Baker's Percentage Calculator - Scale Any Bread Recipe

How to use this tool

1. Choose Analyze weights to calculate percentages from a weighed formula, or Design / Scale to work from percentages.
2. Enter the flour or target dough weight, then add each ingredient by grams or baker’s percentage.
3. Tag a starter or levain and enter its hydration to split its flour and water and see true hydration.

What is baker's percentage?

Baker's percentage (baker's math) expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%; other ingredients are proportional to it. This makes it easy to scale recipes up or down: just change the flour quantity and every other ingredient scales automatically.

Ingredient % = (Ingredient weight ÷ Flour weight) × 100

Reference percentages

Scaling example

Here is a standard country bread formula using baker's percentages, then scaled from 500 g flour up to 2,000 g flour:

To scale: multiply each ingredient's baker's % by the new flour weight and divide by 100. The ratio always stays consistent regardless of batch size. In Design / Scale mode, you can also enter a target total dough weight. The calculator divides that target by the formula total to find the flour basis, then calculates the grams for each ingredient.

For example, a formula with 100% flour, 72% water, 2% salt, and 0.8% yeast totals 174.8% of its flour weight. A 2,000 g dough target therefore uses about 1,144.2 g total flour. This conversion uses the weights in the formula; it does not predict fermentation, baking loss, or the final baked loaf weight.

Account for starter or levain

A sourdough starter contains both flour and water. Tag a row as Starter / levain and enter its hydration (for example, 100% for equal weights of flour and water). When analyzing, enter the starter's full weight; when designing, enter the prefermented flour percentage (PFF). The calculator separates the starter's flour and water so total flour remains the 100% basis and true hydration includes the water already in the starter. In Design / Scale, the water percentage is the formula's total water, so it must be at least as large as the water inside the starter. Starter hydration can vary, and the entered value should match your actual culture. Hydration uses rows named Water or H2O; other liquids such as milk are treated as extras, and the calculation does not account for flour or liquid hidden in other ingredients.

Hydration effects on the final loaf

• 60–65% hydration (stiff): Easy to handle; produces a denser crumb with a tight structure. Good for bagels, sandwich loaves, and pasta dough.
• 68–75% hydration (medium): Balanced handling and open crumb. The most common range for everyday bread and sourdough.
• 78–85% hydration (slack/wet): Produces a highly open, irregular crumb with large holes (ciabatta, high-hydration sourdough). Requires stretch-and-fold technique and bench scrapers; sticky to handle by hand.

Pre-ferment percentages

Many advanced bread recipes include a portion of pre-fermented dough to develop flavor:

• Poolish: A wet pre-ferment (100% hydration). Typically 20–40% of total flour is prefermented. Produces complex flavor with thin, crispy crust.
• Biga: A stiff Italian pre-ferment (50–60% hydration). Develops slowly at cool temperatures; produces chewier texture.
• Levain (sourdough starter): Typically 10–20% of total flour weight. Build time and hydration of the levain significantly affect timing and flavor.