Free Baker's Percentage calculator
Flour is always 100% — enter your ingredient weights to read every baker's percentage and the hydration, or enter the percentages and a flour weight to get exact grams. Both directions are updated live, as you type.
On this page14 sections
Baker's percentages, computed from the weights you enter. Weigh in grams for best results. How accurate is this?
Results are estimates. Consult a professional.
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage is the way professional bakers write a recipe so it scales to any batch size. Flour is always 100%, and every other ingredient is written as a percentage of the total flour weight. Water at 66% means 66 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour. Because the numbers are ratios, not fixed amounts, the same formula bakes one loaf or fifty.
This calculator runs the conversion both ways. Enter your ingredient weights and it reads back each baker's percentage, so you can compare two recipes on equal footing. Or enter the percentages and a flour weight, and it returns the grams to weigh out. Either way, flour stays the 100% anchor and the math is exact.
How the baker's percentage calculator works
One formula does all the work. Take any ingredient, divide its weight by the total flour weight, and multiply by 100. That is its baker's percentage. Run it for every ingredient and you have the recipe in the standard language of the bakery.
Convert weights to percentages, or percentages to weights
Bakers need the conversion to run in both directions, and this calculator does. Pick the mode that matches what you already have in front of you.
Weights to percentages
You have a recipe in grams and want to understand it. Enter the flour weight and each ingredient weight, and the calculator reads back the baker's percentages — including hydration. This is how you decode a recipe, compare it against a benchmark, or spot why one dough feels wetter than another.
Percentages to weights
You have a formula in percentages and a flour weight in mind. Enter both, and the calculator multiplies each percentage by your flour to return exact grams. This is how you scale a trusted formula to the batch you want without touching the ratios that make it work.
What hydration means in baker's percentage
Hydration is the single number bakers talk about most, and it is just the water's baker's percentage: water weight divided by flour weight, times 100. With these ingredients water is the only liquid, so hydration and the water percentage are the same figure.
Hydration drives how a dough feels and how the crumb turns out. Low hydration gives a stiff, easy-to-shape dough and a tight crumb. High hydration gives a slack, sticky dough and the open, holey crumb of an artisan loaf. It is the lever you reach for first when a bread comes out denser or wetter than you wanted.
| Hydration | Dough feel | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 50–57% | Stiff, firm | Bagels, pretzels, pasta |
| 58–65% | Smooth, easy to shape | Sandwich loaves, rolls, beginner bread |
| 66–72% | Soft, slightly tacky | Most everyday breads, pizza |
| 73–85% | Slack, sticky, open crumb | Ciabatta, focaccia, artisan sourdough |
Hydration bands follow King Arthur Baking and The Perfect Loaf. Whole-grain and high-protein flours drink more water, so they run a few points higher for the same feel.
King Arthur Baking's "What is baker's math" gives the same worked figures used here — flour 500 g (100%), water 330 g (66%), salt 10 g (2%), yeast 6 g (1.2%) — and notes salt holds a firm 1.8–2.2% standard.Typical baker's percentages for each ingredient
Most lean breads sit inside a narrow, well-tested band for each ingredient. Use these as starting points, then adjust to taste and to your flour. Salt is the one figure with a firm standard; the rest move with the style of bread.
| Ingredient | Typical baker's % | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100% | Always the reference. Blend several flours and they still sum to 100%. |
| Water | 58–75% | The hydration. Higher for open crumb, lower for shaped loaves. |
| Salt | 1.8–2.2% | The one firm standard. Below it the dough is bland and slack. |
| Yeast | 0.5–2% | Instant dry yeast. Less yeast plus more time builds flavour. |
| Sugar | 0–12% | None in lean bread; up to ~12% in enriched doughs like brioche. |
| Fat | 0–20% | Butter or oil; softens crumb. Rich brioche goes far higher. |
Ranges from King Arthur Baking and BAKERpedia. Salt 1.8–2.2% is the band most bakers hold to; everything else is style-dependent.
A worked example using the baker's percentage calculator
Maya has King Arthur's everyday loaf in front of her: 500 g flour, 330 g water, 10 g salt, 6 g instant yeast. She wants to know the baker's percentages so she can compare it to a wetter recipe — and then scale it up.
Step 1 — Set flour to 100%
Flour is the reference, so 500 g of flour is 100%. Every other percentage is measured against this number.
Step 2 — Find each ingredient's percentage
Water: 330 ÷ 500 × 100 = 66% — that is the hydration. Salt: 10 ÷ 500 × 100 = 2%. Yeast: 6 ÷ 500 × 100 = 1.2%. The dough reads as 100 / 66 / 2 / 1.2.
Step 3 — Add up the formula percentage
Sum every percentage, flour included: 100 + 66 + 2 + 1.2 = 169.2%. The matching dough weight is 500 + 330 + 10 + 6 = 846 g.
Step 4 — Scale it up
To double the batch, switch to "% → weights", keep 66 / 2 / 1.2, and set flour to 1,000 g. The calculator returns 660 g water, 20 g salt and 12 g yeast for 1,692 g of dough. Same loaf, twice the size, identical ratios.
Tips for using baker's percentages well
Percentages are only as honest as the numbers you feed them. A few habits keep them reliable from the first loaf to the hundredth.
- Weigh, don't scoop. Baker's math assumes weights in grams. A cup of flour can vary 20% by how it is packed, which throws every downstream percentage off.
- Count every flour as part of the 100%. Whole wheat, rye and white together make up the flour base. A "20% rye" loaf means rye is 20% of the combined flour, not an extra on top.
- Adjust hydration for your flour. High-protein bread flour and whole grains absorb more water, so the same percentage feels stiffer. Add 2–5% water when you switch to a thirstier flour.
- Hold salt near 2%. It is the one figure with a real standard. Drop it and the dough slackens and tastes flat; the calculator makes it easy to keep salt honest as you scale.
- Trade yeast for time. Cutting yeast and letting the dough ferment longer deepens flavour. Lower the yeast percentage rather than rushing a same-day rise.
Baker's percentage definitions
How accurate is this baker's percentage calculator?
The math is exact. Dividing each ingredient by the flour weight and multiplying by 100 is simple arithmetic, and the reverse — multiplying your percentages by a flour weight — is just as precise. If your input weights are right, the percentages and grams are right to the decimal.
What the calculator cannot do is bake for you. Hydration that works for one flour will feel different in another, because protein content and milling change how much water the flour holds. Treat the percentage ranges as starting points, weigh your ingredients in grams, and adjust to the dough in your hands. For unit swaps, the cooking converter moves between grams, cups and ounces.
Frequently asked questions about the free Baker's Percentage calculator
About this Baker's Percentage calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored. It converts between ingredient weights and baker's percentages the moment you change a value, with flour fixed at 100% and hydration read straight off the water.
It is one of our cooking and baking calculators. Browse the full set on the all calculators page.