Free Baker's Percentage Calculator
Scale your recipes by total flour weight using baker's percentage and dough hydration.
What is a baker’s percentage calculator?
A baker’s percentage calculator is a free online tool that helps you instantly calculate baker’s percentage calculator results without any signup or software installation. It runs entirely in your browser — no signup, no app, and no data is ever sent to a server.
A baker's percentage calculator converts ingredient ratios into exact gram weights for any recipe. Unlike standard recipes, baker's percentages always show the flour weight as 100% and every other ingredient as a percentage of the flour. This makes scaling between a single loaf and a commercial batch trivial — just change the flour weight and all other ingredients adjust proportionally. Dough hydration (the water percentage) is the single most important variable in bread baking, affecting everything from crumb structure to crust thickness.
How it works
Enter your flour weight (the base), then the percentages for water, salt, starter, and optional oil. The calculator multiplies each percentage by the flour weight to get gram weights. If you enter a target dough weight, it works backward — dividing the target by the sum of percentages to find the flour weight, then calculating each ingredient from there.
When to use a baker's percentage calculator
Home bakers scaling their favorite recipe from one loaf to two. Professional bakers converting between batch sizes. Pizza makers dialing in a specific hydration. Sourdough bakers adjusting their starter percentage for different fermentation schedules. Anyone who wants to understand the ratios behind a recipe rather than just following it.
Common mistakes with baker's percentages
The most common mistake I see is treating the starter or levain as a separate flour source rather than including it in the total flour weight. If your recipe has 500g of bread flour plus 200g of 100% hydration starter (100g flour + 100g water), the total flour weight is 600g, not 500g. Your true hydration isn't just the water you add — it's (added water + water from starter) ÷ (added flour + flour from starter). The calculator handles this correctly when you enter the starter percentage relative to total flour.
Another common error is confusing volume measurements with weight when using baker's percentages. Baker's percentages are always by weight, never by volume. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120g to 150g depending on how it's scooped and the humidity. If you're converting a volumetric recipe to baker's percentages, weigh your flour first. I recommend using grams for everything — a kitchen scale costs $15 and eliminates this entire category of error.
I also see bakers forgetting that salt percentage matters more than they think. Salt at 1.8-2.2% is standard for most breads, but dropping below 1.5% produces slack, sticky dough that ferments too quickly. Going above 2.5% noticeably slows fermentation and can taste salty. The same dough with 1.5% versus 2.2% salt has about a 30% difference in fermentation speed. The calculator makes salt percentage easy to adjust and track.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your flour weight — Input the total flour weight in grams as your base (100%).
- Add ingredient percentages — Enter the baker's percentage for water, salt, starter/yeast, and any other ingredients.
- Scale or convert — View the exact gram weights for each ingredient, or enter a target dough weight to scale up/down.
Frequently asked questions
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage is a method of expressing ingredient ratios relative to the total flour weight (always 100%). If a recipe has 1000g flour, 700g water, 20g salt, and 200g starter, the baker's percentages are 100% flour, 70% hydration, 2% salt, and 20% starter. This makes scaling recipes simple — multiply the flour weight by each percentage to get the ingredient weight.
What is dough hydration?
Dough hydration is the water weight expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. A 70% hydration dough has 70g of water for every 100g of flour. Low hydration (50-57%) produces stiff doughs for bagels and pretzels. Medium hydration (60-65%) is typical for sandwich bread. High hydration (70-85%) is used for ciabatta, focaccia, and sourdough.
How do I scale a recipe using baker's percentage?
Decide your total dough weight, then divide by (1 + the sum of all percentages as decimals). For a 1000g dough at 70% hydration, 2% salt, 20% starter: flour = 1000 ÷ (1 + 0.7 + 0.02 + 0.2) = 1000 ÷ 1.92 = 521g flour. Then water = 521 × 0.7 = 365g, salt = 521 × 0.02 = 10g, starter = 521 × 0.2 = 104g.
What is the standard pizza dough hydration?
Neapolitan pizza dough is typically 55-65% hydration (low to medium). New York style is 60-65%. Sicilian is 65-75%. High-hydration doughs (70%+) produce a more open crumb but are harder to work with by hand. The calculator works for any hydration level you want to try.
How do I convert a recipe to baker's percentages?
Divide each ingredient weight by the total flour weight and multiply by 100. If a recipe has 500g flour, 350g water, 10g salt, 100g starter: flour = 100%, water = 350÷500×100 = 70%, salt = 10÷500×100 = 2%, starter = 100÷500×100 = 20%. Once you have these percentages, scaling is simple — just change the flour weight.
Why does my dough feel different at the same hydration percentage?
Different flours absorb water differently. Whole wheat and rye absorb 5-10% more water than white bread flour. A 70% hydration dough using whole wheat flour will feel stiffer than the same hydration with white flour. Adjust hydration by 3-5% when switching flour types. The calculator lets you set custom percentages so you can dial in the feel by trial.