WhiskMath

Bread Baker's Percentage Calculator

Turn a flour weight into a full bread recipe — exact water, salt, yeast, fat, and sugar by baker's percentage.

g
%
%
%
%

Butter or oil, as a % of flour.

%

As a % of flour.

Water
650 g
65% hydration
Total dough
1680 g
1000 g flour base
Loaves
1.9
~900 g dough each
  • Salt: 20 g — yeast: 10 g.
  • Flour is always 100%; every other ingredient is a percentage of flour weight.
  • Weigh ingredients with a scale — baker's percentages only work by weight, not volume.
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How to use this calculator

  1. Enter your flour weight

    Type the total flour weight you want to bake with, in grams. This is the 100% baseline.

  2. Set hydration, salt, and yeast

    Enter the hydration, salt, and yeast percentages — defaults of 65%, 2%, and 1% suit a basic loaf.

  3. Add optional fat and sugar

    If your recipe is enriched, add fat and sugar percentages. Leave them blank for a lean dough.

  4. Read the full recipe

    The calculator shows every ingredient in grams, the total dough weight, and an estimate of how many standard loaves it makes.

Recommended gear

As an Amazon Associate, WhiskMath earns from qualifying purchases. These picks don't cost you anything extra.

Escali Primo Digital Kitchen Scale

Baker's percentage is weight math from start to finish — an accurate gram scale is essential.

$25

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SAF Instant Yeast, 1 lb

The calculator's 1% default assumes instant yeast, which mixes straight into the flour.

$8

View on Amazon

King Arthur All-Purpose Flour

A consistent-protein flour keeps your hydration percentage behaving the same bake to bake.

$5-7

View on Amazon

Common bread styles and hydration

StyleHydrationNotes
Sandwich loaf60–65%Often enriched with fat and sugar
Table / everyday loaf65%Lean, all-purpose default
Rustic / artisan70–75%More open crumb, crisp crust
Ciabatta-style78–82%Very wet, slack dough
Bagels55–58%Stiff, low-hydration dough

Salt is typically 2% and instant yeast around 1% across these styles.

Tips & best practices

  • Always start from a flour weight — in baker's percentage, flour is the 100% anchor that everything else references.
  • Weigh every ingredient in grams; the whole system falls apart with volume measurements.
  • Keep salt near 2% — it is small but essential for flavor, structure, and controlled fermentation.
  • For a softer crumb and longer shelf life, add a little fat and sugar; for crusty artisan loaves, keep the dough lean.
  • Use the loaf-count estimate to decide pan sizes before you mix, not after.
  • Save the percentages that work as your house formula — you can rebuild the recipe at any batch size.

Frequently asked questions

What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage is a way of writing a recipe where flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. It makes a formula easy to scale to any batch size.
How do I calculate baker's percentages for bread?
Decide your flour weight, then multiply it by each ingredient's percentage. For 1,000 grams of flour at 65% hydration, you need 650 grams of water; at 2% salt, 20 grams of salt; and so on. This calculator does that math for you.
What hydration should bread dough be?
A basic sandwich or table loaf sits around 60 to 65% hydration. Rustic and artisan loaves run higher, often 70 to 78%, for a more open crumb. The default here is 65%, a reliable everyday starting point.
How much salt and yeast should bread have?
Salt is typically about 2% of the flour weight and instant yeast about 1% for a same-day loaf. Salt strengthens the dough and controls fermentation; too little makes a bland, slack loaf.
How many loaves will my dough make?
A standard loaf uses roughly 900 grams of dough. This calculator divides your total dough weight by 900 to estimate the loaf count, so a recipe totaling about 1,800 grams makes around two loaves.
What counts as fat and sugar in baker's percentage?
Fat includes butter and oil; sugar includes granulated sugar, honey, and other sweeteners. Both are optional and used in enriched doughs like brioche or soft sandwich bread. A lean dough — flour, water, salt, yeast — uses neither.
Does baker's percentage work for sourdough?
Yes, though sourdough adds the wrinkle that the starter contributes flour and water of its own. For a yeasted bread this calculator is exact; for sourdough, a dedicated hydration calculator that accounts for the starter is the better tool.
Why should I bake by weight instead of cups?
A cup of flour can vary by 20% or more depending on how it is scooped, which throws off hydration and texture. Weighing in grams makes baker's percentages exact and your loaves consistent every time.

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Sources: Standard baker's percentage method; King Arthur Baking guidance on bread formulas and hydration.

Results are estimates for informational use. For food safety, always confirm meat doneness with a thermometer against current USDA guidance. WhiskMath does not provide medical or dietary advice.