Bread Hydration Calculator
Calculate baker's percentages and hydration ratio for bread recipes. Enter flour, water, salt, and yeast weights to see standard baker math.
What is Bread Hydration Calculator?
The bread hydration calculator applies professional baker's percentages: every ingredient as a percent of total flour weight. Hydration (water/flour) is the single most important variable in bread.
Formula
Hydration % = (water ÷ flour) × 100. Salt % and yeast % are calculated the same way.
Worked example
500 g flour + 350 g water = 70% hydration — standard artisan loaf. Add 10 g salt (2%) and 5 g yeast (1%).
How to use this calculator
- Enter all four ingredients in grams.
- The calculator returns hydration percentage and a hydration-class label.
Frequently asked questions
What's a "good" hydration?
60% = sandwich bread / bagels. 65–70% = standard sourdough. 75–80% = ciabatta / open crumb. 85%+ = very wet, no-knead loaves.
Why use baker's percentages?
They make scaling trivial. Want a 1 kg loaf instead of 500 g? Multiply each percentage by 1000g. The ratios stay correct.
What's the typical salt percentage?
1.8–2.2%. Too little = bland and weak fermentation. Too much = inhibits yeast.
What about levain or starter?
For sourdough, count the starter's flour and water in the totals. A 100 g starter at 100% hydration = 50 g flour + 50 g water added to the recipe math.