Pain de campagne calculator
French country bread: white flour with whole wheat and a little rye, 78% hydration, 20% levain.
Pain de campagne, the French country loaf: white-flour bread made honest with a share of whole wheat and a little rye. The consensus center of respected formulas: 75/20/5 flours, 78% water, 2% salt and 20% levain.
How it works
The grain blend
The base splits into 75% bread flour, 20% whole wheat and 5% rye. That 25% whole-grain share is what separates campagne from a plain white sourdough: rustic flavor without the density of a full whole-grain loaf.
Breadtopia’s loaf in grams
300 g of bread flour, 80 g of whole wheat, 20 g of rye, 310 g of water, 80 g of starter and 8 g of salt: 798 g of dough, one boule. The default 800 g batch is that loaf.
Levain and schedule
A 20% dose of levain drives the loaf (Breadtopia’s own 80%-overall arithmetic assumes a 1:1 starter). Breadtopia bulks it roughly five and a half hours at about 25 °C, then gives it 9 hours in the fridge before baking; the cold proof makes scoring easier and adds a gentle tang.
Baking
A dutch oven or strong steam, hot, until the crust is deep brown. The rye share colors the crumb cream-gray and keeps the loaf moist for days.
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.
- Breadtopia — Sourdough Pain de Campagne — The exact reference: 75/20/5 bread–whole wheat–rye, 78% water, 2% salt, 20% levain — the consensus center of a family whose grain split genuinely varies.
FAQ
Why do published campagne recipes disagree on the flours?
The name describes a family, not one formula: Hamelman-style versions run 80/15/5, Breadtopia 75/20/5, and Caroline’s Cooking goes heavier on the rye. All agree on the concept: mostly white, some whole grain, always a little rye.
Can I bake it with yeast instead of levain?
Traditionally campagne is a levain bread and the flavor depends on it. On yeast you will get a fine mixed-flour loaf; use the generic yeast-bread calculator with this flour blend.
What hydration should a beginner use?
Tartine’s country loaf, 90/10 flours at 75% water, is the easier cousin. Start there and work up to 78% as your handling improves; the whole-grain share absorbs unevenly and 78% feels wetter than the number suggests.
How does it compare with the Tartine country loaf?
Mostly the rye and the proportions: Tartine is 90/10 white and whole wheat, campagne has more whole grain (25% here) with a little rye. In practice campagne is a touch heavier and more rustic.
More from Bread
Whole wheat bread calculator
A soft sandwich loaf made entirely from whole wheat flour, with honey and oil.
Hydration 64% · 850 g
Sandwich bread calculator
Pain de mie for a lidded Pullman pan: milk, butter and a little sugar, a fine even crumb.
Hydration 66% · 740 g
Rye sourdough calculator
Polish-style all-rye sourdough: plenty of water, a big starter dose, baked in a tin, no kneading.
Hydration 87% · 860 g
Wheat-rye sourdough calculator
The everyday Polish loaf on zakwas: 80% wheat, 20% rye, a firm dough and a gentle sourness.
Hydration 48% · 2 × 980 g
Bread dough calculators15 calculators