Baker's Percentage Calculator
Convert ingredient weights to baker's percentages, or percentages to weights. Flour is always 100%.
This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional financial, medical, legal, or engineering advice. See Terms of Service.
Can't find what you need?
Request a ToolHow to Use the Baker's Percentage Calculator
Baker's percentages express every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%, which makes it easy to scale recipes and compare formulas. Here is how to use this calculator:
- Choose your mode. "Weights to Percentages" takes your actual ingredient weights and converts them to baker's percentages. "Percentages to Weights" takes baker's percentages and tells you how many grams of each ingredient to use.
- Enter the flour weight. This is always your anchor. All other percentages are calculated relative to this number. If your recipe calls for 500g of bread flour and 50g of whole wheat flour, enter the total flour weight (550g).
- Fill in your ingredients. Enter the name and either the weight (in grams) or the baker's percentage for each ingredient. Click "+ Add Ingredient" to add more rows.
- Read the results. The table shows each ingredient with its weight and baker's percentage side by side. The total dough weight appears at the top.
A typical bread formula in baker's percentages looks like: Flour 100%, Water 65-75% (hydration), Salt 2%, Yeast 0.5-1%. Sourdough starter is often listed separately as a percentage of flour weight.
About Baker's Percentages
Baker's percentages (also called baker's math or baker's formula) are the professional standard for expressing bread recipes. Unlike regular percentages, which express ingredients as a fraction of the total recipe weight, baker's percentages use flour weight as the base. This means all percentages can add up to more than 100%.
The advantage of baker's percentages is scalability. If you know a recipe calls for 72% hydration, you can quickly calculate the water for any flour weight: 500g flour times 0.72 equals 360g water. You can also compare recipes at a glance: a 65% hydration dough is stiffer than a 80% hydration dough. Professional bakers and recipes from King Arthur, tartine, and other serious sources all use baker's percentages. All calculations run entirely in your browser. No data is stored or transmitted.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is baker's percentage and why is flour always 100%?
Baker's percentage expresses each ingredient as a fraction of the total flour weight, with flour set to 100%. This is different from standard percentage, which would be each ingredient as a fraction of the total dough weight. Using flour as the base makes it easy to scale recipes: if you know a recipe is 70% hydration, the water weight is always 70% of your flour weight, regardless of batch size. This is the universal standard in professional baking.
What is hydration in bread baking?
Hydration refers to the baker's percentage of water in a dough. A 65% hydration dough contains 65g of water for every 100g of flour. Lower hydration doughs (55-65%) are stiffer and easier to shape, typical for bagels and sandwich loaves. Medium hydration (65-75%) suits most artisan loaves. High hydration doughs (75-85%+) produce open, chewy crumbs like ciabatta or high-hydration sourdough, but are much stickier and harder to handle.
How do I convert a home recipe to baker's percentages?
First, weigh all your ingredients in grams. Identify the total flour weight (if using multiple flours, add them together). Then divide each ingredient weight by the total flour weight and multiply by 100. For example: 500g flour, 350g water, 10g salt, 3g yeast. Water: (350/500) x 100 = 70%. Salt: (10/500) x 100 = 2%. Yeast: (3/500) x 100 = 0.6%. This calculator does all that math automatically.
How do baker's percentages help with scaling a recipe?
Once you have baker's percentages, scaling is simple multiplication. To double a recipe: double the flour weight and multiply every percentage by the new flour weight. If your recipe is 72% hydration and you want to make a loaf with 750g flour instead of 500g, your water is 750 x 0.72 = 540g. The percentages never change, only the absolute weights do. This is far more reliable than trying to proportionally adjust a volumetric recipe.