Country sourdough calculator
The Tartine country loaf: 90/10 white and whole wheat, 75% hydration, 20% young levain.
Overall hydration, starter included: 77.3%.
The country loaf in the Tartine tradition — the formula that taught a generation to bake sourdough: 90% white and 10% whole-wheat flour, 75% water, 2% salt and 20% of a young, sweet leaven. Published gram for gram in the book and written up the same way by nearly everyone who reproduces it.
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 book’s 75% arrives as 70% 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 turn airy.
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.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- Chad Robertson — “Tartine Bread” (read via The Regular Chef) — The country loaf, gram for gram: 90% white + 10% whole wheat, 75% water, 2% salt, 20% young leaven.
- The Perfect Loaf — Tartine country loaf — Maurizio’s version of the same loaf — he raises the leaven to 250 g and the whole wheat to 30%.
FAQ
Is the hydration really 75%?
As the book states it, yes — 700 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 77%. 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.
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