Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms used across Dough Ratios.
- Autolyse
- Resting flour and water together before adding salt and sometimes starter, to let the flour hydrate.
- Baker's percentage
- A way of writing a recipe where total flour is 100% and every other ingredient is a percentage of the flour weight. Read more
- Banneton
- A basket used to hold shaped dough during its final rise.
- Bulk fermentation
- The first rise of the whole dough after mixing, before dividing and shaping.
- Desired dough temperature (DDT)
- The target dough temperature at the end of mixing, used to work out the water temperature. Read more
- Discard
- The starter removed before a feeding so the culture does not grow endlessly.
- Feeding ratio
- Starter, flour and water by weight in a feed, written like 1:2:2. Read more
- Friction factor
- The heat added to dough by mixing, used in the desired dough temperature calculation.
- Hydration
- Total water divided by total flour, as a percentage, counting the water and flour in any starter. Read more
- Levain
- A portion of starter built up specifically for a dough, often with its own feeding ratio and flour.
- Peak
- The point at which a fed starter has risen to its highest, usually about doubled with bubbles throughout, and is most active.
- Preferment
- Any portion of dough fermented ahead of the final mix, such as a sourdough levain, poolish or biga.
- Retard
- To slow fermentation by chilling the dough, often overnight in the refrigerator.
- Seed
- The portion of existing starter that you feed; the first number in a feeding ratio.
- Sourdough starter
- A live culture of wild yeast and bacteria in flour and water, kept going by regular feeding and used to leaven bread. Read more
- Stiff starter
- A starter kept at lower hydration, such as 50–60%, rather than equal flour and water.