Life with Sourdough

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The loaf I made today. I always have the best loaves with this recipe.Credit: Lisa Johnson
11/25/2025

The loaf I made today. I always have the best loaves with this recipe.
Credit: Lisa Johnson

Bread Calculators, Baker’s Math & Total FormulaBread calculators can be really useful tools, but what is even better is ...
11/25/2025

Bread Calculators, Baker’s Math & Total Formula
Bread calculators can be really useful tools, but what is even better is understanding the math yourself so you can figure it out yourself.
I know math is intimidating to some, but often that comes down to how it is presented. Bakers math is also weird, because every dough formula is greater than 100%, and that shouldn’t be possible right?
But once you get over that hurdle and start thinking in terms of total formula, it’s really easy to calculate. Ok it takes a little practice, but if you do the practice it will become second nature.
If you have a formula you are happy with then you might not immediately see the value in learning baker’s math. But what if you want to add inclusions to a recipe and still keep the same total dough weight? Or you want to bake a different sized loaf with the same ingredient proportions? In cases like these, understanding what a total formula is and how to use it becomes really valuable.
Here’s how it works:
1. Add all the ingredient percentages in a recipe and you arrive at a number called “total formula”.
2. Next, divide the weight of dough you need by the total formula, and the result of that equation is the flour amount for your dough.
3. Then you just multiply that amount by the percentage of each ingredient to figure out their relative amounts.
Example:
100% Bread Flour
70% Water
20% Starter
2% Salt
192% is your total formula
If you want to make 800g dough, just divide 800 by 192%, which is 1.92 expressed as a decimal.
800 / 1.92 =416.667
Now round up to 420 and that’s your flour amount.
420g Bread Flour
All other numbers are based on that, so multiply 420 by each percentage:
420 x .7 =294
420 x .2 =84
420 x .02 =8.4
And that’s your formula.
420g Bread Flour
294g Water
84g Starter
8.4g Salt
Added up it’s 806.4g, but it’s good to have a little cushion since dough can get stuck to your hands or spoon or bowl etc.
And this works for any amount of loaves at any weight. If you need a little more cushion, add 2% to the total formula amount first to build that in.
And you can also use it to make sure your inclusion loaves are all the same total dough weight too. Just add the inclusion percentages into each recipe to get a new total formula, and it will spit out how much of each ingredient to mix to achieve your target. This really helps with ingredient costing too!
Knowing how to do this will also increase your confidence and make you a better baker. You’ll be more in tune with the process, and more likely to notice mistakes when measuring ingredients or notice things off during mixing or development.
Additionally, understanding the basics of bakers math means you’ll be able to calculate *and* understand feed ratios for maintenance or levain builds. You’ll actually begin to know what’s going on, rather than just blindly following a calculator that depends on your ability to input the correct information. And you won’t be stuck with inclusion loaves of varying weights because you don’t know how to adjust your flour to compensate.
Credit: James Bridges

What are your favorite sourdough winter recipes? Looking for breads with inclusion.*saw this gift idea on another page (...
11/25/2025

What are your favorite sourdough winter recipes? Looking for breads with inclusion.

*saw this gift idea on another page (I cannot remember or I’d give credit) and I just thought it was perfect so I made some too!
Credit: Lisa Mobley

dark chocolate espresso ☕️4 Tablespoons boiling water1 Tablespoon instant espresso50g active starter325 ml warm water50g...
11/25/2025

dark chocolate espresso ☕️
4 Tablespoons boiling water
1 Tablespoon instant espresso
50g active starter
325 ml warm water
50g brown sugar
470g cups bread flour
11g salt
30g cocoa
3 g ground cinnamon
180g dark chocolate chunks
Mix together espresso and boiling water and set aside
Add your starter, 50 g of espresso, brown sugar, and water to large bowl and mix together.
In another bowl mix flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet. Mix til shaggy ball and cover for 30 min to an hour.
Start stretch and folds. I do 4 sets, every 30 minutes. during the second round of stretch and folds, add chocolate chunks
Start BF, which is about 6-7 hours for me.
After BF, dump dough onto floured counter and start shaping. I let rest 10 minutes then shape again.
Put into banneton seam side down and put in the fridge overnight. Bake the next morning! Preheat Dutch oven in the oven at 450- then add scored dough and bake 30 min lid on 25 lid off.
Credit: Haley Arias

