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Sourdough Ingredient Mass Balance

Account for starter flour and water when finding dough mass and total hydration.

  • Formula & worked example
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Calculator inputs

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How to use this calculator

  1. Enter the known values in the units shown. Results update as you type.
  2. Where results are editable, change one to solve backwards. Lock a value to hold it fixed.
  3. Use the worked example to check the method. Reset restores the starting fields.

Private by default

Inputs and results stay in this browser tab. Bookify does not upload or store the values you enter.

Formula and method

With 500 g flour, 300 mL water and 100 g of 100%-hydration starter, total flour is 550 g and water is 350 g.

Starter flour = starter mass / (1 + starter hydration); dough = total flour + total water + salt

Worked example

Enter these known values and leave the other values blank.

Percentage starter
20 %
Flour
500 g
Water
300 mL
Starter hydration
100 %
Starter
100 g
Salt
10 g
Starter flour
50 g
Starter water
50 mL
Total weight of dough
910 g
Total flour
550 g
Total water
350 mL
Total hydration
64 %

Assumptions and limitations

  • Water milliliters are treated as grams under the ordinary kitchen approximation. Starter hydration is water as a percentage of starter flour. The captured salt rule is one-tenth of the starter percentage, so changing starter percentage changes salt too; this is a model convention, not a fermentation guarantee.

Common questions

What assumptions affect this result?

Water milliliters are treated as grams under the ordinary kitchen approximation. Starter hydration is water as a percentage of starter flour. The captured salt rule is one-tenth of the starter percentage, so changing starter percentage changes salt too; this is a model convention, not a fermentation guarantee.

Can I solve for a missing value?

Clear the missing field and enter compatible known values in the displayed units. Supported inverse branches remain available; rounding and one-way outputs keep their original direction.

References

Validate the supplied starter percentage directly, preserving the captured positive ingredient conditions.

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