Get the water temperature that lands your dough where you want it — or measure your mixer’s friction factor once and reuse it.
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Water temperature = DDT × 3 − flour − room − friction (× 4, also minus the preferment, if you use one). King Arthur aims for 75–78 °F for yeast breads and sourdough.
Every ingredient and the mixing itself push the dough’s temperature up or down. Water is the one you can easily control, so the formula solves for it. This is King Arthur Baking’s method (Dough Temperature; Desired dough temperature):
straight dough: water = DDT × 3 − flour − room − friction
with a preferment: water = DDT × 4 − flour − room − preferment − friction
King Arthur’s example: a 78 °F target, 72 °F room, 71 °F flour and a 22 °F friction factor give 234 − 72 − 71 − 22 = 69 °F water.
Friction depends on your mixer, speed, time and batch size, so it’s worth measuring once. Switch to Find my friction factor, enter the temperatures of a dough you’ve just mixed and the water you used, and the calculator works it backwards. Keep your mixing the same and the number stays good.
Using a levain or poolish? Choose Yes for preferment — the multiplier becomes 4. Pair it with the sourdough calculator or the poolish calculator.