Sourdough Levain Calculator
Calculate the flour, water, and seed starter needed to build a levain for your sourdough recipe. Specify prefermented flour percentage and starter hydration.
Inputs
Results
Total levain needed
400 g
≈ 4 sticks of butter
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the total recipe flour weight in grams.
- Set the prefermented flour percentage (15–30% is typical).
- Enter levain hydration and the seed starter percentage used to build it.
- The calculator shows total levain needed, flour and water in the levain, seed starter amount, and estimated build time at 75 °F.
- Mix the levain build and use it when it has peaked (domed top, doubled in size) at the indicated time.
How the result changes with Total recipe flour
| Total recipe flour | Total levain needed |
|---|---|
| 10,001 | 4,000.4 g |
| 35,001 | 14,000.4 g |
| 65,000 | 26,000 g |
| 90,000 | 36,000 g |
What each input means
- Total recipe flour
- Total flour weight in your final recipe.
- Prefermented flour
- Percentage of total flour that goes into the levain (typically 15–30%).
- Starter hydration
- Hydration of your levain (100% = equal parts flour and water).
- Seed starter
- Percentage of mature starter used to inoculate the levain build (typically 10–30%).
What each result means
- Total levain needed
- Total weight of ripe levain to mix into the dough.
- Flour in levain
- Flour portion of the levain build.
- Water in levain
- Water portion of the levain build.
- Seed starter amount
- Mature starter to kick off the levain.
- Estimated build time
- Approximate time for levain to ripen at ~75 °F room temperature.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersTotal recipe flour = 1000, Prefermented flour = 20, Starter hydration = 100, Seed starter = 20 = 4 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total levain neededTotal levain needed400 = 400
- Calculate Flour in levainFlour in levain200 = 200
- Calculate Water in levainWater in levain200 = 200
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.
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