Baker's Percentage Calculator
Build a baker's percentage recipe, or use this calculator to analyze an existing one. Handles more than one flour type and any ingredient you name.
Common dough formulas
| Ingredient | Weight | % |
|---|
Total percentage: 168.0%. Percentages add up to more than 100% by design. Baker's percentage describes each ingredient's ratio to flour, not a share of a whole.
Total dough weight: 0g
How this is calculated
Baker's percentage = (ingredient weight ÷ total flour weight) × 100. If you're using more than one type of flour, add them together first. The combined total is your 100% baseline, not each flour type on its own.
In build mode, if you scale by target flour weight, that number is used directly. If you scale by target total dough weight instead, flour weight is worked out from it: total flour weight = target dough weight ÷ (total percentage ÷ 100), where total percentage is 100 plus every other ingredient's percentage added together.
If you name an ingredient "starter," "levain," or "preferment," this tool treats its percentage as apparent hydration only. It doesn't break the starter's own flour and water out of the total, since that's a more involved calculation covered by the Sourdough Hydration Calculator instead.
Worked example
A classic lean bread formula: 100% flour, 65% water, 2% salt, 1% yeast. At 500g flour, that's 325g water, 10g salt, and 5g yeast, for a total dough weight of 840g. Total percentage is 168%, which is correct: it means the dough weighs 1.68 times its flour weight, not that something's been miscounted.
Frequently asked questions
What is baker's percentage?
Why do the percentages add up to more than 100%?
How do I handle multiple types of flour?
What's the reverse baker's percentage calculator?
How this is checked. This is a working calculator, not just an explanation of the formula. The top-ranking page for this exact search is a reference article, not an interactive tool. The percentage ranges in the presets above are cross-checked against multiple independent baking references for each dough type. Water content figures come from USDA FoodData Central where available (egg 76%, milk 87%) and cross-checked baking-science sources for the rest (buttermilk 90%, yogurt 85%, butter 16%, honey 18%), since these vary more by source and are presented as the best-supported middle of a real range rather than a single figure. Yogurt specifically runs lower for Greek yogurt (closer to 80%) than regular yogurt, since straining removes water.