Baker’s Percentages Explained (With Examples)
Learn how baker’s percentages work. Calculate hydration, scale bread recipes, and compare formulas using flour as the baseline.
Baker’s percentages are a simple way to describe bread recipes. Instead of listing fixed weights, every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%, and everything else — water, salt, yeast — is measured against that. This makes recipes easy to scale, compare, and remember.
How baker’s percentages work
Imagine a basic bread recipe with 500 grams of flour, 350 grams of water, 10 grams of salt, and 5 grams of yeast. In baker’s percentages:
- Flour = 100%
- Water = 70% (350 ÷ 500)
- Salt = 2% (10 ÷ 500)
- Yeast = 1% (5 ÷ 500)
The hydration of this dough is 70%, which is typical for an artisan-style loaf.
Why hydration matters
Hydration is the ratio of water to flour. It determines how wet, sticky, and open-crumbed your bread will be. Lower hydration doughs are easier to shape; higher hydration doughs produce bigger holes and a chewier texture but are harder to handle.
| Hydration | Texture | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 55–65% | Firm, easy to shape | Sandwich bread, bagels |
| 65–75% | Soft, slightly tacky | Country loaves, boules |
| 75–85% | Wet, sticky | Ciabatta, focaccia |
| 85%+ | Very wet | High-hydration artisan breads |
Scaling with percentages
Once a recipe is written in percentages, scaling is simple. If you want to make two loaves and need 800 grams of flour total, multiply each percentage by 8. At 70% hydration, you need 560 grams of water. At 2% salt, you need 16 grams. Use our baker’s percentage calculator to do this automatically.
Comparing recipes
Percentages let you compare recipes at a glance. Two recipes with very different flour weights but the same hydration and salt percentage will behave similarly. This is why professional bakers prefer percentages over cups and tablespoons.
Tools for baker’s percentages
A digital scale is the only essential tool. Measuring by weight is faster, cleaner, and far more accurate than measuring by volume. Browse digital scales for bread baking to get started.
Conclusion
Baker’s percentages turn bread baking from guesswork into a system. Start with flour at 100%, express everything else as a percentage, and you can scale and compare any recipe. Try our baker’s percentage calculator to practice with your favorite formula.