baker’s percentage / hydration / math

Apparently, i’ve been making mistakes in my math for the past 7 years. It’s amazing how we can learn to make something good even though it’s “wrong” from the start.

Day 1 Levain feeding example:
Morning 8/8/8
Midday 24/24/24
Night 72/72/72

Day 2 Dough:
[1] 216
[2] 432 – 72 = 360
[3] 648 – 72 = 576
Although this was my math for the past 7 years, this is completely incorrect as I have not considered the levain which is 50/50 water/flour.

What I’ve really been making is this:
[1] 216
[2] 432 – 72 + 108 = 468
[3] 648 – 72 + 108 = 684
468/684 = 68.4%
This dough works great but doesn’t have a holey crumb. This is my standard dough recipe unless I’m trying higher hydration (see below).

If I *add* the levain ingredients, I get:
[1] 216
[2] 432 + 108 = 540
[3] 648 + 108 = 756
540/756 = 71.4% (Bingo!)

If I just use the 216:432:648 measurements (adding 432 water and 648 flour to my bowl of 216 levain) without any subtraction or extra math, my hydration will be 71.4%. When I looked it up, 216:540:756 as my Total Dough ratio is correct because it takes into account the levain ingredients.

calculating multiple flours and salt

If you want to make 20% of a dough wheat or rye, take the total flour and find 20%: 756/5 = 151g wheat/rye. Then take your added flour amount and subtract the wheat/rye: 648 – 151 = 497g UB AP or Bread flour.

For salt, multiply the total flour times .02 (or .025, per SG): 756 x .02 = 15g (19g).

~~~Defragging the bread memory and also rebooting; possibly replacing the RAM and switching to an SSD. Keeping these recipes here for reference/nostalgia.~~~

15 apr 11
Durum 20% (1:2:3)
starter: 200g (40/80/80)
water: 320g
flour: 520g (120g durum/400g white)
salt: 11g

7 apr 11
White/10% Vital Gluten (1:2:3)
starter: 165g (33/66/66)
water: 264g
flour: 429g (49g vital gluten/380g white)
salt: 9g

19 dec 10
Rye 20% (1:2:3)
starter: 165g (15/75/75)
water: 255g
flour: 420g (24g rye/396g white)
salt: 9g

24 nov 10
Consistently Good White (1:2:3)
starter: 165g (33/66/66)
water: 264g
flour: 429g
salt: 9g

24 nov 10
Tiny White (1:2:3)
starter: 80g (13/33/33)
water: 127g
flour: 207g
salt: 4g

11 jul 10
Ciabatta 80% (1:2.5:3)
starter: 165g (33/66/66)
water: 334g
flour: 434g
salt: 9g

26 jun 10
Ciabatta 85% (1:2.5:3)
starter: 165g (33/66/66)
water: 359g
flour: 434g
salt: 9g