Baker’s Percentage

Every ingredient is a percentage of total flour weight (flour = 100%). In Formula mode the percentages stay fixed when you change the flour; in From recipe mode the grams stay fixed and the percentages update; Target dough works out the flour from pieces × weight.

Hydration counts the water in rows marked H₂O (water 100%, milk 87%, egg 75%, honey 17%, butter 16%). With a starter row (assumed 100% hydration, half flour and half water), True hydration adds the starter’s flour and water: (water + starter water) ÷ (flour + starter flour).

Baker’s percentage (also called baker’s math) expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%. With 500 g flour and 325 g water, the water is 65% because 325 ÷ 500 × 100 = 65.

Flour is the 100% baseline, so adding water (65%), salt (2%) and yeast (1%) gives a total of 168%. That is normal: the percentages describe ratios to flour, not shares of the dough.

Sandwich bread 60–65%, baguette 65–70%, ciabatta 75–80%, sourdough 70–80%. Higher hydration gives a more open crumb but is harder to shape.

Most bread formulas use 1.8–2.2% salt. Below 1.5% bread tastes flat; above 2.5% fermentation slows noticeably.