Easy Guide to Baker's Percentages: The Secret to Perfect Bread Every Time

If you’ve ever tried making bread using a recipe that measured flour in cups or water in glasses, you probably noticed it's a bit of a gamble. One day the dough turns out fine, and the next day it looks like a soup that is impossible to shape.

To make sure your bread turns out great every single time (and not just by luck), there is one simple trick: baker's percentage (or baker's math).

Don't let the word "math" scare you away. This isn't here to make your life harder—it's the exact opposite! It's an easy way to understand any recipe, adjust quantities for whatever you need, and create your own breads without guessing.

1. What is Baker's Percentage and Why Is It a Game-Changer?

When percentages describe portions of a whole, all the parts add up to 100%. But in baking bread, there is one very simple golden rule:

The flour is ALWAYS 100%.

Every other ingredient (water, salt, yeast, or sourdough starter) is measured in comparison to the amount of flour you use.

Why is this so useful?

• Change batch sizes in seconds: You can calculate ingredients to make one small loaf just for yourself or 10 loaves for a party without ruining the recipe ratios.
• Know what to expect: Just by looking at the numbers, you'll have a useful clue about whether the dough will be sticky, easy to handle, or super airy before you even touch the flour.

2. The Golden Rule: Flour Leads the Way

Imagine you are going to make a simple loaf of bread. Since flour is the main character, it sets the baseline:

• Flour: 100% (for example, 500 grams)
• Water: 65%
• Salt: 2%
• Leavening: 1% Instant Dry Yeast OR 20% Sourdough Starter

(Note: If you add up the percentages, it will total more than 100%. That is completely normal! Remember, we aren't cutting up a pie into pieces; we are measuring everything relative to the flour.)

A quick note about sourdough starter

To keep the examples easy to follow, we list starter as a separate ingredient and use the flour added at mixing as our 100% baseline. For the dough's total hydration, count the flour and water inside the starter too. A starter at 100% hydration contains equal weights of flour and water. For example, 100 grams of that starter contributes 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water.

So 500 grams of flour, 325 grams of water, and 100 grams of starter gives a total hydration of (325 + 50) / (500 + 50) × 100 = approximately 68.2%, even though the added water is listed as 65%. A full baker's formula uses all the flour, including the flour in the starter, as 100%.

How do you calculate the weight in grams?

Simply multiply the weight of the flour by the ingredient percentage and divide by 100.

Ingredient weight = flour weight × ingredient percentage / 100.

If you are using 500 grams of flour:

• Water (65%): 500 × 65 / 100 = 325 grams
• Salt (2%): 500 × 2 / 100 = 10 grams
• Option A – Dry Yeast (1%): 500 × 1 / 100 = 5 grams
• Option B – Sourdough Starter (20%): 500 × 20 / 100 = 100 grams

The yeast and starter amounts are alternative example formulas, not a promise of the same rise time. Follow a suitable fermentation schedule for the leavening you choose.

3. Real Example 1: "What do I do with the flour left in my pantry?"

You open your pantry, put your leftover bag of flour on the scale, and see you have exactly 380 grams. You want to use all of it.

If you want to bake a standard loaf with 70% added water and 2% salt, see how easy it is to calculate:

• Flour (100%): 380 grams
• Water (70%): 380 × 0.70 = 266 grams
• Salt (2%): 380 × 0.02 = 7.6 grams

Leavening (choose one):

• Using Dry Yeast (1%): 380 × 0.01 = 3.8 grams
• Using Sourdough Starter (20%): 380 × 0.20 = 76 grams

Done! In under a minute, you have the exact formula tailored to the leftover flour you had saved.

4. Real Example 2: "I want to make a 1-kilo batch of dough"

Sometimes it happens in reverse: you want your final dough to weigh exactly 1000 grams (1 kilo) so you can shape two 500-gram pieces. The baked loaves will weigh less because some water evaporates in the oven.

If we use a recipe with 20% Sourdough Starter:

• Flour: 100%
• Water: 68%
• Salt: 2%
• Sourdough Starter: 20%
• Total of all percentages: 190% (100 + 68 + 2 + 20)

(If you were using 1% dry yeast instead of sourdough starter, the total sum would be 171%.)

How do you find out how much flour to start with?

Divide the total weight you want (1000 g) by the total percentage sum (190), then multiply by 100:

Required Flour: (1000 / 190) × 100 = approximately 526.3 grams.

Keep the unrounded flour value in your calculator until the end, then round each ingredient to the nearest tenth of a gram:

• Flour (100%): (1000 / 190) × 100 ≈ 526.3 grams
• Water (68%): (1000 / 190) × 68 ≈ 357.9 grams
• Salt (2%): (1000 / 190) × 2 ≈ 10.5 grams
• Sourdough Starter (20%): (1000 / 190) × 20 ≈ 105.3 grams

526.3 + 357.9 + 10.5 + 105.3 = 1000 grams of dough.

5. Quick Guide: What to Expect from Each Bread Style

Over time, you won't need to follow recipes step-by-step; you will just look at the percentages.

These are illustrative starting points, not complete recipes or fixed rules for each style. Flour, temperature, fermentation time, and other ingredients also affect the dough. The water figures below use the same added-flour baseline as the examples above; include the starter's flour and water when calculating total hydration.

Sandwich Loaf / French Bread

• Water: 60% to 65%
• Salt: 1.8% to 2%
• Leavening: 1.5% Yeast OR 15% Sourdough Starter

Firm dough and very easy to shape. Smooth, tight crumb. Ideal for beginners.

Country Loaf / Artisan Bâtard

• Water: 70% to 78%
• Salt: 2%
• Leavening: 0.5% Yeast OR 20% Sourdough Starter

Softer dough. Gives a crispy crust and nice big holes in the crumb.

Ciabatta / Focaccia

• Water: 80% to 90%+
• Salt: 2.2% to 2.5%
• Leavening: 2% Yeast OR 20% Sourdough Starter

Very wet and loose dough. Creates bread packed with big airy bubbles.

Sweet Bread / Brioche

• Milk or eggs: Around 50% by weight relative to the flour; this is not the same as 50% water hydration.
• Salt: 1.8%
• Leavening: 2.5% Yeast OR 30% Sourdough Starter

Also includes around 20% sugar and plenty of butter (40% to 60%).

6. Three Tips to Never Fail

• If you mix flours: If you use 80% white bread flour and 20% whole wheat flour, together they make your 100%. If you need 500 grams of total flour, that means 400 g white flour and 100 g whole wheat.
• Get a digital scale: Measuring by eye or volume does not work well in baking. A digital kitchen scale is inexpensive and the single most important tool to get consistent results every time.
• Write everything down: The next time you bake, write down the amount of water and leavening you used in a notebook. That way, you'll know exactly what to tweak next time to get it just how you like it.

Your Next Step

Baker's percentage is the key to taking the fear out of working with dough. Pick a simple formula, weigh your ingredients, and happy baking!