Crave the Crust's Baker's Formula

The Baker’s Formula

The Baker’s Formula is an essential concept in the baking world. It’s a calculation method that bakers use to determine the ratios of ingredients in a recipe, allowing them to produce consistently and accurately. The formula is especially important when making dough for bread and other baked goods.

The Baker’s Formula gives bakers the flexibility to adjust batch sizes while keeping ingredient ratios consistent, resulting in a uniform end product. It’s a powerful tool to ensure precision and quality in baking.

Key aspects of the Baker’s Formula:

Flour as the Base (100%):
In the Baker’s Formula, the amount of flour is always the starting point. All other ingredients are expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. This makes it easy to scale recipes.
Other ingredients as percentages of the flour weight:
For example, if you want to add 2% salt to a recipe with 1000 grams of flour, you would add 20 grams of salt (2% of 1000 grams).
Hydration as a percentage:
The percentage of water (hydration) is expressed as the ratio of water weight to flour weight. For example, if you use 750 grams of water with 1000 grams of flour, the hydration is 75%.

Example

If you have a recipe with 1000 grams of flour, 750 grams of water, 20 grams of salt, and 200 grams of sourdough starter, the Baker’s Formula would look like this:

Flour: 100%
Water: 75%
Salt: 2%
Sourdough starter: 20%

Impact of the Sourdough Starter on Hydration:

The sourdough starter—a lively mix of flour and water rich in wild yeasts and bacteria—is a key component of sourdough bread. However, since it contains equal parts water and flour, it affects the dough's hydration when added to the recipe.

In the Baker’s Formula, the sourdough starter is usually expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. Because the starter includes both water and flour, the amounts of water and flour in the recipe must be adjusted to maintain balanced hydration.

To achieve this, the amount of water in the recipe can be reduced to account for the water already present in the starter. Similarly, the flour amount can be increased to compensate for the flour in the starter. This ensures consistent total dough hydration and results in a well-developed sourdough loaf.

Recipe Development:

Professional bakers often use the Baker’s Formula when developing new recipes. It allows them to test different variables quickly and accurately.

Hydration refers to the ratio between water and flour in the dough. The hydration percentage has a significant impact on the texture, structure, and flavor of the final sourdough bread.

A hydration level between 65% and 85% is often recommended as a starting point. However, this is just a guideline and you can experiment to find what works best for your specific recipe and environmental conditions.

Cheatsheet

Properties	Higher hydration	Lower hydration
Flavor	Stronger sourdough aroma	More subtle sourdough flavor
Fermentation rate	Faster fermentation	Slower fermentation
Rise time and planning	Shorter rise time	Longer rise time
Dough manageability	Stickier, harder to handle	Firmer, easier to handle dough
The crust	Crispier crust	Less crispy crust

Adjustments in the Recipe

When experimenting with hydration, it’s important to add extra water or flour as needed to achieve the desired texture.

It’s helpful to take notes during the baking process to compare the results of different hydration levels and find the perfect balance for your sourdough bread.

The sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that has been fermented by wild yeasts and bacteria. These microorganisms are responsible for the fermentation and rising of the bread dough. The percentage of starter refers to the weight of the starter relative to the total weight of the flour in the recipe.

As a general guideline, you could start with a percentage between 10% and 30% of the total flour weight and adjust from there based on your experience and preferences.

Cheatsheet

Properties	High starter	Low starter
Flavor	Stronger sourdough aroma	More subtle sourdough flavor
Fermentation rate	Faster fermentation	Slower fermentation
Rise time and planning	Shorter rise time	Longer rise time
Dough manageability	Stickier, harder to handle	Firmer, easier to handle dough
The crust	Crispier crust	Less crispy crust

It’s important to note that there are no strict rules for the percentage of sourdough starter, and it depends on personal preference and environmental factors. It can be helpful to experiment with different percentages to discover what works best for your taste and conditions.

Salt is a crucial ingredient when making sourdough bread, not only because of the flavor it adds, but also due to the important role it plays in the fermentation process. Salt is a flavor enhancer and contributes to the overall taste of the bread. It provides a balanced, pleasant flavor that enhances the other ingredients.

Cheatsheet

Properties	High salt	Low salt
Flavor	Overwhelmingly salty taste	Possibly bland, underdeveloped flavor
Fermentation rate	Slower fermentation process	Overactive fermentation
Rise time and planning	Slower fermentation, more flexibility	Faster fermentation, less flexibility
Dough manageability	Too firm dough	Weaker dough
The crust	Denser, less crispy crust	Crispier crust

It’s important to monitor the amount of salt for health reasons. A high salt intake can be unhealthy, so it's good to aim for a balanced amount.

As a general guideline, a quantity of 1.8% to 2.2% of the total flour weight is often recommended. This is a good starting point, but you can adjust the amount of salt based on your personal taste preferences.

It is advisable to experiment with the amount of salt and take notes on the results to find the perfect balance for your bread recipe.

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Ingredient		Weight (g)
Flour
Water
Sourdough Starter
Salt

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The Bread Formula Calculator

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