Baker's Percentage Calculator
Calculate baker's percentages from your recipe weights, or scale any recipe to a new flour amount. The professional way to work with bread formulas.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Weight (g) | Baker's % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flour (base) | 100% | ||
| 65% | |||
| 2% | |||
| 1% | |||
| Total | 840g | 168% |
What is Baker's Percentage?
Baker's percentage expresses each ingredient's weight as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%, making it easy to scale recipes and compare hydration levels across different recipes.
Common Percentages:
- Flour: 100% (always the base)
- Water: 60-80% (hydration)
- Salt: 1.8-2.2%
- Yeast: 0.5-2% (instant) or 1.5-3% (fresh)
How Baker's Percentage Works
Baker's percentage (also called baker's math or formula percentage) is a standardized way of expressing bread recipes where all ingredient weights are expressed as a percentage of the total flour weight.
The Formula
Ingredient % = (Ingredient Weight ÷ Flour Weight) × 100
Example: If you have 500g flour and 325g water: (325 ÷ 500) × 100 = 65% hydration
Common Baker's Percentages
| Ingredient | Typical Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100% | Always the base |
| Water/Hydration | 55-85% | Affects texture and crumb |
| Salt | 1.8-2.2% | 2% is standard |
| Instant Yeast | 0.5-2% | Less = slower rise, more flavor |
| Fresh Yeast | 1.5-5% | About 3x instant yeast amount |
| Sourdough Starter | 15-30% | At 100% hydration |
| Sugar | 0-15% | Enriched breads |
| Butter/Oil | 0-15% | Enriched breads |
| Eggs | 0-20% | Brioche, challah |
Example Bread Formulas
Basic White Bread
- Flour: 100%
- Water: 62%
- Salt: 2%
- Yeast: 1%
- Sugar: 4%
- Butter: 3%
Lean French Bread
- Flour: 100%
- Water: 68%
- Salt: 2%
- Yeast: 0.6%
Sourdough
- Flour: 100%
- Water: 75%
- Salt: 2%
- Starter: 20%
Brioche
- Flour: 100%
- Eggs: 50%
- Butter: 50%
- Sugar: 12%
- Salt: 2%
- Yeast: 2%
Frequently Asked Questions
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage is a notation method that expresses each ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%, and all other ingredients are expressed relative to it. This makes it easy to scale recipes and compare formulas.
Why is flour always 100%?
Flour serves as the base ingredient in bread, providing the structure. By setting flour at 100%, you can easily see how much of each ingredient you need relative to the main ingredient, and quickly scale to any flour amount.
What does hydration percentage mean?
Hydration is the percentage of water (or liquid) relative to flour. A 70% hydration dough has 70g water per 100g flour. Higher hydration creates wetter, more open-crumb bread; lower hydration creates denser, tighter bread.
How do I scale a recipe using baker's percentage?
To scale a recipe, simply multiply each percentage by your desired flour weight. For example, if you want 750g flour and your water is 68%, you need 750 × 0.68 = 510g water.
What are typical percentages for bread?
Common ranges are: Water 60-80% (hydration), Salt 1.8-2.2%, Yeast 0.5-2% (instant) or 1.5-5% (fresh), Sugar 0-10%, Fat 0-10%. These vary based on the type of bread.