Baker's Percentage Calculator
Express ingredients as a percentage of flour.
Results update as you type.
How it works
Baker's percentage, or baker's math, is the professional way to write bread and pastry recipes, and this calculator converts ingredient weights into percentages of the flour. You enter the flour weight and the weight of another ingredient, and it returns that ingredient's baker's percentage and its amount per 1000 grams of flour. The system treats the total flour as 100 percent and expresses every other ingredient relative to it, so water at 70 percent means 700 grams of water per 1000 grams of flour. This makes recipes easy to scale up or down — just pick a flour weight and multiply each percentage — and easy to compare, since the hydration (water percentage) and salt percentage instantly tell an experienced baker how a dough will behave. Typical bread hydration ranges from about 60 percent for a stiff dough to 80 percent or more for open, airy loaves, while salt is usually around 2 percent and commercial yeast 1 to 2 percent. Because percentages can add up to well over 100 percent, baker's math is not a part-of-whole percentage but a ratio to flour. Working in weights rather than volumes also greatly improves consistency. Enter the flour weight and an ingredient weight to find its baker's percentage.
Baker's % = (ingredient weight ÷ flour weight) × 100
In baker's percentage, every ingredient is expressed relative to the total flour weight, which is always 100 percent. Dividing an ingredient's weight by the flour weight and multiplying by 100 gives its baker's percentage, letting you scale and compare recipes consistently no matter the batch size.
Source:Baker's math (professional baking)
We review all our tools from time to time to ensure accuracy.
Worked example
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your values
Enter flour weight and ingredient weight.
- 2
Adjust the options
Fine-tune any options to match your situation.
- 3
Read your result
Baker's percentage updates instantly as you type — no button to press.
Frequently asked questions
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage expresses each ingredient's weight as a percentage of the total flour weight, which is set at 100 percent. So water at 70 percent means 700 grams per 1000 grams of flour. It is the standard notation for bread and pastry recipes because it makes scaling and comparing formulas simple and precise.
Why can the percentages add up to more than 100?
Because baker's percentage is a ratio to flour, not a share of the whole recipe. Flour is always 100 percent, and every other ingredient is measured against it, so adding water, salt, yeast, and other ingredients easily pushes the total well above 100 percent. This is normal and expected in baker's math.
What is dough hydration?
Hydration is the water expressed as a baker's percentage of the flour. A 70 percent hydration dough has 700 grams of water per 1000 grams of flour. Higher hydration produces a wetter, stickier dough that bakes into an open, airy crumb, while lower hydration gives a stiffer dough and denser crumb, so hydration strongly shapes the final bread.
How do I scale a recipe with baker's percentage?
Choose your desired total flour weight, then multiply each ingredient's baker's percentage by that flour weight (divided by 100) to get its weight. Because everything is tied to flour, you can scale a formula to any batch size while keeping the exact same ratios and results, which is why professionals rely on this system.
Why use weights instead of cups?
Volume measures like cups vary with how ingredients are packed and settled, so the same cup of flour can differ significantly in weight. Baker's percentage requires weighing ingredients, which is far more accurate and repeatable. Weighing eliminates the guesswork of volume measuring and is essential for consistent bread, especially at higher hydration.