Ingredient Ratio Calculator

How to use the ingredient ratio calculator

1. Fill in the fields — they start with a worked example.
2. Read the answer, and the arithmetic shown beneath it.
3. Copy the results, or adjust the inputs to compare scenarios.

About this tool

Bakers describe a dough as percentages of the flour weight rather than as absolute quantities. Flour is always 100 per cent, and everything else is expressed against it: 70 per cent water, 2 per cent salt, 1 per cent yeast. The percentages therefore add up to more than a hundred, which looks wrong the first time and is the whole point — the ratios stay fixed while the batch size changes freely.

That is what makes the notation useful. A recipe written this way scales to any number of loaves without recalculating relationships, and two recipes can be compared directly: a 65 per cent dough and an 80 per cent dough are recognisably different breads, whatever quantities each was written for.

Hydration is the number that decides handling. Below about 65 per cent the dough is firm and easy to shape; above 75 it becomes slack and sticky, holds a more open crumb, and needs folding rather than kneading. Salt sits near 2 per cent almost universally, both for flavour and because it tightens gluten and slows fermentation.

A sourdough starter is where the arithmetic usually goes wrong. A starter is itself flour and water, so it contributes to both totals — ignoring that gives a dough noticeably wetter than the recipe intended. The true hydration shown here counts the starter's flour and water, which is the figure worth comparing between recipes.

Common uses

• Scaling a bread recipe to the flour you actually have.
• Converting a percentage-based formula into weights for two loaves.
• Finding the true hydration of a sourdough once the starter is counted.

Frequently asked questions

What is baker's percentage?

Every ingredient expressed as a percentage of the flour weight, with flour itself at 100 per cent. The total exceeds 100, which is expected — it keeps ratios fixed as batch size changes.

What hydration should bread dough be?

Around 65 per cent for an easy-to-handle loaf, 75 to 85 for an open crumb that needs folding rather than kneading. Wholemeal absorbs more, so it takes a higher figure for the same feel.

Does a sourdough starter count towards hydration?

Yes. A starter is flour and water in its own right, so both go into the totals. Leaving it out makes the dough wetter than the recipe intended.