Seeded multigrain bread calculator
Hamelman's five-grain levain: seeds and grains from an overnight soaker, a third of the flour weight.
Hamelman’s Five-Grain Levain — the benchmark seeded loaf: a wheat dough carrying a full third of its flour weight in grains and seeds, made possible by an overnight boiling-water soaker. Bread with the density of a health loaf and the crumb of an artisan one.
How it works
The hot soaker
Cracked rye, flaxseed, sunflower seeds and oats — 34% of the flour weight — get covered with boiling water the night before. The soak softens the grains so they enrich the crumb instead of cutting it, and it is where much of the formula’s unusual water lives.
Reading the numbers
Water shows as 98% of the flour and stops looking strange once you see where it goes: about a third into the levain, about two fifths into the boiling soaker, the rest into the final mix. The flour line reads the same way — a quarter of it is the levain you build the night before, not extra flour on top of it. Salt sits at 2.5% because it has the seed mass to season as well, and the 0.3% instant yeast is Hamelman’s insurance against a slow schedule.
Handling and baking
The seeded dough feels heavy but ferments actively. Bulk with folds, shape firmly (~1065 g per loaf) — seeds weaken surface tension, so be deliberate — and bake bold with steam.
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.
- Jeffrey Hamelman, “Bread” — Five-Grain Levain (read via Bewitching Kitchen) — The Five-Grain Levain: grains soaked at 34% of the flour, water 98%, salt 2.5%, a 0.3% yeast spike. Hamelman counts the levain and the soaker inside both totals — you build the levain from the flour and water shown here, not on top of them.
FAQ
How do I split the flour and water into the levain and the soaker?
On the default two-loaf batch: the levain is 227 g of flour and 284 g of water (a quarter of the flour at 125% hydration), built 12 to 16 hours ahead. At the same time the soaker takes all the grains, 308 g, under about 370 g of boiling water. The rest, 680 g of flour and about 235 g of water, goes into the final dough. At any other batch size keep the same shares; the totals in the recipe already contain all three parts.
Can I swap the seed mix?
Yes — the five-grain template tolerates substitution well if you keep the total around a third of the flour and soak anything hard. Keep flax in mind: it gels the soaker, which is normal, not a mistake.
Do I need the yeast spike?
Hamelman includes 0.3% instant yeast for bakery scheduling; his own adaptation notes say omit it if you retard the loaf overnight. Pure-levain works — just expect a longer, less predictable proof.
Why is my seeded loaf dense?
Unsoaked grains, or fear-driven underhydration. The soaker is non-negotiable, and the dough should feel wetter than a plain loaf — the seeds will absorb that water by morning.
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