Sourdough, worked out.

Start here

New to sourdough? Follow these three guides in order.

1. Make and feed a starterA day-by-day plan and feeding ratios that fit your schedule.
2. Learn baker's percentagesRead any recipe as percentages and scale a loaf.
3. Bake your first weekend loafFeed Friday, mix Saturday, bake Sunday, with a free printable.

Guides

Each guide compares published sources and links every one of them at the end of the page.

• GuideSourdough Starter: How to Make It, Feed It, and Fix It

  Make one from scratch, choose a feeding ratio, and fix a starter that won't rise.

• GuideSourdough Bulk Fermentation: How Long It Takes at Every Temperature

  Published bulk times compared by dough temperature, signs it's done, and a mixing-water calculator.

• GuideOvernight and Same-Day Sourdough: Pick a Schedule That Fits Your Day

  Four ways to use the night, three full timelines, and how long dough can wait in the fridge.

• GuideA Weekend Sourdough Schedule You Can Print

  Feed Friday, mix Saturday, bake Sunday, with a free printable and starter log.

• GuideSourdough Discard: Use It in Any Recipe, Store It Safely, Make Less of It

  Swap discard into any recipe, see how long it keeps (sources compared), and make less of it.

• GuideSourdough Focaccia: Five Recipes Compared, and How Much Dough Your Pan Needs

  Five focaccia formulas in baker's percentages, how much dough your pan needs, and fixes for sticking.

• GuideSourdough Sandwich Bread: Five Recipes Compared, From Lean to Enriched

  Lean and soft enriched loaves compared, dough weight per loaf pan, and why doneness temps differ.

• GuideSourdough Pizza Dough: Five Recipes Compared by the Numbers

  Five pizza doughs in baker's percentages, ball weight by pizza size, fridge timelines and home-oven fixes.

• GuideSourdough Bagels: Five Recipes Compared by the Numbers

  Five bagel doughs in baker's percentages, dough per bagel, boil times, oven temps and one-day or three-day schedules.

• GuideWhole Wheat Sourdough: Five Recipes Compared by the Numbers

  Five whole wheat loaves in baker's percentages: how much water, how whole, schedules, bake temps and fixes for dense crumb.

• GuideSourdough Rye Bread: Four Recipes Compared by the Numbers

  Four rye loaves from 30% to 100% rye in baker's percentages: water, starter, warm short rises, bake temps and why rye needs acid.

• GuideBaker's Percentages and Hydration, Explained (with a Calculator)

  Read any recipe as percentages, count the water in your starter, and scale a loaf.

Free calculators

Small tools that run in your browser and are unit-tested against published worked examples.

• CalculatorSourdough Hydration Calculator (Baker's Percentage)

  Free baker's percentage calculator: enter dough weight or flour weight, hydration, salt and starter, and get grams with the starter's flour and water counted.

• CalculatorSourdough Discard Swap Calculator (Any Hydration)

  Work out how much flour and liquid to take out of a recipe when you add sourdough discard, for a starter at any hydration.

• CalculatorMixing Water Temperature Calculator for Sourdough

  Find the water temperature that gets your sourdough to its target dough temperature, using the desired dough temperature formula. Works in °F or °C.

Bakers Percent is a small, independent site. Read how these guides are researched.