Salt & Baker's Percentages

If your oven spring is too much, try bulk fermenting longer. 

Must be a taste thing.  I regularly bake with 9g salt and 450g total flour weight.  Doesn't taste salty to me, but that's just my taste.  I normally bake with whole wheat, whole spelt and whole rye, all of which have fairly pronounced flavors and the salt may not be as strong tasting in this case. 

I think the jury is still out on that one. I often see very seasoned bakers combine the salt with all the rest of the ingredients without adverse effects on the dough. With that said, I still do my preferments without salt and only add the salt in the final mix. Maybe some side-by-side experimentation is in order.

As to the actual quantity of salt, I have been working at 1.8% for some time now and find it right on the money. Where I have run into trouble is when I haven't integrated the salt well in the final mix, leaving salt-rich pockets embedded in the dough. These can be quite unpleasant to the tongue when discovered. I have taken to mixing the salt with the water used in my final mix, making sure it is diluted well before incorporating it into the rest of the ingredients.

Jim

is about what I use - and bakers percentages are typically calculated on the weight of the flour - not counting the flour in the starter. At least that works for me.

However as I sell my bread I try to stick to the UK guidelines which state no more than 1% salt in the baked product.

So for a 800g loaf (baked weight) I'd add 8g of salt. In practice it's closer to 8.5g as my mix scales to about 915g and bakes to about 850g.

-Gordon

In my breads I use 2 percent.  But in Italy they use 3 percent in their pizza dough.  I don’t taste my bread as salty, just right, but I would say that the pizza in Italy is salty.  Having worked in northern Italy I find in general that that area’s food comes across to me as high in salt.  My understanding is that in their pizza dough they want it to be both over fermented and high salt content to limit the rise of the pizza crust.  They also make the point that pizza is NOT bread.  Add to this that much of the cheese is high in salt.

Not sure what type salt you're using but table salt is stronger than sea salt or kosher salt, perhaps try other salt or just do as you do and lower the percentage.

Much depends on the type of salt you are using. I use gros sel de Guérande (very cheap in France), which is a moister and less "salty" (weird I know) tasting salt compared to table or kosher. Thus I use anywhere from 2.0 - 2.2%, depending on the grains.

As far as weight is concerned, I always go by the non-fermented flour weight when doing my mix rather than TOTAL flour weight. For example, if I make a batch of dough with 200 g of starter (100% hydration) and 1000 g of flour, I will use 20-22 grams of salt. Total flour is 1100 grams, but for the salt I don't count the pre-fermented flour. That's a pretty general practice in the baking world.

However, if you're finding that your breads are too salty, by all means drop the salt percentage or change the type of salt you are using. In any case, find something that suits you.

Happy baking !

...and never had any issues with it.  Also the salt I use is LoSalt which is potassium based in order to reduce sodium intake.  I have tried all sorts of salt including sea salt but can't taste any difference - so LoSalt it is.

 it controls it to some degree.  If that means some slowing down then ok, but it's the "control" we're after.  Fermentation is not only yeast but bacteria ferment as well.   Without the salt, fermentation can vary and become unpredictable and vary greatly with the slightest change in recipe.  The bacteria and enzymes tend to be faster with no salt and the yeast can go up or down in activity and influenced even more by the temperature.  Salt strengthens the protein bonds in the dough.  Without it, dough will feel more wet and sticky and tear more easily.  1% to 3% can be normal. But taste rules.  Use what you prefer.  No major problem with using 1% salt in the breads.

I normally use 1.6 to 1.8% on total four but when working in the heat during summer, and sweating, I need to raise the salt content.  It doesn't surprise me that in warmer countries, more salt is the norm.  I've had to raise mine slightly as well when working up a good sweat glow.  I normally cook without salt.  There will still be variable salt amounts for different types of bread.  If I have to put sugar into a recipe, I will reduce the salt first and then reduce the sugar if I feel it is too high.  Too much sugar gets added to recipes that are already too high in salt. I find that when reducing the salt first, I need less sugar for a sweet taste.