Bread Hydration Calculator
Check the hydration of any bread dough from its flour and water weights, or pick a target hydration and get the exact water, salt, and yeast in grams. Straight yeasted doughs only; sourdough bakers should use the starter-aware calculator instead.
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How to use the bread hydration calculator
- Measure my hydration: weigh your flour and water in grams and enter both. The tool returns the hydration percentage and shows where it sits on the scale from firm to sticky.
- Build a dough: enter your flour weight, slide to a target hydration, and set salt and yeast percentages. The tool returns every ingredient in grams plus the final dough weight.
- Baking with a sourdough starter? Use the sourdough hydration calculator, which splits the starter into its flour and water so the number stays honest.
What hydration means in bread dough
Hydration is the weight of the water divided by the weight of the flour, written as a percentage. It is the single most useful number in bread baking because it predicts how the dough will feel in your hands and what the finished crumb will look like. A 68 percent dough contains 68 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour, whether you are baking one loaf or ten. That flour-relative form is called a baker's percentage, and it is why two bakers can compare recipes at a glance. If the idea is new to you, our guide to what baker's percentage is covers the math in five minutes.
Typical hydration ranges by bread type
Every flour absorbs water a little differently, so treat these as conventional starting points rather than rules:
- Bagels and pretzels (roughly 55 to 60 percent): stiff, low-hydration doughs that hold a tight shape and chew.
- Sandwich loaves (roughly 60 to 65 percent): soft but structured, with the fine, even crumb you want under a slice of cheese.
- Artisan boules and batards (roughly 65 to 75 percent): the everyday range for crusty hearth loaves, balancing an open crumb with a dough you can still shape confidently.
- Ciabatta and focaccia (roughly 75 to 85 percent and up): slack, wet doughs that trade easy handling for big irregular holes and a light, springy interior.
How hydration changes crumb and handling
More water makes a more extensible dough and a more open crumb. Steam puffing through a wet dough inflates larger pockets, gelatinizes more starch, and leaves that glossy, custardy interior high-hydration loaves are known for. The cost is handling: wet dough sticks to everything, spreads instead of standing tall, and punishes rough shaping. Drier doughs are the opposite. They shape easily, proof predictably, and bake into a tighter, more uniform crumb with a thicker crust. Neither end is better; they are different breads. If you are new to baking by weight, start near 65 percent and move up a couple of points per bake as your folding and shaping improve.
Flour changes the number
Hydration percentages only compare fairly across the same flour. High-protein bread flour drinks more water than all-purpose, and whole-grain flours absorb more still, so a 75 percent whole wheat dough can feel drier than a 70 percent white one. When you switch flours, hold back a little of the water, let the dough rest, and add the remainder only if it feels stiff. The calculator gives you the exact weights; your hands make the final call.
Gear for better bread
Affiliate links · we may earn a commission- Kitchen scale (0.1 g) →Hydration is a ratio of weights. A precise scale is the one non-negotiable tool.
- Dutch oven →Traps steam for a tall rise and a crackly crust in a home oven.
- Banneton proofing basket →Supports the shaped loaf through its final rise, especially at higher hydration.
- Bench scraper →The tool that makes wet dough manageable: divide, shape, and clean the counter.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good hydration for bread?
For an all-purpose loaf, 65 to 70 percent is a dependable range: wet enough for a decent crumb, dry enough to shape without frustration. Enriched sandwich loaves usually sit a little lower, and rustic styles like ciabatta run much higher. Flour also matters, so treat any number as a starting point.
How do I calculate bread hydration?
Divide the water weight by the flour weight and multiply by 100. A dough with 340 grams of water and 500 grams of flour is 340 / 500 = 0.68, or 68 percent hydration. The measure mode does this for you; just weigh both ingredients in grams.
What hydration should a sandwich loaf be?
Most sandwich loaves land around 60 to 65 percent. That produces a soft, even, fine crumb that slices cleanly and holds fillings without gaps. Enriched doughs with milk, butter, or eggs count those liquids differently, so their effective hydration can feel higher than the number suggests.
Does higher hydration mean better bread?
No. Higher hydration gives a more open, glossy crumb and a thinner crust, but the dough is stickier, harder to shape, and less forgiving. A well-fermented 65 percent loaf beats a poorly handled 80 percent one every time. Raise hydration gradually as your handling improves.
Does whole wheat flour change the hydration I need?
Yes. Bran and germ absorb more water, so whole wheat and other whole-grain flours usually want a few extra points of hydration to feel the same as a white-flour dough. Many bakers add 3 to 5 percent more water when a recipe is heavy on whole grains.
Do salt and yeast count toward hydration?
No. Hydration compares water to flour only. Salt and yeast are also expressed as a percent of the flour (commonly around 2 percent salt and 0.5 to 1.5 percent instant yeast), but they sit outside the hydration figure. The build mode weighs them for you anyway.
More dough tools and guides
For sourdough, the sourdough hydration calculator counts your starter's flour and water into the total. The dough calculator handles any recipe with oil and sugar and divides it into pieces, and the pizza dough calculator scales dough by ball count and style. To go deeper on the concepts, read what baker's percentage is or see how hydration plays out in pizza dough by style.