Hydration guide
Organic Bread Flour Hydration Guide
Workable range: 64–77% · Absorption: 0.990× bread flour · Midpoint target: 71%
How Organic Bread Flour behaves at each hydration
Organic bread flour varies more in spec than conventional bread flour due to varietal diversity in organic wheat sourcing. Protein ranges 11.5-13%, typically slightly lower than conventional bread flour (12-13.5%). Absorption is marginally less (~1% below baseline) reflecting the protein variance. King Arthur Organic Bread Flour, Central Milling Organic Artisan Bakers Craft, and Janie's Mill Organic Bread Flour are primary US references. Worth using when organic certification matters to you or the customer; performance is ~95% of conventional bread flour.
Substituting Organic Bread Flour for bread flour
Absorption multiplier: 0.990×. When substituting for bread flour, subtract about 1% water. For example: a 75% bread-flour recipe becomes 74% when using 100% Organic Bread Flour.
The calculator below is pre-set to 71%. Adjust the slider to match your target. Salt and levain percentages are the flour-independent defaults (2.0% and 20%).
Technique at target hydration
Same as conventional bread flour but allow 2-3% more proofing time (slightly weaker gluten on some batches). Autolyse 45-60 min. 3-4 stretch-and-folds.
Calculator pre-set to 71%
- Flour to add
- 450 g
- Water to add
- 305 g
- Salt
- 10 g
- Levain @ 100%
- 100 g
- Total dough
- 865 g
- Effective hydration
- 71%
How the math works
Total water = flour × hydration %. Your levain contributes 50 g flour + 50 g water — both count toward the totals. You add only the remainder as fresh flour and water.
Salt % is computed on total flour weight, not final-dough flour.