SOURTASTIC BONUS – Baker’s Percentage
In sourdough baking recipes are often written down in percentages and not in units of measurement. This means that the amount of all the ingredients is calculated based on the amount of flour used in the main dough of a recipe. We determine the exact amount of all the ingredients that will be added to the flour by dividing the weight of each ingredient with the weight of the flour.
Calculating the weight of the ingredients will be much easier if we start out with either 1000 g of flour or 500 g of flour. That’s why a good kitchen scale will be your best friend when it comes to sourdough baking.
Recipe example:
- 1000 g of flour (for example: 500 g of millet flour, 500 g of rice flour)
- 1500 g of water
- 25 g of salt
- 200 g of sourdough starter (also known as levain)
- 50 g of psyllium husks
1000 g of flour is 100%
1500g of water is 1500 : 1000 = 1.5 or 150%
This means that the hydration of the dough from all the liquid in it is 150 per cent.
25 g of salt is 25 : 1000 = 0.025 or 2.5 % (I use more salt with gluten-free flours to take into account the psyllium gel).
The amount of salt added to the dough is typically between 1.5 % and 2 %.
200 g of sourdough starter is 200 : 1000 = 0.2 or 20 %.
50 g of psyllium husks is 50 : 1000 = 0,05 or 5 %.
Let’s write down the recipe in percentages:
- 100% flour (50% millet flour, 50 % rice flour)
- 150% water
- 2,5% salt
- 20% starter
- 5% psyllium
I always suggest starting with a lower percentage of hydration. You can always add some water later when mixing.
*No part of this course may be reproduced, copied, or redistributed in any other way, or be made available for public use, or forwarded to anyone who has not purchased the course.
@The creator of this course is Anita Šumer, drožomanija/sourdoughmania, 2024. All rights reserved.