Dough Hydration Calculator
Calculate bread dough hydration percentage, the water needed to hit a target hydration, or a full baker's-percentage recipe (flour, water, salt, yeast) scaled from a target dough weight.
Input
Output
| Ingredient | Grams | Ounces | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|---|
| No data yet | |||
More ways to use this tool
REST API
curl -X POST https://api.iotools.cloud/v1/tool/dough-hydration-calculator \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"mode": "recipe",
"totalDoughWeight": "1000",
"hydrationPercent": "70",
"saltPercent": "2",
"yeastPercent": "1"
}'Swap in your own key from your account. The tool's fields are the body — no wrapper.
Ask an AI agent
Use the IOTools `dough-hydration-calculator` tool (Dough Hydration Calculator) on this input:
YOUR_INPUT_HEREPaste this at any agent connected to the IOTools MCP server, then add your input.
Embed widget
<iframe
src="https://iotools.cloud/embed/dough-hydration-calculator/"
width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" loading="lazy"
title="Dough Hydration Calculator — iotools.cloud"
sandbox="allow-scripts allow-forms allow-same-origin allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"
allow="clipboard-write"
style="width:100%;border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden"></iframe>
<script src="https://iotools.cloud/embed.js" async></script>Drop this into your own page — free, no key required, just a link back.
| Cost per API/MCP call | From 5 credits |
|---|---|
| Need more credits? | View pricing |
Also available with
Guides
What does this tool do?
Bread bakers describe a dough by its hydration — the weight of water as a percentage of the weight of flour — and by baker's percentages, where every ingredient is expressed relative to flour = 100%. This calculator covers the three things you'd otherwise do with a calculator app and a notebook:
- Full recipe — enter a target dough weight, hydration, salt % and yeast %, and get the exact flour, water, salt and yeast weights.
- Hydration % — enter a known flour and water weight and get the hydration percentage.
- Water needed — enter a flour weight and a target hydration and get the water weight to add.
Every result is shown in grams and ounces, plus each ingredient's baker's percentage, so you can scale a recipe up or down without re-doing the ratio math by hand.
Why baker's percentage instead of cups?
Baker's percentage makes a formula portable: a "70% hydration, 2% salt, 1% yeast" loaf is the same dough whether you're baking one 500 g flour batch or scaling to a 10 kg mix, because every ingredient tracks flour weight exactly. Volume measures (cups, tablespoons) don't scale cleanly — a cup of flour varies with how it's scooped, and doesn't tell you anything about hydration at all.
How to use it
- Pick what you want to calculate — Full recipe, Hydration %, or Water needed.
- Enter the weights or percentages the mode asks for. Weights are in grams; switch your kitchen scale to grams for the most accurate result.
- Read the summary line, or copy/download the full breakdown table.
FAQ
What hydration should I use?
Roughly 60–65% makes a firmer sandwich-style loaf, 70–75% is typical for a rustic artisan loaf, and 80%+ produces the open, holey crumb of ciabatta or ultra-hydrated sourdough. Higher hydration doughs are wetter and harder to shape, so increase gradually if you're used to a stiffer dough.
Does this account for a sourdough starter?
Not directly — this calculator treats yeast as a single baker's-percentage line. If your starter itself carries flour and water (a 100%-hydration starter, for example), subtract the starter's own flour and water from your final total before you enter the recipe's target weight, or track the starter as a separate addition.
Why is my flour weight not a round number?
In Full recipe mode, flour is derived from the total dough weight so every other ingredient works out to its exact baker's percentage — it won't always land on a whole number. Round the final weights to what your scale can measure; a gram or two of drift won't affect the dough.
Related tools
To convert between yeast types once you know your recipe, use the Yeast Conversion Calculator. Scaling a whole recipe (not just the dough) up or down for a different pan size is the Baking Pan Size Converter.
Everything is calculated in your browser, with no sign-up and nothing sent to a server.