Baker's Percentage Calculator

Flour weight	500 g
Hydration	65 %
Salt	2 %
Yeast	1 %

Flour weight

500 g

Hydration

65 %

Salt

2 %

Yeast

1 %

Last updated: 2026-06-22

Baker's Percentage

Baker's percentage is the notation real bakeries use to write and scale bread recipes. Instead of fixed cups or grams, the total flour is set to 100% and every other ingredient is written as a percentage of that flour weight. A formula described as "65% hydration, 2% salt, 1% yeast" means that for every 100 g of flour you add 65 g of water, 2 g of salt, and 1 g of yeast. Because the ratios are fixed, the same formula works for one loaf or a hundred — you only change the flour weight and the rest follows.

How baker's percentage works

Flour is the reference at 100%, so each ingredient weight is simply the flour weight multiplied by its percentage:

\begin{aligned} \text{water} &= \text{flour} \times \text{hydration} \\ \text{salt} &= \text{flour} \times \text{salt \%} \\ \text{yeast} &= \text{flour} \times \text{yeast \%} \\ \text{total dough} &= \text{flour} + \text{water} + \text{salt} + \text{yeast} \end{aligned}

Note that the percentages can add up to more than 100%. With 65% hydration, 2% salt, and 1% yeast, the four parts total 168% of the flour weight — that is normal, because flour is the base, not the whole.

Worked example — a standard loaf at 65% hydration:

Starting from 500 g18 oz of flour with 65% hydration, 2% salt, and 1% yeast:

\begin{aligned} \text{water} &= 500 \times 0.65 = 325 \text{ g} \\ \text{salt} &= 500 \times 0.02 = 10 \text{ g} \\ \text{yeast} &= 500 \times 0.01 = 5 \text{ g} \\ \text{total} &= 500 + 325 + 10 + 5 = 840 \text{ g} \end{aligned}

That single batch makes one large loaf or two smaller ones. To bake four loaves of the same dough, multiply the flour to 2000 g and the calculator rescales every ingredient automatically — the percentages never change.

Why bakers work in percentages

The advantage is consistency. Two bakers using the same percentages will get the same dough regardless of batch size, and a recipe can be scaled up or down without re-deriving every quantity by hand. It also makes recipes easy to compare: you can tell at a glance that an 80% hydration dough will be wetter and more open than a 65% one, without doing any arithmetic. Salt and yeast percentages are similarly comparable across recipes, so adjusting one variable — say, dropping yeast for a longer overnight rise — is a small, deliberate change rather than a guess.

When you bake with a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast, set the yeast percentage to zero and treat the starter separately, since it carries its own flour and water that affect the true hydration. For scaling side dishes around your bake, the Recipe Scaler is a useful companion, and the Pizza Dough Calculator applies the same percentages to pizza.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is baker's percentage?

Baker's percentage is a way of writing a recipe where the total flour is set to 100% and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of that flour weight. A recipe with 65% hydration, 2% salt, and 1% yeast means that for every 100 g of flour you add 65 g of water, 2 g of salt, and 1 g of yeast.

Because the ratios stay fixed, you can scale the recipe to any batch size simply by changing the flour weight — the dough behaves the same whether you bake one loaf or twenty. This is why professional bakeries and serious home bakers work almost exclusively in percentages rather than fixed cup or gram amounts.

What hydration should my dough be?

Hydration is the water weight divided by the flour weight, written as a percentage. Lower hydration gives a stiffer, easier-to-handle dough; higher hydration gives a more open, airy crumb but a stickier dough that is harder to shape.

As rough guidance: bagels and pretzels sit around 50–57%, sandwich loaves and most everyday breads land near 60–68%, baguettes are often 70–75%, and ciabatta, focaccia, and many sourdoughs run 75–85% or higher. If you are new to higher-hydration dough, start near 65% and increase a few points at a time as your shaping technique improves.

How much salt and yeast should bread have?

Salt is usually 1.8–2.2% of the flour weight. Below about 1.5% the bread tastes flat and the gluten slackens; above about 2.5% the salt noticeably slows fermentation.

For yeast, the right amount depends on how long you ferment. A same-day loaf with instant dry yeast typically uses around 1%, while a slow, cold overnight rise may use only 0.2–0.5%. Fresh yeast is roughly three times the weight of instant dry yeast, and active dry yeast is about 25% more than instant. If you bake with a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast, set the yeast percentage to 0 and account for the starter separately, as it also contributes flour and water.

Disclaimer

Results are calculated weights based on the percentages you enter. Real dough behaviour also depends on flour protein content, ambient temperature, and your mixing and proofing method, so treat these figures as a precise starting point rather than a guarantee of the final result.

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