How does your response answer the question posed by Adillo303?
It doesn't so much answer the question as it points out that there are several ways to abtain the same end, that is, to make great bread. I haven't been trained in a bakery, or at a pastry school. Rather, I was taught by other home cooks, and modified the techniques to suit my way of cooking. I am an experimenter by nature, and someone who likes to know why things work the way they do. By knowing what the differing componants of bread do to the final product, it gives me great flexibility and allows me to make everything from soft white bread to a hearty rye bread, to a pumpernickle, etc., without having to rely on a recipe. I cook, bake, bbq, whatever, intuitively based on knowing how differing food substances react to heat, moisture, cold, and chemical and physical properties. It works for me.
For a proffesional kitchen, and to insure a consistant product, the questions asked by Adillo303 are vallid, and to the point. I don't have experience with measuring by percentage, or even by weight. Rather, I know how much grain goes into a loaf of bread by volume, the charectrisitic properties of various grains, sweeteners, and oils, and am able to craft breads as I desire based upon a strong knowledge base of those principles.
My way works for me. Another method, measuring by volume, is often easier for the home cook because of the training, tools, and documentation available to the home cook. In a proffesional kitchen, I agree that percentage ratios would be a great way to gauge recipes. But I would find it laborious and tedious to have to determine the amount of water in a batch of starter, especially when I'm using just a portion of that starter in a bread recipe. It seems daunting to me. So, I pointed out that there are other methods for obtaining quality results. I was merely giving alternative options, not answering the question directly.
I give information that I know, and try not to give false information based on guesses about things I do not know. I definately wasn't saying that my way is better than another way, just pointing out that there are options.
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North