Baker's Percentage Hydration Calculator
Baker's percentage is the standard way professional bakers describe a formula: flour is always 100 percent and every other ingredient is given as a percentage of that flour weight. Hydration, the water-to-flour ratio, is the single most important number for crumb structure and handling. Enter your flour, water, salt and yeast weights in grams and this calculator returns hydration percentage, the baker's percentage of each ingredient, and the total dough weight. Use it to scale recipes, compare doughs, or dial in a wetter or stiffer crumb.
Baker's percentage formula
flour = 100% (baseline)
hydration % = water / flour * 100
ingredient % = ingredient weight / flour * 100
total dough = flour + water + salt + yeast
Every percentage is taken against flour weight, never against the total dough. That is why the percentages can add up to more than 100.
Hydration guidance
- 60 to 70 percent: sandwich loaves and standard breads.
- 75 to 85 percent: ciabatta, focaccia and rustic open-crumb breads.
- 50 to 57 percent: bagels and other stiff doughs.
- Salt is commonly 1.8 to 2.2 percent of flour weight.
- Absorption varies with flour protein; adjust water to feel.
Baker's percentage: frequently asked questions
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight, which is always set to 100 percent. If a recipe uses 1,000 g flour and 700 g water, the water is 70 percent. This system lets you scale recipes up or down and compare doughs regardless of batch size.
How is hydration calculated?
Hydration percent equals total water weight divided by total flour weight, multiplied by 100. With 1,000 g flour and 650 g water, hydration is 65 percent. Higher hydration gives a wetter, more open crumb; lower hydration gives a tighter, stiffer dough.
Should I include liquids other than water?
For hydration, count all the free liquid that wets the flour, including milk, eggs by their water content, and the water inside a liquid levain. This calculator uses a single water field; add any extra liquids into that figure if you want a true total hydration.
What is a typical hydration level?
Standard sandwich and bread doughs sit around 60 to 70 percent. Rustic and ciabatta-style breads run 75 to 85 percent or higher. Bagels are stiff at roughly 50 to 57 percent. The right level depends on the flour's protein and absorption, so adjust to your flour.
How do I scale a recipe with this tool?
Set the flour weight you want to use, then the percentages stay constant. Multiply each baker's percentage by your flour weight divided by 100 to get the ingredient weight. The tool shows total dough weight so you can match it to your pan or batch size.
Official sources
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 17 June 2026. See our methodology.