Baker’s Hydration Calculator
Enter flour, water and salt in grams to get the baker’s hydration and salt percentages, plus total dough weight.
How it works
Hydration % = water ÷ flour × 100 · Salt % = salt ÷ flour × 100 (flour = 100% in baker’s math)
Baker’s percentages express every ingredient relative to the flour, which is always 100%. Hydration is the water weight divided by the flour weight: a stiff bagel dough sits near 55%, an everyday loaf around 65–70%, and an open, airy ciabatta can pass 80%. Salt is usually about 2% of the flour, enough to control fermentation and season the crumb without stalling the yeast.
Worked example
With 500 g flour, 350 g water and 10 g salt, hydration is 350 ÷ 500 = 70%, and salt is 10 ÷ 500 = 2%. The dough weighs 500 + 350 + 10 = 860 g in total.
Frequently asked questions
What hydration should I use for bread?
Around 65–70% suits most sandwich and rustic loaves — workable but not sticky. Push toward 75–85% for open-crumb ciabatta and focaccia, and drop to 55–60% for bagels and pretzels that need a tight, chewy crumb.
Why is flour treated as 100%?
Baker’s math measures every ingredient against the flour so a formula scales to any batch size. Doubling the flour doubles everything else while the percentages stay identical, which makes recipes easy to compare and scale.
Does higher hydration always mean better bread?
No. Wetter doughs give a more open crumb but are harder to shape and need stronger flour and good technique. The right hydration depends on the bread you want, not a single ideal number.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.