Cheers everyone!This is just bread, a simple, white bread (with black sesame seeds) 80% hydration with no scoreNo secret...
11/25/2025

Cheers everyone!
This is just bread, a simple, white bread (with black sesame seeds) 80% hydration with no score
No secret, that I admire A Robert's bread, but, I don't have time for long autolyse, multiple feedings of the starter (my Ella lives in the fridge mostly), etc. I also admire the breads of Claudio Perrando. These (often controversial, very very open crumb breads) are beautiful to my eyes. Well, this is mine, it is close/similar (I think), but on my terms...
Bread: The lightest, most airy and tender crumb with thinnest (yet crunchy crust) I've ever baked. The bread is so delicate, that is actually little challenging to cut on the day of the bake (and I have proper knifes), easier next day. It's quite a departure from a regular rustic tartines.
The main difference in this technique (from what I've learned) is absolutely maximizing the fermentation. I've noticed over few times, that the dough behaves differently if shaped and allowed to continue to bulk at room temperatures, then cold re****ed for 6-10 hours vs shape and fridge immediately.
Short version of the process: KitchenAid mixed, 2 coil folds, overnight bulk, shaped, continued to ferment 3 hours, cold re**rd, baked from cold.
The dough:
50% Organic Bread Flour (Arrowhead Mills)
50% Organic AP Flour (Costco/Central Milling)
15% Starter
75% Water (total hydration 80%, 75% rom Water + 5% from sour cream)
7% Sour Cream
7% Light Honey
7% Black Sesame Seeds (toasted)
2.5% Salt
All in the stand mixer:
30 min fermontolyse (flour, water, honey, starter)
Salt and sour cream added, mixed on medium until gluten develops, then sesame seeds added, yes, in the mixer
2 coil folds to strengthen the dough (very extensible, but silky smooth)
Overnight bulk 74-75F 9hrs to 80%.
Shaped, banneton, 3 hours table top rest (doubled in size)
Cold re**rd 6 hours (50% increased).
Baked from cold on steel with steam, no score by choice
Happy bakes everyone!
Credit: Dmitry Repnikov

doing my first pop up event with a friend at our local coffee shop tomorrow! 40 loaves baked in an old apartment oven. 😮...
11/25/2025

doing my first pop up event with a friend at our local coffee shop tomorrow! 40 loaves baked in an old apartment oven. 😮‍💨 this group has taught me sooo much + given me the most confidence in baking sourdough. love love love everyone’s help & wisdom 🫶🏼
Credit: Brooke Foster

Jar scarpings (5g) is all you need for a mature starter! I discard down to this amount, then feed 1:5:5 daily so I don't...
11/25/2025

Jar scarpings (5g) is all you need for a mature starter!
I discard down to this amount, then feed 1:5:5 daily so I don't waste flour (5g starter, 25g water, 25g flour). Or feed weekly if kept in fridge.
I feed PEAK-TO-PEAK twice before baking to boost it and build to the amount needed. i.e. 5+25+25=55g. Then 55g+275+275=605g. I bake 6 loaves with 600g and retain 5g for my starter. Adjust your ratios so you end up with the amount you need.
When I first started on my SD journey, I wasted a lot of flour and had so many jars of discard that I couldn't keep up. This group guided me and I'm so grateful! So thought I'd share it with other members who might find it useful as well.
Happy baking!
Credit: Zora Cee

Today I joined the “unloaf” bandwagon.By-products of recent baking experiments yielded two jars of unfed starter in the ...
11/25/2025

