Baker's Percentage Calculator
Calculate ingredient weights from baker’s percentages relative to total flour weight.
Flour is always 100%. All other ingredients are a percentage of this weight.
Total dough weight
Ingredient Weights
What Is Baker's Percentage?
Baker's percentage (also called baker's math) is the system professional bakers use to express a recipe. Every ingredient is given as a percentage of the total flour weight, and the flour itself is always defined as 100%. This makes a formula easy to scale up or down: change the flour weight and every other ingredient adjusts automatically.
Because the percentages stay constant, two bakers can compare recipes at a glance without worrying about batch size. A dough at 65% water (often called 65% hydration) behaves the same whether you mix 500 g or 50 kg of flour.
The Formula
Each ingredient weight is calculated from the flour weight and its percentage:
- ingredient (g) = flour (g) × (percentage / 100)
- water = 1000 × (65 / 100) = 650 g
- salt = 1000 × (2 / 100) = 20 g
- yeast = 1000 × (1 / 100) = 10 g
- total dough = 1000 + 650 + 20 + 10 = 1680 g
Typical Percentages
These ranges are a useful starting point for most yeasted breads, though every recipe and flour behaves a little differently.
- Water: 60-70% for a standard loaf; 75% or more for an open, airy crumb like ciabatta.
- Salt: 1.8-2.2% for flavour and to control fermentation.
- Yeast: 0.5-2% for instant or dry yeast; more for a fast rise, less for a long, slow ferment.
Note: These results are a mathematical guide. Real dough is affected by flour type, humidity, and temperature, so you may need to adjust hydration and fermentation times to suit your kitchen.