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

IngredientWeight (g)Baker's %
Flour (base)100%
65%
2%
1%
Total840g168%

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

IngredientTypical RangeNotes
Flour100%Always the base
Water/Hydration55-85%Affects texture and crumb
Salt1.8-2.2%2% is standard
Instant Yeast0.5-2%Less = slower rise, more flavor
Fresh Yeast1.5-5%About 3x instant yeast amount
Sourdough Starter15-30%At 100% hydration
Sugar0-15%Enriched breads
Butter/Oil0-15%Enriched breads
Eggs0-20%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

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.

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