Baker's Percentage Calculator

g
Total flour weight — this is always 100%.
g
g
g
Instant/active dry yeast, or starter.
g
Oil, sugar, butter, etc. (optional).
Food

Work out baker's percentages for any bread or dough recipe. Baker's percentage expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight, which is always 100%. Enter your flour, water, salt, yeast and other ingredient weights, and the calculator returns each ingredient's baker's percentage plus the dough's hydration.

Formula

Ingredient % = (ingredient weight ÷ flour weight) × 100
  • In baker's percentage, flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is expressed relative to it.
  • Hydration is simply the water (or total liquid) as a percentage of flour weight.
  • Typical ranges: hydration 60–75% for sandwich loaves and up to 80%+ for ciabatta; salt around 1.8–2.2%; instant yeast around 0.5–1%.
  • Because every value is relative to flour, you can scale a recipe up or down just by changing the flour weight — the percentages stay the same.

1000 g flour, 650 g water, 20 g salt, 7 g yeast

Inputs
  • Flour: 1000 g
  • Water (or liquid): 650 g
  • Salt: 20 g
  • Yeast: 7 g
  • Other ingredients: 0 g

Hydration = 650 ÷ 1000 × 100 = 65%. Salt = 20 ÷ 1000 = 2.0%. Yeast = 7 ÷ 1000 = 0.7%. Total dough weight = 1,677 g. This is a classic, well-balanced lean dough.

Frequently asked questions

What is baker's percentage?
It's a way of writing recipes where the flour weight is set to 100% and every other ingredient is given as a percentage of that flour. It makes recipes easy to scale and compare.
What is dough hydration?
Hydration is the weight of water (or total liquid) divided by the weight of flour, as a percentage. Higher hydration generally means a more open, airier crumb but a stickier, harder-to-handle dough.
Can baker's percentages add up to more than 100%?
Yes. Flour alone is 100%, so once you add water, salt and yeast the total percentage is well above 100% — that's completely normal.
How do I scale a recipe with baker's percentages?
Pick the flour weight you want, then multiply it by each ingredient's percentage. For example, 2.0% salt on 800 g flour is 0.02 × 800 = 16 g salt.
What if I use multiple flours?
Add all the flours together to get your 100% flour figure, then express each individual flour and all other ingredients against that combined flour weight.