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 a 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.