What is baker's percentage?

In baker's math, all ingredients are expressed as a percentage of total flour weight, which is always 100%. This makes recipes easy to scale — double the flour, double everything else.

How do I convert a recipe to percentages?

Divide each ingredient weight by the total flour weight and multiply by 100. Example: 350g water ÷ 500g flour × 100 = 70% hydration.

What is a typical bread formula?

A basic lean bread: 100% flour, 65-75% water, 2% salt, 0.5-1% yeast. Enriched doughs add 5-15% sugar and 4-10% fat.

What does prefermented flour mean?

Prefermented flour % refers to the portion of total flour included in a pre-ferment (poolish, biga, or levain). It adds flavor and improves dough structure.

Baker's Percentage Calculator

Convert baker's percentages to ingredient weights or reverse-calculate percentages from a recipe. Scale any bread recipe by flour weight with water, salt, yeast, oil, and sugar.

Total Flour (g)

Water %

Salt %

Yeast %

Sugar %

Water

—

Salt —

Yeast —

Sugar —

Total Dough —

Extended More scenarios, charts & detailed breakdown ▾

Flour (g)

Water %

Salt %

Yeast %

Oil %

Water

—

Salt —

Yeast —

Oil —

Total Dough —

Professional Full parameters & maximum detail ▾

Total Flour (g)

Water %

Salt %

Yeast %

Oil %

Sugar %

Prefermented Flour % ?

Ingredients by Weight

Water —

Salt —

Yeast —

Oil —

Sugar —

Advanced

Pre-ferment Flour —

Total Dough Weight —

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your total flour weight in grams.
Set each ingredient as a percentage of flour — water 65-80%, salt 1.8-2.2%, yeast 0.3-1%.
The calculator shows the exact gram weight for each ingredient.
Use Recipe to % tab to reverse-calculate percentages from an existing recipe.

Formula

Ingredient Weight = Flour Weight × (Ingredient% ÷ 100)
Ingredient % = (Ingredient Weight ÷ Flour Weight) × 100
Flour is always 100% — all other percentages relate to flour.

Example

500g flour, 70% water, 2% salt, 0.4% yeast: Water = 350g, Salt = 10g, Yeast = 2g, Total Dough = 862g

Frequently Asked Questions

In baker's math, all ingredients are expressed as a percentage of total flour weight, which is always 100%. This makes recipes easy to scale — double the flour, double everything else.
Divide each ingredient weight by the total flour weight and multiply by 100. Example: 350g water ÷ 500g flour × 100 = 70% hydration.
A basic lean bread: 100% flour, 65-75% water, 2% salt, 0.5-1% yeast. Enriched doughs add 5-15% sugar and 4-10% fat.
Prefermented flour % refers to the portion of total flour included in a pre-ferment (poolish, biga, or levain). It adds flavor and improves dough structure.

Related Calculators

Sources & References (5) ▾

King Arthur Baking – Baker's Percentage — King Arthur Baking
Bread Baker's Apprentice — Peter Reinhart
Modernist Bread — Modernist Cuisine
BAKERpedia – Bakers Percent — BAKERpedia
AIB International Baking Science — AIB International