What does each ingredient do?

Move a slider and watch the crumb, the handling, the sourness and the timing change. Each slider stops where a good loaf stops, and tells you why.

Start from a recipe

Baked in

Change the dough

Every setting the sliders allow makes a bakeable dough. Not sure where to start? Try one:

Water

75%

60 stiff70 easy78 open85 wet

Soft and a little sticky. A more open crumb with some bigger holes.

Starter (levain)

20%

8 slow1520 usual30 fast

The usual amount. Timings stay predictable.

Salt

2.0%

1.62.02.4

Right for most sourdough. Seasons the bread and firms up the dough.

Whole wheat

10%

0 white2550 hearty

A little whole wheat adds flavour and colour without changing the crumb much.

Dough temperature

75°F

68°F cool75°F82°F warm

The sweet spot most recipes are written for.

Your loaf

Open crumbmedium

Easy to handlemedium

Sour flavourmedium

Bulk ferment takes about 4h. Read the dough, not the clock: done is about 50% bigger, domed and jiggly.

Weigh out

For one 5 qt / 4.7 L Dutch oven

Bread flour	407 g
Whole wheat	51 g
Water	331 g
Levain	102 g
Salt	10 g
Dough	900 g

Formula, as % of all the flour including the levain's: 90% bread flour, 10% whole wheat; 75% water, 20% levain, 2% salt.

Bake this in the app

See your loaf ↓

How it works

Rules of thumb, not a simulation.

The meters follow what experienced bakers expect: more water opens the crumb and makes the dough harder to handle; more starter and more warmth make it rise faster; whole wheat drinks water and adds tang. Your flour, your starter and your hands will move the results. The limits are the reliable part.

The rise time starts from the recipe’s own bulk ferment at 75°F (24°C) and adjusts for temperature, the amount of starter, salt and whole wheat. The app uses the same temperature rule to time every step of a bake.