I recently got this book and I can't make sense of the baker's % he is using for the recipes.
I've been told that if you have a 100% starter, then
500g Flour
325g Water
200 starter (100 flour + 100 water)
So
600g flour
425g water
That's a 75% hydration.
But not, Dan Lepard doesn't count the starter
He just takes the initial 500g flour and 325g water so he says the hydration is 65%.
What is going on? Am I missing something?
I know he is using a starter 80% water and 100% flour, but the numbers won't add up.
I will copy past a random recipe of his book, so you can see what I mean
White leaven bread:
200g white leaven (starter)
325g Water
500g Strong white flour
Salt 2%
So he says the hydration of this is 65%.
What am I missing? Thanks
Yes, you are correct. Many bakers don't calculate the flour and water in the starter when they use baker's percentage. So either you recalculate it yourself (if you feel you need to know), or you just get a feel for how hydrated the dough is when you make that bread and adjust accordingly!
King Arthur flour has a very good discussion / description of all the ways to use baker's percentage, including with preferments, at this link here.
That link is very useful, thank you!
Yes, I need to know the hydration because my starter is 100% and Dan's is 80%.
Maybe next time I could just refresh mine at 80% to make my life easier :D
Time to read that King Arthur information!
does the same thing. I always recalculate including the levain so I can easily adjust things up or down.
You have the flour, water and starter. But starter is flour and water. Perhaps he means the hydration of water to flour minus the starter in the ingredients. However the final hydration of the dough will differ as one has to take the starter into account.
...But I didn't. The pro of his method is it is easier to remember recipes and flour to water ratios.
Personally I start with a known formula in percentages, as an example:
100% flour = 1000g
65% water = 650g
1.8% salt = 18g
.4% yeast = 4g
When I build my sourdough levain I shoot for 20% of the flour with a matching 100% hydration:
200g flour
200g water
200g starter (built at 100% hydration from a previous batch)
That leaves me with the following unused ingredients for the final mix:
Flour 1000g - 200g = 800g
Water 650g - 200g = 450g
Salt 18g - 0g = 18g
and since I am using sourdough levain instead of yeast, either:
no yeast or a pinch, depending on the weather.
Before I prepare the final mix I reserve 200g. of the starter, which is the amount I used to kick-start the new sourdough levain. This puts me back at the exact measurements as when I started, less a few grams of yeast and with the addition of some bacteria.
The long and the short of it is that I plan my final hydration before I feed my starter, not after. In that way I can stay true to my formula. Maybe someday when I'm a well-seasoned baker I can wing it but I'm a long way from that comfort zone.