Bread.

Source of inspiration

Understanding how proportions works.

Proportions

The typical proportions of basic bread ingredients that baker use are the following:

• Flour: 100% (used as the reference)
• Water: 65% hydration (meaning 65% of the flour weight)
• Salt: 2%
• Dried yeast (active dry or instant): 2%

So, for every 100 grams of flour, we use about 60 to 75 grams of water, 1.5 to 2 grams of salt, and about 1 to 2 grams of dried yeast.

Ingredients

For about 500 g of bread:

• 340 g of all-purpose flour
• 220 g (220 ml) of warm water (around 50 °C)
• 7 g of salt
• 3.5 g (about 1 tsp) of instant dried yeast

Directions

1. Mix dough:
   Combine flour, salt, and quick yeast in a bowl. Add warm water and mix until a rough dough forms.
2. Knead:
   Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
3. Rise:
   Lightly dust your bowl with flour, then place the dough inside, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise 1 hour until doubled in size.
4. Bake:
   Bake at 180 °C (~355 °F) for 30 minutes until the bread sounds hollow when tapped and has a golden crust.
5. Cool:
   Cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Notes

• Lower water content (60%) makes firmer dough and denser crumb, higher hydration (70-75%) results in lighter, open crumb breads.
• During baking, bread dough loses a significant portion of its water due to evaporation. If we start with a dough hydration of 65% (meaning water is 65% of the flour weight), typically about 10 to 15% of that water will evaporate during baking.
• Longer rising times improve flavor and texture.

Adjusted Proportions for Whole Wheat Bread

• Using whole wheat need an adjustment in proportions because whole this flour absorbs more water and impacts dough texture.
• Water: We need to increase hydration by about 5-10%. If our original recipe has 65% hydration, increase to about 70-75% water relative to flour weight to compensate for bran and fiber absorbing more moisture.
• Salt: No change needed.
• Yeast: We may want to slightly reduce yeast amount (e.g., from 1.5% to 1%) or allow longer fermentation because whole wheat ferments faster due to nutrients in the bran.