Error in Handbook?
Ok so I've been looking at this for 30 minutes trying to prove that I'm wrong. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/san-francisco-style-sourdough
In the Sourdough page it shows the following formula:
White flour: 100%
Salt: 2%
Water: 72%
30% of the flour is in the starter. (I’ll give two recipes, one for starter at 100% hydration and another at 60% hydration)
Then you have the absolute numbers:
White flour: 500 grams or about 4 cups
Salt: 10 grams or 1.25 tsp
Water:
- Using a wet starter: 210 grams or 1 cup MINUS 1 Tbs
- Using a stiff starter: 270 grams or 1 cup +3 Tbs
Starter: Two options
- Wet starter (100% hydration) 300 grams or 1 ¼ cup
- Stiff starter (60% hydration) 240 grams or 1 cup
Assuming a wet starter wouldn't that make 650 grams flour and 360 grams water making 55% hydration? Not the 72% in the formula. The formula even states 30% flour in the starter so I'm thinking the flour is supposed to be 350 grams.
What am I missing?
... is stating that 30% of the flour is used in the starter. So 500grams of flour in total (not 650 grams)- but 30% of that 500 grams is prefermented in the starter. That's 150 grams taken out and added to 150grams of water to make the 100% starter (or pre-ferment).
Check that sneaky little phrase in the recipe:
30% of the flour is in the starter
So Water total is 210 grams (in dough) + 150 grams (in starter) = 360 grams.
Flour total is 500 grams (150g of that 500 used in starter - or preferment as I would prefer to call it).
360grams as a percentage of 500 grams is 72%
Voila! (or clear as mud?) ;0)
All at Sea
Gotcha. From the perspective of a beginner it seemed confusing to have all of the ingredients with absolute numbers except the flour.
THANKS!
I'm thinking you're right!
At least not as written.
I should confuse things even more with a BBGA spreadsheet.
NO! NOT A BBGA SPREADSHEET. NOTHING BUT THAT!