crumb & cultureA LITTLE SCIENCE. A LOT OF SOUL.
LESS GUESSWORK. MORE GOOD BREAD.

One feed.
Your own rhythm.

Calculators work without a saved starter.

Feed my starter

Weigh it, choose a feed, then mix.

How do I know if it is active?

Follow repeated activity and visible changes, not a timer or float test alone.

After feeding, mark the starting level. Watch for expansion, bubbles through the mixture, and a top that is becoming flatter after rising. Learn the pattern of your own healthy culture.

First time using a kitchen scale?

Use the scale’s zero / tare button for each ingredient.

A gram is a measure of weight. This app does not use cups because flour packs differently each time. The amount shown always excludes your jar or bowl.

Feeding ratio starter : flour : water

More flour per gram of starter usually means a longer wait.

What does a feeding ratio mean?

1:2:2 means one part starter, two parts flour, two parts water—all by weight.

At 1:2:2, 10 g starter needs 20 g flour and 20 g water. The result is 50 g. With 20 g starter, use 40 g flour and 40 g water for 100 g total.

Room temperature
24°C a comfortable kitchen
16°C · cool32°C · warm
Your flour blend100 / 100%
%
%

Percentages split the flour weight, not the water. Flour choice never silently changes your ratio.

Optional: water guidance for my flour

Keep your chosen ratio in charge

Store-bought does not mean identical absorption. Whole grains, bran, protein quality, and brand still matter. Use the hydration control for an intentional change rather than an automatic flour correction.

Current final hydration100%
Why this guidance?

100% hydration is a starting convention, not the water absorption requirement of every flour.

Read the supporting guidance
A little more control
Explain hydration with an example

100% hydration means equal flour and water by weight—not a mixture made entirely of water.

For example, 50 g flour plus 50 g water is 100% hydration. If that mixture is your starter, a 20 g portion contains roughly 10 g flour and 10 g water.

YOUR NEXT FEED by weight, always

Happy starter,
happy bread.

Starter to keep20g
Flour to add40g
Water to add40g
Total after feeding100 g
32 g bread flour8 g whole rye
Estimated time to peak3.5-10.5 hours

Broad ingredient-aware window

24°C
What goes into this estimate?

A demo planning heuristic based on flour-based dilution and temperature. Flour, milling, and final hydration select a wider uncertainty band, not a supposedly measured fermentation multiplier. Calibrate with your own feed.

  • Ratio 1:2:2; 100% total hydration.
  • 20% whole-grain / less-refined flour; 0% freshly milled, by added flour weight.
  • Starter weight scales the batch; ratio, seed hydration, and conditions govern the planning window.
  • Use room temperature as a proxy; actual starter temperature and culture strength still matter.
  • Whole grains can increase activity. Begin checking at the early end; no rye-versus-wheat coefficient has been measured here.
Timing reference & limitations
HERE'S THE SIMPLE VERSION

Keep 20 g of starter. Set aside the remaining 30 g; reserve a healthy culture for next time and discard only what you do not need. Mix in 40 g flour and 40 g water. You will have 100 g at 100% hydration. At 24°C, begin checking for peak in roughly 3.5-10.5 hours. Look for bubbles, expansion, and a top that starts to flatten, rather than relying on a float test alone.

Ratio 1:2:2100% hydration

Plan a bake

Recipe, time, starter—then your plan.

1 What would you like to bake?
Wheat method
2 When would you like your bread?
3 Starter and final rise
Not sure whether it is ready?

Follow repeated activity and visible changes, not a timer or float test alone.

After feeding, mark the starting level. Watch for expansion, bubbles through the mixture, and a top that is becoming flatter after rising. Learn the pattern of your own healthy culture.

Where will the shaped loaf have its final rise?
Explain levain, first rise and final proof

Choose a recipe and a target. Read the plan before starting.

A levain is starter prepared for a particular loaf. Your ongoing starter is the culture you keep for next time. Some recipes build extra levain for handling loss; that is separate from your maintenance reserve.

Room temperature
24°C a comfortable kitchen
16°C · cool32°C · warm
Prepare your starter for this bake 39 g needed

19 g goes into the recipe's starter build; 20 g stays as your ongoing culture. The recipe needs 100%-hydration seed starter.

The suggested feed changes the flour/water amounts, not the actual condition of your culture. A cold starter may still need several feeds.

Keep 7.8 g starter · add 15.6 g flour + 15.6 g water5-9 hGeneral liquid-starter estimate · scheduling uses the displayed late end, unless you provide a personal allowance

15.6 g Bread flour

Advanced timing & quiet hours
YOUR BAKE PLAN Wheat

Everyday country loaf

Preparing your local dates…

Recipe details & ingredient weights

A one-loaf planning adaptation of The Perfect Loaf beginner formula. Use the source for the full baking method. Timings are planning estimates, not a bake-tested recipe of our own.

Original recipe reference
899.5 g dough · 1 loaf

72.4% hydration · 0% known freshly milled flour (seed flour included in the denominator). Syrup moisture is not estimated.

Starter build · make 95 g

Ripe starter (100% hydration)19 g
Bread flour19 g
Whole wheat flour19 g
Water38 g

Final dough · use 95 g of that build

Bread flour386.5 g
Whole wheat flour57 g
Whole rye flour25.5 g
Water (hold a little back)326.5 g
Salt9 g
What do the hydration percentages mean?

100% hydration means equal flour and water by weight—not a mixture made entirely of water.

For example, 50 g flour plus 50 g water is 100% hydration. If that mixture is your starter, a 20 g portion contains roughly 10 g flour and 10 g water.

YOUR STARTERS, RECIPES & BAKING NOTES

My kitchen

My kitchen is where your sourdough life comes together: your starters, your favorite recipes, and the little notes that help your loaves feel just right.

Your kitchen at a glance

Everything you’ve been baking with, gathered in one warm, easy place.

STARTERS

0

Saved cultures and their usual homes.

RECIPES

0

Your favorite bakes and repeat go-tos.

FEEDS

0

Observations and notes from your kitchen.

Recent baking notes

Your recent feeds will appear here once you start recording them.

Kitchen tools

Keep a copy for safekeeping, or bring back an older file when you need it.

MAKE IT YOURS

Your recipe collection

Start with a familiar method, then enter your own quantities and timings.

No blank-page puzzle. Wheat and gluten-free methods stay separate. You can calculate and plan without a saved starter profile.

No personal recipes yet. The built-in recipes are always available in Plan a bake.

A LITTLE HELP, RIGHT WHEN YOU NEED IT

Good bread starts
with small steps.

No account. No specialist vocabulary required.

Your first five minutes

A scale, a clean jar, flour, water—and no technical knowledge required.

jar + bowlEmpty bowl0 gPress tare / zero20 gAdd one ingredient
Taring resets the display, not the actual weight already in the container. Use grams throughout.

You can use every calculator without an account or saved starter. Start with what you want to do: create a starter, feed an existing one, or plan a loaf.

You need a kitchen scale set to grams, a clean container with room for the starter to rise, flour, water, and a spoon. A thermometer is helpful; room temperature is an approximation if you do not have one.

  1. No starter yet? Read “Starting from scratch.” It is a multi-day project, not a same-day baking shortcut.
  2. Have a starter? Open Feed my starter. Enter the starter weight without the jar, then choose how much to keep.
  3. Want a loaf? Choose Plan a bake, a recipe, and when you want bread. The app works backwards.
crumb & culture Saved on this device. No accounts. No tracking.