Baker's Percentage Calculator for Dough
This baker's percentage calculator shows every ingredient as a share of the flour, works out dough hydration and turns percentages into grams for any batch.
Calculate your dough formula
Ingredients
Choose “Liquid” for water, milk, yogurt or eggs and enter how much of it is water (100% for plain water). Salt, yeast, sugar and fat are “Other”.
How the baker's percentage calculator works
Bakers describe dough by proportion rather than by weight. In baker's percentage, the total flour is always 100% and every other ingredient is written as a percentage of that flour. The baker's percentage calculator does the conversion in both directions:
baker's % = ingredient weight ÷ total flour weight × 100
ingredient grams = flour grams × baker's % ÷ 100
In grams mode you enter a recipe you already have and see its percentages, its hydration and the total dough weight. In baker's percentage mode you enter a formula and the size of the batch, and the calculator works out the flour first, then every other ingredient. The flour needed is the total dough weight divided by the sum of all the percentages.
Worked example: a simple loaf
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Water | 325 g | 65% |
| Salt | 10 g | 2% |
| Instant yeast | 5 g | 1% |
The dough weighs 840 g in total and has 65% hydration, because the water is 65% of the flour weight.
What is dough hydration?
Hydration is the water in a dough as a percentage of its flour. It is the single number that best describes how a dough will feel: a higher hydration makes a softer, stickier dough, and a lower one makes a firmer dough that is easier to shape. Whole-wheat flours such as atta generally absorb more water than white flour, so the same hydration can feel different with a different flour.
Milk, yogurt and eggs add water too, but they are not pure water. USDA FoodData Central lists whole milk at roughly 88% water and whole egg at roughly 76%. Enter a water content next to each liquid and the calculator counts only that share, while the full weight of the liquid still appears in its own percentage and in the total dough.
How do I scale dough by weight?
In the baker's percentage calculator, choose baker's percentage mode, then enter the number of pieces and the dough weight of each one. Four pizza bases of 250 g need 1,000 g of dough. With a formula of 100% flour, 62% water, 2.5% salt and 0.5% yeast, the percentages add up to 165%, so the flour is 1,000 ÷ 1.65 = 606.1 g. The rest follows: 375.8 g water, 15.2 g salt and 3.03 g yeast.
To turn a recipe you already make into a formula, enter it in grams first and then switch modes. The calculator carries the percentages across and keeps the same total dough weight, ready for you to change the number or size of the pieces. For recipes measured in cups, convert them with the kitchen unit converter only if the recipe also gives weights, because a cup of flour has no single weight.
Using it for roti, naan and paratha
Everyday flatbread dough is usually made by feel, which makes it hard to repeat or share. Weigh the atta and water once, enter them in grams, and the calculator shows the dough as a formula. Next time, enter the number of rotis and the weight of a dough ball you like, and it tells you exactly how much atta and water to use for the whole family. Add ghee or oil as “Other”, so it counts in the total dough but not in the hydration. Our guide to one roti’s calories and nutrition explains what a typical roti contains.
Tips for accurate dough
- Weigh everything in grams. Spoons and cups vary too much for small ingredients such as salt and yeast.
- Use a scale that reads 0.1 g for yeast in small batches, where 1 g makes a large difference.
- Remember that dough weight is not baked weight. Bread, pizza and roti lose moisture as they cook.
- Hold back a little water when trying a new flour, and add it once you can feel the dough.
To resize a recipe that uses cups and spoons instead of grams, use the recipe scaler. For doughs measured by weight, the baker's percentage calculator keeps every batch consistent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Baker's percentage writes every ingredient as a percentage of the total flour weight, with the flour always at 100%. In a dough of 500 g flour, 325 g water and 10 g salt, the water is 65% and the salt is 2%. Because the numbers are proportions, the same formula works for one loaf or fifty.
Divide the weight of water by the weight of flour and multiply by 100. 325 g of water in 500 g of flour is 325 ÷ 500 × 100 = 65% hydration. If the dough uses milk, yogurt or eggs, count only the water they contain.
Only partly. Milk is mostly water but also contains fat, protein and sugar; USDA FoodData Central lists whole milk at roughly 88% water and whole egg at roughly 76%. Enter the water content next to each liquid, and the calculator counts just that share towards hydration.
Flour is the reference that every other percentage is measured against. If a dough uses two flours, such as atta and maida, their percentages are shares of the total flour and must add up to 100%. All other ingredients can be any percentage.
Switch to baker's percentages, enter how many pieces you want and how much each dough ball should weigh. The calculator multiplies them to get the total dough and splits it into grams of each ingredient. Dough weight is measured before cooking; baked or cooked pieces weigh less.