AI & Technology
AI-Assisted Recipe Scaling for Different Loaf Sizes
Doubling a recipe isn't multiplying ingredients. Here's how to actually scale a sourdough — and where AI helps.
Scaling sourdough up or down isn't a simple multiplication problem. Hydration, fermentation, and bake times all shift in non-linear ways. AI tools can do the math; here's the logic behind them.
Why doubling fails
Double a 1kg recipe and your bulk fermentation doesn't double. The interior of a larger mass holds heat longer, accelerating fermentation. Surface area to volume drops, slowing crust development. A simple 2× ingredient list overproofs the inside while underbaking the outside.
Baker's percentages
The base unit. Flour is always 100%; everything else is expressed relative to it.
- 100% flour
- 75% water
- 20% starter
- 2% salt
Scale by adjusting your flour weight; everything else recalculates from the same percentages.
Fermentation adjustments
Larger doughs ferment faster from the inside out. As you scale up:
- Reduce starter percentage by ~2–5% per doubling
- Reduce bulk fermentation time by ~10–20%
- Use cooler dough temperature to slow the inside
For smaller loaves, do the opposite — slightly more starter, slightly longer bulk.
Bake times
A 500g loaf bakes faster than a 1kg loaf, but not half as fast. Roughly:
- 500g — 35–40 minutes
- 1kg — 45–50 minutes
- 1.5kg — 55–65 minutes
- 2kg — 65–75 minutes
Always confirm with internal temperature: 207–210°F.
Where AI helps
Recipe scalers can hold percentages constant and recalculate everything at once. Better tools also adjust:
- Bulk fermentation time based on size and ambient temperature
- Bake times based on loaf shape
- Hydration adjustments for different flours
- Schedule predictions for when each step will finish
Worked example
You have a recipe for 900g of dough. You want enough for two boules (around 1.8kg total).
- Double flour, water, salt, and starter percentages stay the same.
- Reduce starter percentage by 2% (e.g. 20% → 18%) to compensate for faster fermentation.
- Reduce bulk by ~15%.
- Add 10–15 minutes to total bake.
When not to scale
Some recipes don't scale well past 2× — high-hydration doughs, enriched doughs with lots of butter, and any recipe with very precise mix-in timing. Run two batches in parallel instead.
Take notes
The best scaling tool is your own log of past bakes. Note dough weight, room temperature, bulk time, bake time, and result. Patterns emerge fast.