Desired Dough Temperature Calculator
Hit the same dough temperature every bake. Enter your target, your flour, room and starter temperatures, and get the water temperature that lands you there, with ice if you need it.
Need water colder than your tap?
Find your own friction factor
After a mix, enter the water temperature you used and the dough's temperature straight out of the bowl. The flour, room and starter temperatures above are reused.
What is desired dough temperature?
Desired dough temperature (DDT) is the temperature you want your dough to be when mixing finishes. Yeast and sourdough cultures are very sensitive to warmth: a dough a few degrees cooler than the recipe expects can take an hour or more longer to ferment, and a warmer one can overproof before you're ready to shape. Recipe timings like "bulk ferment for 4 hours" quietly assume a dough temperature. Hitting it is what makes those timings work in your kitchen.
You can't easily change the temperature of your flour, your room, or your starter, but you can change the water. That's why bakers control dough temperature through the water.
The desired dough temperature formula
The finished dough settles near the average temperature of everything in it, plus the heat added by mixing. Rearranged to solve for the water:
water temp = DDT × number of factors − flour temp − room temp − starter temp − friction factor
The number of factors is 3 for a straight dough (flour, room, friction) and 4 when there's a starter or preferment (flour, room, starter, friction). Every temperature has to be in the same unit, all °F or all °C.
Worked example: a sourdough with a 78 °F target, flour and kitchen at 72 °F, levain at 74 °F, mixed by hand (friction about 4 °F):
4 × 78 = 312, then 312 − 72 − 72 − 74 − 4 = 90 °F water.
Typical desired dough temperatures
| Lean yeasted bread, baguettes | 75–78 °F (24–26 °C) |
|---|---|
| Sourdough (wheat) | 76–80 °F (24–27 °C). Warmer ferments faster and milder, cooler gives more sour tang and a longer bulk. |
| Rye sourdough | 80–85 °F (27–29 °C) |
| Enriched doughs (brioche, challah) | 72–76 °F (22–24 °C). Cooler keeps the butter from smearing out. |
| Pizza dough for a cold ferment | 70–75 °F (21–24 °C) |
Use your recipe's stated dough temperature when it gives one. If it doesn't, the table is a sensible starting point.
What is the friction factor?
Mixing turns work into heat. The friction factor is how many degrees your mixing adds to the dough, and it depends on the mixer, the speed, the time, and the batch size:
| Hand mixing, stretch and folds, no-knead | About 0–6 °F (0–3 °C) |
|---|---|
| Home stand mixer | About 20–30 °F (11–17 °C), more for long, fast mixes |
Those are averages, and every setup is different. The most accurate number comes from your own kitchen: mix a batch, take the dough's temperature right away, and put it into the Find your own friction factor section above. Do this for two or three bakes and use the typical result from then on.
When the water has to be very cold, or very warm
In a hot kitchen, or with a stand mixer, the formula can call for water colder than your tap. Replace part of the water with ice. The calculator weighs the ice for you using the heat ice absorbs as it melts: ice = water × (tap − target) ÷ (tap + 80) in °C, or ÷ (tap + 112) in °F. Weigh the ice as part of the recipe's water, not on top of it. If the answer is below freezing, even ice can't get you there. Chill the flour, mix for less time, or accept a warmer dough and shorten the fermentation.
In a cold kitchen the formula can ask for water well above body temperature. Up to about 105 °F (40 °C) is fine for yeast and starter. Above roughly 113 °F (45 °C), warm the flour or find a warmer spot for the dough instead, because very hot water can stress a starter's culture where it touches it.
Tips for accurate readings
- Use an instant-read probe thermometer. Push it into the flour bag and the starter, not just the air above them.
- Measure the room near where the dough will ferment, not by the oven.
- Check the dough right after mixing, before bulk fermentation starts.
- Getting the water right matters more as the dough gets wetter, since water is a bigger share of it. Check your ratio with the sourdough hydration calculator, and time your levain with the starter feeding calculator.