Tom wrote:
Thanks for the reply, Joe.
When you say 60% hydration on the starter, do you mean that you add 60%
water and 40% flour each time you feed it?

Joe is talking in bakers percentages. They are really only relevant if
you are weighing your ingredients, and can be confusing.

In bakers percentages, a formula (not a recipe) is expressed so flour is
always 100% and the other ingredients are expressed as a percentage of
the flour. So 60% hydration means flour is 100% (by definition) and
water is 60% of that.

Or, 10 pounds of flour and 6 pounds of water. It doesn't matter what
weight system you are using, pounds, ounces, grams, troy ounces.... the
percentages work out.

A good baguette formula is:
All-purpose Flour 100%
Water 60%
Salt 2%
Instant dry Yeast 1%

Bakers percentages make it easy to scale formulas up or down, and make
it easy for the baker to know what the dough should feel like. Bagels
are usually around 55% hydration, sandwich breads around 65% and some
artisan breads get into the 95% range.

For now, I wouldn't worry about bakers percentages.

Good luck,
Mike