Measurements

What Are My Baker’s Percentages?

Enter flour and ingredient weights to see baker’s percentages, total dough weight, and hydration at a glance.

Flour

Water

Salt

Yeast or starter

Other ingredients

70.0% hydration · 863 g dough

In baker’s math, flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of flour weight.

•Water 70.0% · salt 2.0% · yeast 0.50% · other 0.0%.
•Total formula: 172.5% of flour weight.

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Practical guide

Read a dough formula as relationships, not just quantities

Flour is the reference point

Baker's percentages express each ingredient as a proportion of the total flour weight, with flour defined as 100%. That makes formulas easier to compare and scale without losing their balance. A dough with 500 grams of flour and 350 grams of water has 70% hydration; adding 10 grams of salt gives 2% salt. The percentages do not need to add up to 100 because they are not shares of the finished dough. This calculator helps you inspect those relationships and understand why one bread feels wetter or more seasoned than another.

Count every source of flour and water

Weigh ingredients in grams and combine all flour types into the flour total. If a recipe uses a preferment or starter, its flour and water belong in the appropriate totals when you want the complete formula; the tool cannot infer an unlisted starter's hydration. Eggs, milk, and butter contain water but also other components, so entering their full weights as plain water produces a misleading comparison. Start with a simple flour-water-salt-yeast recipe while learning the system. Keep optional additions such as seeds or dried fruit separate from the flour reference.

Scale a useful household batch

For four to six people, a flour weight of 500 grams can be a manageable practice batch, depending on the bread and desired leftovers. At 70% water, 2% salt, and 0.5% yeast, that example uses 350 grams of water, 10 grams of salt, and 2.5 grams of yeast. To use 750 grams of flour, calculate each ingredient against 750 rather than adding an arbitrary extra cup of water. Check that your scale can resolve the yeast quantity and your mixer or mixing bowl can handle the larger dough before increasing the batch.

Connect the formula to the schedule

The percentages describe composition, not a guaranteed proofing time. Dough temperature, yeast condition, flour, and handling still determine how fermentation develops. A higher-hydration dough may need a different shaping approach; adding enough bench flour to make it feel familiar can undermine the formula you intended to follow. Plan the rising container, final proof, oven slot, and cooling time separately. If the oven is occupied by dinner, do not assume a larger yeast dose will make the bread fit an unrealistic schedule. Use the numbers to understand and reproduce the dough, then use observed fermentation and a tested method to decide when to proceed.

References for this guide

Methodology

How we calculate this

Methodology reviewed September 2026

Flour is the 100% reference. Every other ingredient is divided by flour weight.

The math

Ingredient percentage = ingredient weight ÷ flour weight × 100
Total dough = sum of all ingredient weights
Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100

Worked example

350 g water divided by 500 g flour equals 70% hydration.

Frequently asked questions

Helpful answers

What does 70% hydration mean?

It means the water weighs 70% as much as the flour. A dough with 500 grams of flour at 70% hydration contains 350 grams of water.

Why is flour always 100% in baker's math?

Flour is the reference ingredient. Expressing every other ingredient relative to flour makes formulas easy to compare and scale.

Does starter count toward flour and water?

For precise sourdough formulas, split the starter into its flour and water contributions. A 100% hydration starter contains equal weights of flour and water.

A practical starting point

Use the result as a planning estimate, then trust the ingredients, your thermometer, and the food in front of you. This tool is designed to make the first calculation easier—not to replace good kitchen judgment.

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