Dough Hydration Calculator

What you know

Flour, g

Hydration, %

Salt, % of flour

Yeast, % of flour

Divide into pieces

Result

Flour, g500
Water, g325
Salt, g10
Yeast, g5
Total dough, g840
What kind of dough that isstandard dough for tin and hearth loaves
Weight per piecea single piece

Baker's percentages in plain terms

Works out flour, water, salt and yeast in baker's percentages, starting either from the flour weight or from the weight of dough you need.

Baker's percentages are counterintuitive at first: flour is always a hundred percent and everything else is measured against it. A dough on 500 g of flour at 70 percent hydration holds 350 g of water, and the percentages add up to well over a hundred. That is normal.

Hydration sets the character of the bread. 55 to 60 percent gives a stiff dough you can knead comfortably by hand — baguettes, bagels, pasta. 65 to 70 is an ordinary tin loaf. Above 75 the dough turns sticky, and in exchange the crumb opens up like ciabatta.

What this calculator shows

Flour, water, salt and yeast in grams for your hydration
The total dough weight and the weight of each piece if you divide it
Which style of bread the hydration you picked belongs to

What to keep in mind

Salt normally sits at 1.8 to 2.2 percent of the flour: less tastes flat, more slows the ferment noticeably.
Working back from dough weight divides by the sum of every share, so the flour comes out a little lower than you might guess.

FAQs

How much water goes with 500 g of flour?

325 g at 65 percent hydration, which suits most tin loaves. Ciabatta takes 400 g and up; bagels want around 275 g.

Why do the percentages add up to more than 100?

Because flour is the baseline, not a share of the whole. Everything else is measured against it, so the total always comes out above a hundred.

What hydration does ciabatta need?

75 to 85 percent. That dough is not kneaded but folded in the bowl with wet hands — it has to feel sticky or the big holes never form.

Does the flour change the hydration?

Considerably. Wholemeal and rye absorb far more water than white wheat flour, so the same percentage gives a very different dough.

Worked example

A home loaf on 500 g of flour

Input: 500 g flour, 65% hydration, 2% salt, 1% yeast

Output: 325 g water, 10 g salt, 5 g yeast, 840 g dough

Note: A standard tin-loaf dough: kneads by hand, holds its shape, even crumb. Push the water to 75 percent and you will be folding it in the bowl rather than kneading it on the counter.

Useful links

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Dough Hydration Calculator

Result

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