Today I joined the “unloaf” bandwagon.
By-products of recent baking experiments yielded two jars of unfed starter in the fridge over the last three weeks.
So I baked the “unloaf”.
Recipe has been posted numerous times on this site.
MIND BLOWN! 🤯
No autolyse, no sticky hands, no coil folds, no timing between steps, no lamination, no pre-shape, no overnight proof in the fridge, no preheating the oven, no handling a hot pre-heated DO, no ice cubes in the DO, no spritzing with water!
Just mix ingredients up front, temp the dough, cover on the counter, wait (6 hours 20 min for a 77° dough), shape, proof in the banneton an hour, plop it in a cold DO, score, cover, stick it in the cold oven, set it to 450° for one hour, remove the lid, remove from the oven after 10 more minutes…and it looks better than the last ten loaves I baked.
All the fuss I’ve made over the process over the years…and then this happens.
(Pardon the score, I just tried out a new lame)
Credit: Nancy Lou Cranston Gleason

So just an exciting update in my life 🥰 I am officially a professional baker! I barely make any money 🤣🤣🤣 but I have sta...
11/25/2025

So just an exciting update in my life 🥰 I am officially a professional baker! I barely make any money 🤣🤣🤣 but I have started selling my loaves at the local grocer and I could not be more excited 🥰 I need a better camera. My camera roll is FULL of just bread pics lmfao
Credit: Kristian Melnychuk

11/25/2025

what are your favorite sweet inclusions?! my sister in law is requesting a sweet loaf for her bday but she can’t have cinnamon!

My husband built me a bread station! 😍My husband really is the best. He shows his love for me in so many ways, and is al...
11/25/2025

My husband built me a bread station! 😍
My husband really is the best. He shows his love for me in so many ways, and is always up for enabling my crazy ideas. I really hit the jackpot. He's floored that so many people like his handiwork!
Credit: Megan Balbier

I can see that some people are complaining, why I call it Baguette and many of them has problems where to put the butter...
11/25/2025

I can see that some people are complaining, why I call it Baguette and many of them has problems where to put the butter or the jam.
First of all, I call it Baguette because the way how I do it it's my way how I do Baguette, only I did not score it, I let it natural opening.
For the butter and jam problems. Please consider you can cut the bread horizontal!
The third category what I read is, that we sell only air. Please explain me what is the difference between 500 gr of bread with open crumb and 500 gr. Of dense bread. You get more bread to eat when it's dense? I am lost about these comments.
RUSTIC SOURDOUGH BAGUETTE
LEVAIN:
Step1:
100 gr. Flour Tipo1(W360)
100 gr. Water (35 Degree's)
100 gr. Starter
Mix all ingredients good together in a bowl. Cover the bowl and let it rest 2 hours in 28 degree's
Step 2:
50 gr. Flour Tipo 1(W360)
50 gr. Water (35 degree's)
Mix with step 1 and let it rest 90 minutes in 28 degree's
Main dough:
800 gr. Flour (W280-320)
200 gr. Tipo 1 (W360)
810 gr. Water
400 gr. Levain
26 gr. Salt
Mix all the flour, Sourdoug and 650 gr. of water. Mix first 3-5 minutes low speed, then high speed until the gluten structure is very well developed!
Take 15 minutes rest in the mixer, then add another 100 gr. of water. Mix again slow speed first then high speed until the dough is very well developed.
Now add remaining water and the salt. Again mix low speed then high speed until the dough is very well developed.
Bulk fermentation is 5 - 6 hours in 24 degree's
Divide the dough and do a pre shape, like cylinder. Let the bread rest in RT 1 hour 30 minutes.
Shape the final Baguette in the rustic way. Close part down, for natural opening.
Final proof is 45 minutes.
Turn the baguette around(close part up) and bake in 250 degree's 20-22 minutes with steam.
Credit: Claudio Perrando

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