FREE CALCULATORS › BAKER'S PERCENTAGE & HYDRATION
Baker's percentage & sourdough hydration calculator
This free UP↑SCALE calculator gives the true hydration of your dough - with the water and flour of your levain or poolish counted - and every ingredient in baker's percent. Below it: a dough for any number of pieces from your percentages. In your browser, with no sign-up.
Your dough: hydration and baker's percentages
A dough for any number of pieces
The baker's percentage formula
ingredient % = ingredient / all flour × 100 levain flour = levain / (1 + its hydration) levain water = levain - levain flour true hydration = (water + levain water) / (flour + levain flour) × 100 all flour for a dough = dough weight / (1 + hydration + salt + yeast)
Example: 450 g flour, 320 g water and 100 g levain at 100 % (50 g flour + 50 g water): the dough has 500 g flour and 370 g water - a true hydration of 74 %, not the 71 % that 320 / 450 suggests.
On the scale it is done while you weigh
In the recipe mode of UP↑SCALE the recipes are written in baker's percent, scaled to any batch and weighed step by step on the scale - with the true hydration of the dough shown live, the desired dough temperature and a sourdough starter journal. The baking scale app.
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Baker's percentage: questions and answers
How do you calculate baker's percentage?
Divide the weight of every ingredient by the weight of all the flour and multiply by 100. The flour is always 100 %: 500 g flour, 350 g water and 10 g salt are 100 %, 70 % and 2 %.
How do I calculate the hydration of a sourdough?
Count the flour and the water of the levain too: a levain at 100 % hydration is half flour, half water. 450 g flour + 320 g water + 100 g levain = 500 g flour and 370 g water - a hydration of 74 %.
How much flour do I need for a dough of a certain weight?
Divide the dough weight by 1 plus all the percentages: 1000 g of dough at 65 % water, 2 % salt and 0.3 % yeast need 1000 / 1.673 = 598 g flour.
What hydration is good for pizza or bread?
As a rough guide: bagels and pretzels 50-60 %, a sandwich loaf 60-65 %, a rustic bread or Neapolitan pizza 60-70 %, a sourdough country loaf 70-80 % and ciabatta 75-85 %. Your flour decides how much water it takes.
What is prefermented flour?
The part of all the flour that is in the levain, poolish or biga - in % of all the flour. 100 g of a levain at 100 % in a dough with 500 g flour are 50 g, so 10 % prefermented flour.
Is there a baker's percentage app with a scale?
Yes: the free UP↑SCALE app writes recipes in baker's percent, scales them to any batch and weighs every ingredient step by step on your scale, with the true hydration live. The baking scale app.
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