148
Bake in percentages
On the default, 500 g of flour, 325 g of water, 10 g of salt and 7 g of yeast make 842 g of dough at 65% hydration — a classic lean bread. Enter your own weights below.
FREE TOOL · EVERYDAY
Baker's Percentage Calculator
Professional bakers never think in cups — they think in percentages where flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is measured against it. Enter your weights and see each ingredient's percentage, the total dough weight, and the hydration band your dough falls into.
How baker's percentages work
A baker's percentage says how big each ingredient is relative to the flour, and the flour is always 100%. If your recipe uses 325 g of water with 500 g of flour, the water is at 65% — and if you double the flour to 1,000 g, 65% means 650 g of water automatically. Percentages scale cleanly; cup measurements do not. That is why every serious bakery writes formulas this way.
Output · formula · meaning
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Baker's percentage of an ingredient | ingredient weight ÷ flour weight × 100 | 325 g water ÷ 500 g flour × 100 = 65% — every ingredient is measured against the flour. |
| Total dough weight | sum of all ingredient weights | 500 + 325 + 10 + 7 + 0 + 0 = 842 g — the size of the bake before water evaporates in the oven. |
| Hydration | water weight ÷ flour weight × 100 | 65% — the single number that predicts the dough style; match it to a band below. |
| Scale an ingredient to a new flour amount | target flour × percentage ÷ 100 | Doubling to 1,000 g flour: 1,000 × 65% ÷ 100 = 650 g of water. |
Worked example: the default recipe
Flour 500 g is 100% by definition. Water: 325 ÷ 500 × 100 = 65%. Salt: 10 ÷ 500 × 100 = 2%. Yeast: 7 ÷ 500 × 100 = 1.4%. Sugar and fat are 0% here. Add them up: 100 + 65 + 2 + 1.4 = 168.4% total, and the dough weighs 500 + 325 + 10 + 7 = 842 g. A total over 100% is normal — percentages describe each ingredient versus the flour, so they add up to more than 100 whenever you add water.
Hydration bands: what the percentage tells you
| Hydration | Dough style | Typical breads |
|---|---|---|
| Under 57% | Stiff dough | Bagels, pretzels |
| 58–65% | Lean dough | Sandwich loaves, pizza |
| 66–75% | Wet dough | Ciabatta, rustic loaves |
| 76% and up | High-hydration | Focaccia, sourdough |
Who uses this
- Home bakers: convert a recipe in cups into a formula you can repeat exactly every time.
- Professional bakers: scale a formula from a test loaf to a full day's production without drifting ratios.
- Sourdough bakers: tune hydration precisely — a few percentage points separate a gummy crumb from an open one.
- Pizza makers: dial in the hydration for the crust you want, from foldable New York to airy Neapolitan.
Accuracy & limitations
Every field must use the same unit of weight — grams is standard, ounces works too, but never mix them. Weigh your ingredients; scooping flour can pack 30% extra into a cup and throw every percentage off. If your recipe uses a sourdough starter or preferment, split it into its flour and water contributions and add each side separately. The hydration bands above are approximate guides, not laws — flour strength, humidity, and mixing change how a dough actually feels.
Scaling the whole recipe up or down? The recipe scaling calculator handles the arithmetic. Need to convert between units first? Try the cooking converter.
Cite this calculatorBright Side Kit. “Baker's Percentage Calculator.” brightoolbox.com, 2026.
Bright Side Kit. "Baker's Percentage Calculator." https://brightoolbox.com/bakers-percentage-calculator/ Accessed October 22, 2026.Frequently asked questions
Why is flour always 100% in baker's percentages?
Because flour is the stable anchor: its amount barely changes from recipe to recipe, while water, salt, and yeast vary constantly. Measuring everything against the flour gives every recipe the same reference point, so two bakers comparing formulas are speaking the same language.
How do I scale a recipe up or down with baker's percentages?
Pick your new flour weight and multiply every percentage by it: target flour × percentage ÷ 100. Doubling a 500 g-flour recipe to 1,000 g gives 650 g of water (65%), 20 g of salt (2%), and 14 g of yeast (1.4%) — exact, no guessing.
What hydration should pizza, sourdough, or bagels be?
Bagels and pretzels sit under 57% (stiff); sandwich loaves and New York-style pizza land at 58–65% (lean); ciabatta and rustic loaves run 66–75% (wet); sourdough and focaccia climb to 76% and up (high-hydration). Start in the middle of the band and adjust.
Can a baker's percentage be over 100%?
Yes — and water often is. The percentage compares each ingredient to the flour, not to the whole recipe, so in a wet dough the water can exceed 100%. The total of all percentages is also normally over 100; the default recipe totals 168.4%.
Weight or volume — does it matter for baker's percentages?
It matters enormously. Percentages must come from weights, because a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120 g to 160 g depending on how you scoop. Weigh everything on a scale and the percentages become exact and repeatable.
How do I handle sourdough starter or a preferment?
Split the starter into its flour and water halves. A 200 g starter at 100% hydration is 100 g flour and 100 g water — add 100 g to the flour field and 100 g to the water field. Counting it as one ingredient throws every percentage off.
What are typical salt and yeast percentages?
Salt usually lands at 1.8–2.2% of flour weight; instant yeast at 0.5–1.5%. Sugar runs 0–10% and fat 0–8% depending on how enriched the dough is. If your numbers sit far outside these ranges, double-check your weights.