Baker's Percentage Calculator
Baker's percentage is the language professional bakers use to write and scale formulas. Every ingredient is expressed relative to the total flour weight, which is fixed at 100 percent. This calculator takes your flour, water, salt and one optional ingredient by weight and returns each as a baker's percentage. Once a formula is in percentages it scales to any batch size: just multiply each percent by your chosen flour weight. The percentages deliberately sum above 100 because they all reference flour.
Baker's percentage formula
flour = 100% (the reference)
ingredient % = ingredient weight / flour weight * 100
water % = water / flour * 100
salt % = salt / flour * 100
(to scale) ingredient weight = percent * flour / 100
Flour is always 100 percent. Each other ingredient is its weight divided by total flour weight, times 100. The percentages add up to more than 100 because they all reference the flour base.
Worked example
- 1,000 g flour is the 100 percent base.
- 650 g water is 650 / 1,000 times 100 = 65 percent.
- 20 g salt is 2 percent; 200 g starter is 20 percent.
- Total dough weight is 1,000 + 650 + 20 + 200 = 1,870 g.
- To make a 1,500 g flour batch, water becomes 1,500 times 65 / 100 = 975 g.
Baker's percentage: frequently asked questions
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage expresses each ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight, which is always set to 100 percent. So if a recipe has 1,000 g flour and 650 g water, the water is 65 percent. Because everything is relative to flour, the percentages add up to more than 100.
Why do bakers use percentages instead of weights?
Percentages make a recipe scalable and comparable. Once you know a formula in baker's percent, you can scale it to any batch size by choosing a flour weight and multiplying. It also lets bakers compare recipes at a glance: a 75 percent hydration dough is wetter than a 65 percent one regardless of batch size.
What is the flour at 100 percent?
Total flour is the reference and is defined as 100 percent. If a recipe uses more than one flour, add them together for the 100 percent base. Every other ingredient, water, salt, starter, fat, is then divided by that total flour weight and multiplied by 100.
How do I scale a recipe with baker's percentage?
Decide your target flour weight, then multiply each ingredient's baker's percent by that flour weight and divide by 100. For example, salt at 2 percent with 1,200 g flour is 1,200 times 2 / 100 = 24 g of salt.
Official sources
- USDA FoodData Central: flour and ingredient reference data.
- Baker's percentage is the standard ratio of ingredient mass to flour mass, arithmetic by definition.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 19 June 2026. See our methodology.