Sourdough, Bread & Pizza Baking Companion Sourdough, Bread & Pizza Dough Calculator

A sourdough calculator is a tool that converts recipe ingredients based on baker's percentages. You enter the flour weight and the percentage for each ingredient, and the calculator works out the exact weights of water, salt, yeast, or starter. You can also set a target dough weight and the calculator will adjust all ingredient weights to hit that target while keeping your percentages intact. It also handles preferments (poolish, biga, levain) and accounts for water content in eggs and milk so your hydration is always accurate.

Baker's percentage (also called baker's math) expresses each ingredient as a percentage of total flour weight. Flour is always 100%. To calculate: divide the ingredient weight by the flour weight and multiply by 100. For example, 1000g flour and 650g water gives 65% hydration. This system makes it easy to scale any recipe up or down while keeping ratios perfectly consistent.

Divide total water by total flour and multiply by 100, but the key is to include the water and flour inside your sourdough starter. A 100% hydration starter at 200g contains 100g flour and 100g water. So for 800g flour, 200g starter, and 550g added water: total flour = 900g, total water = 650g, hydration = 72%. Forgetting the starter's contribution is the most common calculation mistake.

At room temperature (20–25°C), feed every 12–24 hours. In the refrigerator, once a week is enough. The standard ratio is 1:1:1 (starter:flour:water by weight). Signs your starter needs feeding: it has collapsed, smells strongly of acetone or alcohol, or has a layer of liquid (hooch) on top. After feeding, it should double in size within 4–8 hours at room temperature.

Divide fresh yeast by 2 for active dried, or by 3 for instant. So 42g fresh yeast equals 21g active dried or 14g instant. Active dried must be dissolved in warm water first, while instant goes straight into flour. Fresh yeast has about 70% water content, which is why you need more of it by weight.

It depends on the ingredient. Using the spoon-and-level method: 1 cup of all-purpose flour is about 120g, 1 cup of bread flour is 130g, 1 cup of sugar is 200g, and 1 cup of butter is 227g (2 sticks). Scooping directly from the bag can add 20-30g extra per cup. Weighing ingredients in grams is always more accurate than measuring by volume.

It depends on the style and your experience. Neapolitan: 60–65% (easy to shape, classic chewy crust). New York: 62–68% (slightly more open crumb). Roman/al taglio: 70–80% (light, airy, harder to handle). Start at the lower end of each range and increase as your shaping skills improve. Higher hydration dough needs gentler handling, longer fermentation, and well-floured surfaces.

DDT is the target temperature of your dough right after mixing, usually 24–26°C (75–78°F) for most bread. Temperature controls fermentation speed. Even 2°C difference can change your timeline by hours. The formula: Water Temp = (DDT × 3) − Room Temp − Flour Temp − Friction Factor. The friction factor (usually 20–40 for stand mixers, 0–6 for hand mixing) accounts for heat generated during kneading.

350°F equals 176.7°C, which rounds to 180°C in practice. This is the most common baking temperature for cakes, cookies, and quick breads. For bread and pizza you'll want higher: 450°F (230°C) for sourdough, 475–550°F (245–290°C) for pizza. For convection ovens, reduce by 25°F (about 15°C).