Sourdough Calculator & Journal

Sourdough Calculator & Journal is a compact baking utility for home bakers that combines precise recipe math, a starter manager and a visual bake journal into a single offline app. The introduction screen gets you to the tools quickly: enter your flours and liquids and the app immediately shows baker’s percentages, factor-in starter hydration and lets you scale to any target dough weight or number of loaves. Designed for hands-on kitchen use, Sourdough Calculator & Journal removes much of the manual math while keeping every recipe and bake documented for repeatable results.

Core features and what they do

The core of the app centers on three tightly integrated areas. The calculation engine computes live baker’s percentages as you type and correctly includes water contributed by your starter, which prevents the common hydration mistakes that happen when starter water is ignored. The starter manager records feeds and ambient temperatures, suggests feeding ratios, and gives a recipe-specific build calculator so you know how much active starter to pull for a bake. The photo bake journal attaches images, ratings, tags and notes to each loaf so you can compare crumb, crust and timing across multiple attempts.

Workflow, level structure and timeline planning

Bakes are represented as a sequence of levels or stages — autolyse, mix, bulk ferment, shaping, cold proof and bake — and the timeline planner helps you schedule those steps around your day. Timers sit at relevant stages and can be started or advanced with a single tap; you can configure target times for each stage and see an estimated finish time. This structured approach makes it easier to manage long ferments, overnight proofs and multi-step schedules without losing track of which stage comes next.

Controls, customization and visual style

The interface uses simple controls tailored for kitchen use: numeric entry fields for grams and ounces, sliders for quick adjustments, and buttons to switch units. Tablet layouts rearrange panels so calculations, timers and photos remain readable when you’re working with wet hands. Visual cues include clear stage labels, thumbnail previews in the journal, and concise summary cards for each recipe. You can name recipes, add custom tags, adjust default hydration targets for different bread styles and save common ingredient blends to speed entry.

Progression, replay value and challenge systems

Progression in the app is based on practical practice rather than gamification: you build a personal recipe library, refine techniques and collect comparative journal entries that document how variations in hydration, fermentation time and temperature affect outcome. Replay value comes from experimenting with scaling, trying different hydration targets for the same recipe, and running multi-bake comparisons in the journal. The app also supports user-defined challenges — for example, targetting an open crumb at a specific hydration, or completing a set of timed experiments — by letting you set target ranges and track results locally.

Accessibility, offline play and device privacy

Sourdough Calculator & Journal is designed to work fully offline with no required account: all recipes, timers and photos are stored on-device so you can use it without connectivity and without sharing personal data. Accessibility options include unit switching between grams and ounces, adjustable text sizes and a clear high-contrast layout for visibility in kitchen light. Because there is no cloud sync, you control backups; the app provides straightforward export and import options so you can copy recipe files and photos to other storage manually.

Limitations, pricing and target users

To keep the base app focused and compact, some advanced features require a one-time in-app purchase: unlimited journal entries, the full recipe library, extended timeline planner settings and reminder controls are grouped behind that option. The app ships with a curated set of built-in recipes (16) to get you started; serious bakers who prefer a very large default library will want to add their own entries over time. There is intentionally no cloud backup or online account system, so users who want off-device backups should plan a manual export routine.

About the developer

The app was built by a small team of bakers and developers who wanted a practical offline tool for everyday bread making. Sourdough Calculator & Journal emphasizes accuracy, straightforward controls and a compact workflow so you can focus on mixing and shaping rather than calculations. The team continues to refine the interface and welcomes constructive feedback from active sourdough bakers who want better ways to document and repeat successful bakes.