About

Baker's percentage expresses every ingredient as a proportion of total flour weight, where flour is always 100%. A hydration of 65% means 650g water per 1000g flour. Misreading these ratios by even 5% on hydration turns an open-crumb ciabatta into a dense brick. This calculator implements the standard baker's percentage system used in professional bakeries and culinary institutes worldwide. Enter your flour weight or any single ingredient weight, select a recipe template, and the tool derives every other component. It handles reverse calculation: if you only have 300g of butter and need to know how much flour a brioche requires, the tool solves for F first, then cascades. Ratios here are sourced from professional formulations. They assume standard ambient conditions of 20 - 24°C and sea-level pressure. High-altitude bakers should reduce leavening by roughly 15 - 25% and increase hydration by 2 - 4%.

Formulas

The baker's percentage system defines every ingredient quantity relative to total flour mass. Flour is the denominator and is always 100%.

W_i = W_f × R_i100

Where W_i = weight of ingredient i in g, W_f = weight of flour in g, and R_i = baker's percentage of ingredient i.

For reverse calculation (solving from a non-flour ingredient):

W_f = W_i × 100R_i

Once W_f is known, all other ingredients derive from the first equation. Total dough weight is the sum of all ingredient weights:

W_total = n∑i=1 W_i

Reference Data

Recipe	Flour	Water / Liquid	Fat	Sugar	Eggs	Salt	Yeast / Leavening	Category
Lean French Bread	100%	65%	0%	0%	0%	2%	1.5%	Bread
Ciabatta	100%	80%	3%	0%	0%	2%	1%	Bread
Sourdough Boule	100%	72%	0%	0%	0%	2%	20% starter	Bread
Focaccia	100%	70%	8%	2%	0%	2%	1.5%	Bread
Brioche	100%	10%	50%	15%	40%	2%	3%	Enriched
Challah	100%	30%	12%	15%	20%	1.8%	2.5%	Enriched
Pizza Dough	100%	62%	3%	2%	0%	2.5%	0.5%	Bread
Bagels	100%	55%	2%	5%	0%	2%	1%	Bread
Pound Cake (1:1:1:1)	100%	0%	100%	100%	100%	1%	2% BP	Cake
Vanilla Sponge	100%	25%	35%	120%	100%	1%	3% BP	Cake
Chocolate Cake	100%	70%	50%	130%	60%	1.5%	3% BP + 1.5% BS	Cake
Butter Cookies	100%	0%	66%	33%	13%	1%	1% BP	Cookie
Chocolate Chip Cookies	100%	0%	55%	70%	20%	1.5%	1.5% BP + 1% BS	Cookie
Pie Crust	100%	30%	66%	3%	0%	2%	0%	Pastry
Pâte à Choux	100%	150%	87%	2%	166%	2%	0%	Pastry
Croissant	100%	52%	55%	12%	10%	2%	3.5%	Pastry
Pancakes	100%	120%	15%	10%	25%	2%	4% BP	Batter
Banana Bread	100%	0%	33%	66%	25%	1%	2.5% BP + 1% BS	Quick Bread
Scones	100%	50%	30%	15%	13%	1.5%	4% BP	Quick Bread
Pretzels	100%	56%	4%	6%	0%	2%	1.5%	Bread

Frequently Asked Questions

Baker's percentage is not a proportion of the whole. Each ingredient is independently measured against flour weight. A brioche with 50% butter, 40% eggs, and 15% sugar legitimately sums to over 200%. This is by design and standard in professional baking.

Above 900m (approximately 3000ft), lower atmospheric pressure causes faster gas expansion. Reduce yeast or baking powder by 15 - 25%, increase hydration by 2 - 4%, and raise oven temperature by 10 - 15°C. Sugar may also need reduction by 5 - 10% to prevent structural collapse.

Not by a 1:1 weight swap. Butter contains approximately 80 - 82% fat plus 16 - 18% water. Oil is 100% fat. Multiply butter weight by 0.8 for oil equivalent, then add the lost water back to the liquid component. This calculator outputs butter-based ratios by default.

At 55% hydration (bagels), dough is stiff and difficult to knead. At 65% (standard bread), dough is tacky but manageable. At 75%+, dough becomes sticky and requires stretch-and-fold techniques rather than traditional kneading. Ciabatta at 80% is essentially a batter that firms only after extended fermentation.

Select the ingredient you have a fixed amount of (e.g., you only have 200g of butter). The calculator divides that weight by the ingredient's baker's percentage to find the required flour weight: W_f = 200 × 100 ÷ 50 = 400g flour (for 50% butter ratio). All other ingredients then derive from that flour weight.

Choux pastry relies on egg proteins for structural leavening. Steam from the high water content creates the hollow interior, and eggs at 166% baker's percentage provide the protein matrix that sets during baking to maintain that shape. Reducing eggs below 140% typically causes collapse.