How do I use baker's percentage to scale a recipe?

To scale a recipe using baker's percentage, decide on your target flour weight, then multiply each ingredient's percentage by the new flour weight and divide by 100. For example, if your recipe has water at 70% and you want to use 1,000 g of flour, you need 700 g of water (1,000 x 70 / 100). The percentages stay the same regardless of batch size, so you only need to change the flour weight to rescale everything.

What is a good hydration percentage for bread?

Hydration refers to the water percentage relative to flour. A beginner-friendly sandwich loaf typically sits around 65 to 70% hydration. Sourdough often ranges from 70 to 80%, producing an open crumb with a chewier texture. High-hydration loaves (85% and above) are sticky and difficult to handle but can produce very open, glossy crumbs. Pizza dough is often 60 to 65% for a firm, workable dough. Enriched doughs (with butter, eggs, or milk) use less water, often 55 to 65%.

Baker's Percentage Calculator

Baker's percentage (baker's math) expresses every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight. Flour is always 100%. Enter your ingredient weights below to see the percentages instantly, or enter a target flour weight to scale any recipe up or down.

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Standard method Baker's percentage is the universal professional baking standard used in artisan bakeries, commercial production, and culinary schools worldwide.

1. Core Ingredients

Flour (always 100%)

Water (hydration)

Salt

Yeast (dry or fresh)

Additional Ingredients

2. Scale Recipe

Change the flour weight below to scale the whole recipe. All ingredient weights will update to maintain the same percentages.

Target Flour Weight

New flour weight

Scale factor

1.00x

70%

Hydration (water as % of flour). A standard loaf is 65-70%; sourdough is typically 70-80%.

Unit

Baker's Percentage Results

Flour

100%

Always the base

Hydration
70%
Water % of flour

Total Dough Weight

865 g

All ingredients combined

Total Baker's %

173%

Sum of all percentages

Ingredient Breakdown

Ingredient	Weight	Baker's %	Scaled Weight	Proportion

What is Baker's Percentage?

Baker's percentage is a notation system used by professional bakers to express the weight of every ingredient relative to the total weight of flour in a recipe. Flour is always set at 100%, and every other ingredient is calculated as a proportion of that flour weight. It is sometimes called baker's math or baker's ratio.

For example, if a bread recipe uses 500 g of flour and 350 g of water, the water percentage is 350 divided by 500 multiplied by 100, which equals 70%. The total baker's percentages in a recipe will always exceed 100% because flour itself is 100% and every other ingredient adds to the total.

The Formula

For any ingredient:

Baker's % = (Ingredient weight / Flour weight) x 100

To find a scaled ingredient weight from a known percentage and a new flour weight:

Scaled weight = (Baker's % / 100) x New flour weight

Worked Example (Default Values)

With the default inputs of 500 g flour, 350 g water, 10 g salt, and 5 g yeast:

Ingredient	Weight	Baker's %
Flour	500 g	100%
Water	350 g	70%
Salt	10 g	2%
Yeast	5 g	1%
Total	865 g	173%

This is a 70% hydration dough, typical of a moderately open-crumbed loaf. To scale this recipe to 1,000 g of flour, multiply each weight by 2 (1,000 / 500 = 2): 1,000 g flour, 700 g water, 20 g salt, 10 g yeast.

Why Bakers Use This System

Percentages make recipes scale-independent. A professional baker making 50 kg of dough and a home baker making 800 g use the same formula percentages. You can compare two bread recipes at a glance by looking at their hydration and salt percentages, even if the batch sizes are completely different. The system also makes it easy to adjust a single ingredient without recalculating everything from scratch.

Common Baker's Percentage Ranges

Dough Type	Hydration (%)	Salt (%)	Yeast (%)
Sandwich loaf (beginner)	65-68%	1.8-2%	1-1.5% (instant)
French baguette	65-70%	2%	0.3-0.5% (instant)
Sourdough (mild)	70-75%	2-2.2%	15-20% (starter)
Sourdough (open crumb)	78-85%	2%	15-20% (starter)
Pizza dough (Neapolitan)	60-65%	2-2.8%	0.1-0.3% (instant)
Focaccia	75-80%	2%	0.5-1% (instant)
Brioche	50-60%	1.8%	1.5-2% (instant)

Using Multiple Flours

When a recipe uses two or more types of flour (such as bread flour and wholemeal), the convention is to use the combined total flour weight as the base (100%). Each individual flour is then also expressed as a percentage of that combined total. For example, 400 g of bread flour and 100 g of wholemeal flour gives a combined flour weight of 500 g; the bread flour is 80% and the wholemeal is 20%. Add both individual flour percentages together and you get 100%.

Related Calculators

Maths and Stats Calculators: all maths, ratio, and percentage tools.
Percentage Calculator: general percentage of any number.
Ratio Calculator: simplify and compare ratios.
Percentage Change Calculator: increase or decrease between two values.

Sources and method: Baker's percentage is an industry-standard notation described in professional baking texts including The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Peter Reinhart) and Modernist Bread (Myhrvold and Migoya). Formula: ingredient baker's % = (ingredient weight / total flour weight) x 100. Flour is always set to 100%. This calculator applies the standard convention where multiple flour types are summed to form the 100% base.

This calculator is for reference only. Actual results when baking depend on flour absorption, ambient temperature, humidity, mixing technique, and fermentation time. Use percentages as a starting point and adjust to your ingredients and conditions.