Baker's percentage calculator
Turn baker's percentages into a sourdough recipe in grams or ounces, find the real hydration of a recipe you already use, and scale it up or down by dough weight or number of loaves.
- 100% free
- Runs in your browser
- No uploads
Total dough
Enter how many loaves and the dough weight of each.
- Runs on your deviceEvery tool works directly in your browser. No files are uploaded.
- Your privacy mattersYour files never leave your device, so there's nothing for us to store.
- No limitsUse any tool as much as you need. No daily caps, no waiting.
- Completely freeNo signup and no trial to cancel. Ads keep the tools free.
How to use the baker's percentage calculator
- Pick a mode. From percentages builds a recipe from hydration, starter and salt. Scale my recipe reads the weights you already use.
- Choose grams or ounces. Everything you type and every result uses that unit, with the other one shown underneath.
- Set the size. Give the total flour, the total dough weight, or a number of loaves and the dough weight of each.
- Weigh it out. The table lists flour, water, starter and salt to add, each with its baker's percentage. Copy recipe puts it on your clipboard.
How baker's percentages and hydration work
In baker's percentages the flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is a percentage of the flour's weight. Water at 75% means 750 g of water for 1,000 g of flour.
Hydration = all the water ÷ all the flour × 100. A starter at 100% hydration is equal weights of flour and water; at 50% it is two parts flour to one part water. So the calculator splits the starter first:
Starter flour = starter ÷ (1 + starter hydration ÷ 100), and the rest of the starter is water. Both go into the totals.
Working back from a dough weight, the total flour is the dough weight ÷ (1 + (hydration + salt + inclusions) ÷ 100). The starter doesn't add to that sum, because its flour and water are already counted.
Example: two 900 g sourdough loaves
At 75% hydration, 20% starter (100% hydration, of total flour) and 2% salt, 1,800 g of dough needs:
| Ingredient | Weight | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|
| Flour to add | 915 g | 90% |
| Water to add | 661 g | 65% |
| Starter | 203 g | 20% |
| Salt | 20 g | 2% |
| Total flour, with the starter's | 1,017 g | 100% |
| Total water, with the starter's | 763 g | 75% |
Going the other way, a recipe of 500 g flour, 350 g water, 100 g starter and 10 g salt looks like 70% hydration, but with the starter's flour and water counted it is 400 ÷ 550 = 72.7%.
Tips for scaling bread recipes
- Scale by weight, not by cups. Every ingredient is multiplied by the same factor, so all the percentages stay the same.
- Weigh salt and small amounts on a scale that reads to 0.1 g, or 0.01 oz.
- Mixing time and proofing don't scale with the recipe. A bigger batch needs about the same rise time at the same temperature.
- Changing flour? Hold back 5% of the water and add it while mixing if the dough needs it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the starter count towards hydration?
Yes, in this calculator and in most modern sourdough recipes. A 100% starter is half flour and half water, so 200 g of it adds 100 g of flour and 100 g of water to the totals before the hydration is worked out.
What hydration should I use for sourdough?
Many country loaves sit between 70% and 80%. Lower hydration (60–68%) is easier to shape and suits sandwich loaves and bagels; higher hydration gives a more open crumb but a stickier dough. Wholemeal and rye flour absorb more water than white flour, so they feel stiffer at the same percentage.
How much salt goes in bread?
Most bread recipes use 1.8% to 2.2% salt, measured against the total flour. For 1,000 g of flour that is 18 to 22 g.
My recipe says 20% levain. Is that of the total flour?
It depends on the author. Some give the levain as a percentage of the flour you add, others of all the flour. Switch “Starter % is of” to match your recipe; the weights change slightly, and the true hydration is shown either way.
Why is my dough a little lighter than the calculator says?
Some dough always stays on the bowl, the scraper and your hands. If loaves must hit an exact weight, add 1% to 2% to the dough weight you enter.