Baker's percentages, hydration and dough scaling
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The reference tables and worked examples further down this page are free for everyone.
Every ingredient is written as a percentage of the total flour weight, and the flour itself is always 100%. The percentages therefore add up to more than 100 — that is expected, not a mistake. The point is that a formula written this way scales to any batch size without re-deriving anything.
percentage = ingredient weight ÷ total flour weight × 100
hydration = total liquid ÷ total flour × 100
A standard white loaf at 1000 g flour, 700 g water, 20 g salt and 200 g of 100% starter:
| Weight | Note | |
|---|---|---|
| Flour in the formula | 1000 g | |
| Flour from the starter | 100 g | half of 200 g at 100% hydration |
| Total flour | 1100 g | the baseline for every percentage |
| Water in the formula | 700 g | |
| Water from the starter | 100 g | |
| Total liquid | 800 g | |
| Hydration | 72.7% | 800 ÷ 1100 |
| Salt | 20 g | 1.82% of total flour, 2.0% of formula flour |
Salt is quoted against total flour by some bakers and against formula flour by others, and the two differ as soon as a preferment is involved. Both are shown above so you can match whichever convention your recipe uses instead of guessing why your loaf tastes under-seasoned.
| Dough | Hydration |
|---|---|
| Bagels, pasta | 50–57% |
| Sandwich loaf | 60–65% |
| Standard sourdough | 68–75% |
| Ciabatta, focaccia | 78–85% |
| Batters | over 100% |
Baker's percentage expresses every ingredient as a proportion of the flour, which is what makes a formula scale cleanly. Flour is always 100%. Work forwards from weights, or backwards from a dough weight you want to end up with.
