build dough strength with folds.
How much salt goes into sourdough bread?
About 2% of the flour weight. It seasons the loaf and keeps fermentation in check without slowing it too much.
Can I scale this recipe to more loaves?
Yes. The calculator works in baker's percentages, so every ingredient scales exactly to any number of loaves.