Editorial policy

Clear methods. Honest examples.

Sourdough Bench explains baking quantities using published references and visible arithmetic. We aim to make both the answer and its limits easy to follow.

Start with the definition

Baker's percentages use flour weight as their base. For our dough calculator, total flour and total water include the starter's contribution. Prefermented flour means the flour already in the starter, not the full weight of that starter.

The feeding calculator uses a weight ratio of existing starter to fresh flour to fresh water. It includes the existing starter's hydration when reporting the final hydration. These are mass-balance calculations; they do not predict fermentation speed.

Sources you can inspect

We favor identifiable references that directly support a definition or method. These King Arthur Baking references support the percentage and hydration conventions used here:

• Baker's Percentage — flour as the base and overall percentages when using preferments.
• Hydration in bread dough, explained — counting the flour and water in a sourdough starter.
• What is baker's math? — scaling formulas and understanding prefermented flour.

These sources explain the underlying conventions. Their publishers have not endorsed this site or its calculators.

Examples are not baking trials

A worked example shows how a calculation behaves. It is not evidence that someone baked that exact formula. We do not invent personal baking stories, measured results, qualifications, or photographs of a claimed test.

A recorded bake needs context: flour and ingredient weights, starter hydration and condition, dough temperature, room conditions, timing, handling, and the observed result. Without that record, an example remains illustrative.

Photography

Our bread photographs come from the photographers listed on our photography credits page. They are licensed reference images, not evidence of our own baking trials. A photographed crumb does not establish a loaf’s formula, process, or fermentation quality.

What your own notes can tell you

When comparing bakes, write down what changed and what you observed. Keep measurements separate from impressions: a recorded dough temperature is a measurement; “easier to shape” is an observation. Both are useful when their meaning is clear.

Corrections and credit

Report a suspected error with the relevant page, input values, and source through our contact page. A correction should explain the change where it affects how a reader uses a method.

Editorial credit: Sourdough Bench. This publishing-name credit identifies editorial responsibility; it does not imply personal baking credentials.