#bread-baking

I'm getting consistently dense sourdough loaves using the hydration calculations in 'The Bread Baker's Apprentice' chapter 12. The book specifies 75% hydration for the final dough, but when accounting for the 100% hydration levain, the total water-to-flour ratio ends up closer to 68%. Is this a rounding error in the text or a fundamental flaw in the formula?

Details:

• Levain: 200g (50% flour, 50% water)
• Final dough: 500g flour, 375g water (75% hydration)
• Total water: 250g (200g from levain + 50g from final dough?)
• Total flour: 700g (200g from levain + 500g final dough)
• Actual hydration: ~35.7% (250/700) ???

Am I miscalculating the hydration when accounting for pre-ferment? The book explicitly states to ignore the levain's water when calculating final dough hydration, but that seems mathematically inconsistent. Has anyone else noticed this discrepancy or have a formula that accounts for pre-ferment water? I'm ready to burn the book and start a new hydration model from scratch. 🔥

Looking for direct, unfiltered comparisons from actual users. Have you swapped between these two models in a commercial setting?

Specific points I want hashed out:
• Thermal recovery time post-parging in high-output scenarios
• Nuances in steam injection calibration - APOC5's 0.05 psi increments vs MBC-50S's dual-phase system
• How each handles multi-tiered sourdough baking (convection profiles vs natural draft)

Bonus: Does anyone have a before/after cost-benefit assessment for bakeries under 200 loaves/day capacity? Save time for us all.