Country sourdough calculator
The Tartine-style country loaf: 90/10 white and whole wheat, 80% hydration, 20% young levain.
2 × 1000 g · 80% hydration
Type how much flour you have — the portion weight recalculates.
The country loaf in the Tartine tradition — the formula that taught a generation to bake sourdough: 90% white and 10% whole-wheat flour, 80% water, 2% salt and 20% of a young, sweet leaven. Published gram for gram in the book and reproduced identically everywhere.
How it works
The leaven
Build it the night before: a spoonful of starter with equal weights of flour and water (the classic build is a 50/50 white/whole-wheat mix). Use it young — it should smell sweet and just pass the float test. The dose is 20% of the flour weight.
Water in two stages
The famous 80% arrives as 75% mixed with the flour for an autolyse of 25–40 minutes, plus 5% worked in with the salt afterwards. Bulk takes 3–4 hours warm with about six gentle folds — the dough should rise around a third and feel alive.
Shaping and the oven
Divide at 1 kg per loaf, preshape, bench rest, then shape tight and proof in baskets — overnight in the fridge works beautifully. Bake in a covered pot or with strong steam, hot, until the crust is deeply colored; “bold” is the Tartine signature.
FAQ
Is the hydration really 80%?
As the book states it, yes — 750 g plus 50 g of water per 1000 g of flour, excluding the leaven. Count the leaven’s own flour and water and the whole dough sits nearer 82–83%. This calculator follows the bakers’ convention and shows added water.
How does this differ from Forkish’s country loaf?
Ken Forkish’s Overnight Country Blonde cross-checks the template: 90/5/5 flours, 78% water, 2.2% salt, ~22% levain — but ferments 12–15 hours overnight in one long bulk. Same family, different schedule.
Can I use only white flour?
Yes, though the 10% whole wheat feeds fermentation and deepens flavor noticeably for so small a share. Going the other way — more whole grain — moves you toward pain de campagne territory.