Baker's Percentages & Weights

Ingredient	Baker's %	Weight (g)

Total Dough

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grams

Hydration

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Dough Character

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Hydration Level Guide

Hydration	Texture	Breads	Difficulty
50–60%	Stiff, firm	Bagels, pretzels, pasta dough	Easy to shape
60–65%	Smooth, workable	Pizza, sandwich loaves, rolls	Beginner-friendly
65–75%	Soft, slightly tacky	Sourdough, artisan loaves, baguettes	Intermediate
75–85%	Wet, slack	Focaccia, ciabatta, high-hydration sourdough	Advanced handling
85%+	Very wet, pourable	Ciabatta, panettone, pan loaves	Expert — requires wet hands / bench

Frequently Asked Questions

Baker's percentage expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%. If a recipe uses 500g flour and 325g water, the hydration is 65% (325 ÷ 500 × 100). This system makes it easy to scale recipes up or down and compare recipes regardless of batch size. Unlike normal percentages, all baker's percentages can add up to more than 100%.

Classic Neapolitan pizza uses 55–62% hydration — stiff enough to stretch thin without tearing but with enough water for a light, airy crust. New York style is similar (60–65%). For home ovens that can't reach 450°C, 65–70% hydration can help compensate. Beginners should start at 62–65% as higher-hydration doughs are harder to shape.

Sourdough starter contains both flour and water. A 100% hydration starter (equal parts flour and water by weight) contributes equal water and flour to the dough. This calculator automatically adjusts for starter hydration: a 100g/100% starter adds 50g flour + 50g water to the mix, affecting the effective dough hydration. This is called "effective" or "final dough hydration."

Stickiness is often expected at high hydration (70%+) — do not add more flour. Instead, use wet hands or a bench scraper, and use stretch-and-fold techniques instead of traditional kneading. If your dough is too dry, increase hydration by 2–3% at a time in future batches. Also note that flour absorbs water differently — whole wheat and rye absorb more than white flour, so recipes using whole grain need higher hydration for the same texture.

Related Calculators

Why Baker's Percentage Is More Useful Than Volume Measurements

Volume measurements (cups, tablespoons) are notoriously imprecise for baking because flour density varies by how it's scooped, humidity, and brand. A cup of all-purpose flour can weigh anywhere from 120–160 grams depending on how it is measured. Baker's percentage uses weight and treats flour as the reference (100%), making every calculation consistent and scalable across any batch size.

Scaling Recipes

To scale a recipe, decide how much total dough you need, then work backwards using baker's percentages. For example, if you need 1000g of pizza dough at 62% hydration with 2% salt: flour = 1000 ÷ (1 + 0.62 + 0.02) ≈ 610g; water = 610 × 0.62 ≈ 378g; salt = 610 × 0.02 ≈ 12g. This calculator handles all this arithmetic instantly.