Baker's percentage calculator
Flour is 100 %. Everything else is measured against it.
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- Enter your measurements.
- Check the units and the assumptions.
- Press Calculate, or load the example.
Rather see a worked case? Press “Load example” and change any value afterwards.
Next step
Hydration is the percentage that decides the texture of the dough.
Where each number comes from Conversion constants are exact; densities and coverage rates come from cited sources; everything else is an assumption you can change. Methodology · Sources and updates
How to use it
- Enter the total flour weight in the formula.
- Choose whether you have the weights or the percentages.
- Add the other ingredients in the rows.
- The result gives percentage and weight for each, plus total dough weight.
How it is calculated
Baker's percentage is a way of writing formulas where flour is always 100 % and everything else is expressed against it:
That is why the percentages add up to more than 100 and it is not a mistake: a typical bread dough is 100 % flour, 65 % water, 2 % salt and 1 % yeast, which totals 168 %.
The practical advantage is that the formula becomes independent of quantity: a dough at 65 % hydration behaves the same with 500 g of flour as with 50 kg, and you can scale without redoing the maths.
Worked example
A basic bread dough with 500 g of flour:
- Flour: 500 g → 100 %
- Water: 350 g → 70 %
- Salt: 10 g → 2 %
- Yeast: 5 g → 1 %
- Total dough: 865 g
Want twice the bread tomorrow? Nothing to recalculate: 1 kg flour, 700 g water, 20 g salt, 10 g yeast.
Good to know
- Salt between 1.8 and 2.2 %. Below that the bread tastes flat; above it, fermentation slows down.
- Starter counts twice. It brings both flour and water, so working out true hydration means splitting it.
- Several flours still total 100 %. For example 80 % wheat and 20 % rye.
- It is notation, not magic. Baker's percentage does not improve the bread: it makes the formula comparable and scalable.
Frequently asked questions
What is baker's percentage?
A notation where flour is 100 % and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of that flour. It lets you scale a formula without redoing the maths.
Why do the percentages add up to more than 100?
Because they are percentages of the flour, not of the total. A dough at 70 % hydration with 2 % salt totals 172 %, and that is correct.
How much salt goes in a bread dough?
Between 1.8 and 2.2 % of the flour weight. For 500 g of flour, 9 to 11 g.
How does a sourdough starter count?
It has to be split into its flour and its water. A 100 % hydration starter is half flour and half water, and both parts go into the totals.
Does it work for pastry?
It is mostly a bread tool, but it works the same for enriched and sweet doughs wherever flour is the dominant ingredient.