what ratio of… · baking
What is baker's percentage and how do I use it?
Baker's percentage: flour = 100%, everything else as percentage of flour weight. Standard bread: 100% flour, 60-75% water, 2% salt, 1% yeast. Example: 500g flour + 350g water (70%) + 10g salt (2%) + 5g yeast (1%) = 865g dough.
The full answer
What baker's percentage is
Baker's percentage (BP) is a notation system where flour is always 100%, and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. It's the universal language of professional baking — used in bakeries, milling industry, and serious home baking.
The advantages over standard recipes
- Scales infinitely: same recipe works for 1 loaf or 10,000 loaves
- Compares recipes universally: 70% hydration is 70% hydration whether for 100g or 100kg flour
- Eliminates ambiguity: no cup-vs-tablespoon-vs-handful confusion
- Reveals dough character at a glance: 60% hydration = stiff dough; 80% = wet/sticky
- Industry-standard: bakery recipes always written in BP
Standard percentages by bread style
| Bread style | Flour | Water | Salt | Yeast | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandwich bread | 100% | 65% | 2% | 1% | 4% sugar, 2% butter |
| Pizza dough | 100% | 60-65% | 2% | 0.5% | (none) |
| Sourdough (rustic) | 100% | 75% | 2% | (starter 20%) | |
| Sourdough (high-hydration) | 100% | 80-90% | 2% | (starter 20%) | |
| Baguette | 100% | 67% | 2% | 0.5% | |
| Brioche | 100% | 45% | 2% | 1% | 50% butter, 20% sugar, 30% egg |
| Bagel | 100% | 56% | 2% | 1% | 4% malt |
| Whole wheat | 100% | 70% | 2% | 1% | |
| Rye bread | 100% | 75% | 2% | (or 30% rye starter) | |
| Focaccia | 100% | 80% | 2% | 1% | 10% olive oil |
| Croissant | 100% | 45% | 2% | 1% | 50% butter (laminating) |
How to convert a standard recipe to baker's percentage
- Identify the flour weight in grams (e.g., 500g)
- Divide every other ingredient by flour weight × 100
Example recipe converted: - "500g flour + 350g water + 10g salt + 5g yeast" - = 100% flour + 70% water (350÷500×100) + 2% salt + 1% yeast
How to scale a baker's percentage recipe
To make 5kg dough total: 1. Sum all percentages: 100% + 70% + 2% + 1% = 173% 2. Total dough = flour × (173 ÷ 100), so flour = 5000 ÷ 1.73 = 2890g flour 3. Other ingredients: water = 2890 × 0.70 = 2023g; salt = 2890 × 0.02 = 58g; yeast = 2890 × 0.01 = 29g
Hydration matters most
Hydration % (water as % of flour) determines dough character:
| Hydration | Texture | Bread style |
|---|---|---|
| 45-55% | Stiff, dense | Bagels, pretzels, croissants |
| 55-65% | Standard | Sandwich bread, baguette |
| 65-75% | Medium-wet | Rustic loaves, sourdough |
| 75-85% | Wet | High-hydration sourdough, ciabatta |
| 85%+ | Very wet | Focaccia, panettone, some sourdoughs |
Higher hydration = more open crumb, more flavor development, harder to handle.
Common pitfalls
- Forgetting to convert grams — using cup measurements + percentage = chaos. Always weigh in grams.
- Confusing flour as 100% with total dough as 100% — flour is 100% in BP, dough total is 173-200%.
- Adding ingredients without recalculating — adding 30% sugar to a sandwich loaf shifts everything; recalculate hydration impact.
- Not adjusting for sourdough starter — starter contains ~50% water + 50% flour. A "20% starter" recipe needs adjustment to actual water/flour totals.
Cross-reference: see /pages/what-ratio-of/sourdough-hydration for sourdough-specific math + /pages/what-ratio-of/water-to-flour-bread for hydration → texture + /pages/how-long-does/sourdough-rise for fermentation timing.
Time ranges by condition
| Condition | Duration | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Standard sandwich bread | BP: 100% flour + 65% water + 2% salt + 1% yeast | Plus 4% sugar + 2% butter if enriched |
| Pizza dough | BP: 100% flour + 60-65% water + 2% salt + 0.5% yeast | Lean dough |
| Sourdough | BP: 100% flour + 75% water + 2% salt + 20% starter | Adjust for starter water content |
| High-hydration artisan | BP: 100% + 80-90% water | Very wet; sticky; requires technique |
What changes the time
- Flour type. AP flour vs bread flour vs whole wheat: same BP recipe absorbs water differently. Whole wheat absorbs more.
- Hydration target. Higher water = open crumb but harder to handle. Match your skill level.
- Salt percentage. 2% standard; below 1.5% = slack dough; above 2.5% = stiff + inhibits yeast
- Yeast amount. More yeast = faster rise but less flavor. Pro bakers minimize yeast (0.5-1%).
Common questions
Why do bakers use percentages instead of cups?
Three reasons: (1) Universal scaling — same recipe works for 1 loaf or 10,000 loaves; just multiply flour by desired total. (2) Precision — eliminates the 30-50% variance of cup measurements (a cup of flour can weigh 100-180g). (3) Recipe comparison — "70% hydration" is unambiguous; "1 cup water" depends on what cup. Cup measurements compound errors across multi-step recipes; percentages stay precise.
My BP recipe calls for 70% water but my dough feels dry — what to do?
Likely your flour is more absorbent than the recipe expected. Modern artisan flour (high-protein, finely milled) absorbs more water. If 70% feels stiff: increase to 72-75% gradually. If 70% feels right: stay there. Brand variation matters: Bob's Red Mill flour absorbs differently than King Arthur Sir Galahad. Most home bakers learn their flour's "true hydration sweet spot" over 5-10 bakes.
How do I calculate sourdough levain percentage?
Levain (sourdough starter) is itself ~50% flour + 50% water. A "20% levain" recipe means 20% of flour weight (in g) of starter. Adjust water + flour totals accordingly: if recipe says 500g flour + 20% levain (= 100g starter), the dough actually has 500 + 50 (from levain) = 550g flour and 350 + 50 = 400g water. Recalculate hydration based on total flour + total water, not just the "main flour + main water."
Sources
We cite primary research, expert practice, and authoritative reference. Higher-tier sources weighted heavier. See methodology.
- T2Jeffrey Hamelman, "Bread" — Industry-standard professional baking reference; baker's percentage canon
- T2Peter Reinhart, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" — Detailed baker's percentage instruction for home bakers
- T2Ken Forkish, "Flour Water Salt Yeast" — Practical BP-based home baking
- T2King Arthur Baking — Baker's Percentage — Authoritative published explanation
- T1Modernist Bread (Myhrvold) — Comprehensive baker's percentage application across breads
Books referenced in this answer
This answer draws on these books. Want to read the full source? Find them on Amazon.
- Flour Water Salt Yeast — Ken ForkishFind on Amazon
- Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes — Jeffrey HamelmanFind on Amazon
- Modernist Bread — Nathan MyhrvoldFind on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, AskedWell earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. These are the same books we cite as sources above — we link them only because the answer draws on them. See our disclosure.
Cite this page
de Vries, P. (2026). What is baker's percentage and how do I use it?. AskedWell. Retrieved 2026-06-02, from https://askedwell.com/pages/what-ratio-of/baker-percentage-flour-base
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