Bread Hydration Calculator
Water, salt and starter weights for a given flour weight, using baker's percentages.
Results
What this tool does
Bakers quote everything as a percentage of the flour, which is why a recipe scales to any batch size without rewriting. Sixty percent hydration gives a firm, easily shaped dough; seventy is a soft everyday loaf; above eighty the dough becomes slack and open-crumbed and needs handling rather than kneading. Salt is almost always close to two percent.
Formula
baker's percentages: everything relative to the flour
Variables
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
fl | Flour | g |
hy | Hydration | % |
sa | Salt | % |
st | Starter | % |
W | Water | g |
S | Salt | g |
ST | Starter | g |
TD | Total dough weight | g |
TH | Hydration | % |
Worked example
- Flour500 g
- Hydration70 %
- Salt2 %
- Starter20 %
- Water350.0 g
- Salt10.0 g
- Starter100.0 g
- Total dough weight960.0 g
- Hydration72.73 %
Limitations
- The result is an estimate based only on the values you type. Real situations often include factors this calculator does not know about.
- The default values are typical reference figures, not measurements of your situation. Replace them with your own data whenever you have it.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the total hydration different from the one I set?
Because the starter carries its own flour and water. A starter at 100 % hydration is half flour and half water, and both halves join the dough. The last result folds that in and gives the hydration the dough actually has, which is what decides how it handles. With a stiff starter the difference goes the other way.