Baker's Percentage Calculator

Flour is always 100%. Everything else is a ratio to it.

Flour is always 100%. Everything else is a ratio to it. Any bread formula in baker's percentages converted to grams for the batch you actually want.

Written and maintained by Mohit PatelLast checked August 4, 2026How we build these

Weight per loaf

Number of loaves

Water

Salt

Yeast or starter

Fat

Sugar

Other

Flour

476 g

800 g of dough at 168% total · 65% hydration

Flour — 100%476.2 g

Water — 65%309.5 g

Salt — 2%9.5 g

Yeast or starter — 1%4.8 g

Total dough800 g

Total percentage168%

AssessmentA moderately wet dough. Open crumb, sticky to handle, best worked with wet hands or a scraper.

Every ingredient is a percentage of the flour, and the flour is always 100%. That is why the percentages add to well over 100. They are not shares of the dough, they are ratios to the flour. The point of the convention is that a recipe scales to any batch size without rounding drift. A single 800 g loaf and forty of them use the same numbers; only the flour weight changes. Salt sits at 1.8 to 2.2% in almost all bread, and it is doing more than seasoning — it tightens gluten and slows fermentation. Leaving it out does not make a blander loaf, it makes a slack, fast, badly structured one.

How the Baker's Percentage Calculator works

Any bread formula in baker's percentages converted to grams for the batch you actually want. Because everything is measured against flour, the same numbers work for one loaf and for forty.

Also known as: convert bread recipe to percentages · bread flour water salt ratio · how to scale a bread recipe · dough hydration from grams

Where to go next

The Baker's Percentage question rarely arrives on its own. These are the ones that usually come with it:

Sourdough Starter Calculator — Your starter smuggles flour and water into the dough.
Pizza Dough Calculator — Dough scales with area. Double the diameter, quadruple the dough.
Pan Size Conversion Calculator — Depth sets the bake time, not area.
BMI Calculator — Body mass index with category and healthy weight range.

Not medical advice. This calculator gives a general estimate, not medical advice. It cannot account for your individual health, medical history, or medication. Talk to a qualified healthcare professional before acting on any result.

Frequently asked questions

Why do baker's percentages add to more than 100?

Because they are not shares of the dough. Every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour, and the flour is always 100%, so the total is always well above it.

What is hydration?

Water as a percentage of flour. 60% is a standard sandwich loaf, 75% an open-crumbed artisan one, and above 85% is closer to a batter than a dough.

How much salt should bread have?

1.8 to 2.2% of the flour in almost all bread. Salt tightens gluten and slows fermentation as well as seasoning, so leaving it out gives a slack, fast, badly structured loaf rather than a bland one.

How do I scale a recipe up?

Change only the flour weight. Every other ingredient follows from its percentage, which is the entire point of the convention — no rounding drift however far you scale.

Does this work for enriched dough?

Yes. Butter, sugar, eggs and milk are all expressed against flour the same way. Brioche runs 50% butter and 15% sugar by the same arithmetic.

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