March 23, 2015 - 10:05am
Does hydration %age include levain?
Gurus, I have been happily baking a variety of breads recently. My latest was 1,2,3... and it turned out beautifully. 
But it seems to me that with such a large %age of levain in the final dough, that the hydration should include the water in the levain, as should the total flour include the flour in the levain. Is that wrong?
Thanks in advance.
hester
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Overall Formula includes that of which is in the pre-ferments.
Unfortunately bread formulas are not done in one universal way and different writers/bakers lay out their formulas in different ways. Realistically it's all in the eye of the beholder so if they understand their format then all is right in the world.
Some separate the levain and the formula as two entities and others do so, but also show an overall formula. I prefer the latter. Of all the books I own Hamelman's "Bread" has my favorite format. Shows Pre-Fermented Flour first and formost, then the full overview and then broken down into it's parts. Followed by detailed mixing and fermenting process.
Josh
in the total overall hydration. Most 123 recipes work out to about 71% hydration. - if 100% hydration levian is used
That's what I thought.
I've seen some people say it doesn't/shouldn't.
However i'm with the majority so-far and include it in my calculations.
However it them makes the recipe seem odd to the eye - until you factor in the starter/pre-ferment.
e.g. I have:
flour: 100%
water: 52%
starter: 40%
salt: 1.5%
which at first glance seems like far too little water, but take the starter (at 100% hydration) into account and the final hydration is 60%. (which you may still think is too low, but it works very well for me and my British flours)
-Gordon
When the amount of starter is trivial, it's contribution to the hydration is also trivial. But when it's in a 1,2,3 formula or 20 % or more, it makes a difference. Thanks for your reply.
If the starter is not included then the hydration percentage could be off significantly. That said, if you only use five or 10 grams of starter, the ramifications are nil.
To be honest, though, my own hydration percentages for my starter are estimates. Sometimes I keep it at a low hydration percentage, and other times I increase the percentage. Since I only occasionally measure the weight of the flour and water I add, there is some inexactitude that I happily tolerate.
A starter is flour + water and does go into the recipe. No two ways about it.
Sure if it's only a small amount it won't make a difference. But what's the difference if one miscalculates a small amount of the starter as supposed to a small amount of the flour + water. Yet those who say a starter is not included in the hydration wouldn't say the flour + water isn't included.
I agree with Gordon when it comes to baker's percentages that it might look a little odd to the eye when doing bakers percentages. That is why when I calculate i'll do everything according to the flour and an additional "Final hydration including the levain". In your book you bought me Hamelman gives a few charts. 3 in all. The levain build, the baker's percentage and the final dough.