*** THE DOUGH COUNTER ***

Hydration Calculator

BREAD MATH, NO PANIC

--TICKET #0001

New to bread? Hydration is just how much water the dough has compared with its flour. 70% means 70 g of water for every 100 g of flour. Change the boxes below and this receipt reprints the exact grams to weigh out.

It already shows a worked example: one sourdough loaf at 72%. Use the big + and − buttons or type a number. Nothing you do here can ruin a loaf.

1. How big a batch? / size

Total flour, including any flour inside your starter

500 g of flour makes one ordinary loaf.

2. How wet? / hydration

Water as a % of total flour

3. How salty? / salt

Salt as a % of total flour

2% is the safe, normal amount. Most bakers stay between 1.8% and 2.2%.

4. What makes it rise? / leaven

Starter, % of total flour

Starter's own hydration

If you feed your starter equal weights of flour and water, its hydration is 100%. Leave it there if unsure.

Weigh out

Water to add

TOTAL DOUGH--

Baker's percentages

Every ingredient compared with the total flour, which always counts as 100%. Flour and water hiding inside the starter are counted too.

Before you start

Use a kitchen scale set to grams. Cups are not accurate enough for this.
Hold back about 20 g of the water. Add it once the dough has come together if it still feels dry.
Whole wheat and rye flour drink more water. Add 5–10% hydration when you use a lot of them.
Sticky is normal. Wet your hands instead of adding more flour.

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THANK YOU. BAKE AGAIN SOON.
Your numbers are kept on this device only.

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