Baguette dough calculator
Hamelman's poolish baguette: 66% hydration, a third of the flour prefermented overnight — per baguette.
3 × 335 g · 66% hydration
Type how much flour you have — the portion weight recalculates.
The classic French baguette on a poolish, straight from Jeffrey Hamelman’s professional formula: 66% hydration, 2% salt, and a third of the flour prefermented overnight. Lean dough, deep flavor — the preferment does the work time otherwise would.
How it works
The poolish
The evening before, mix 33% of the total flour with an equal weight of water (100% hydration) and a pinch of the yeast — the calculator’s totals include it, so take the poolish’s flour and water out of the final-dough amounts. After 12–16 hours at room temperature it should be bubbly and just starting to recede.
Why 66% and not more
Hamelman’s baguette is deliberately drier than the fashionable high-hydration loaves: 66% water makes a dough you can actually shape into tight, even cylinders with good scoring. The flavor complexity comes from the poolish, not from extra water.
Shaping and baking
Divide at about 335 g per baguette, preshape, rest, then roll to length with tapered ends. Bake hot with steam on a stone or steel until deep gold — the total yeast across poolish and final dough is just 0.47% instant.
FAQ
Can I skip the poolish and make a straight dough?
You will get a decent white stick, but not this baguette — the poolish is where the aroma, the cream-colored crumb and the crackling crust come from. If time is short, the generic yeast-bread calculator serves the straight-dough case better.
How much yeast goes into the poolish itself?
Hamelman’s poolish gets roughly 0.2% of the poolish flour — a pinch. The rest of the total 0.47% is mixed into the final dough.
Why are my baguettes flat?
Usually loose shaping or overproofing. This dough is firm enough to build real surface tension — use it, and proof until the poke mark springs back slowly, not until the loaf doubles.