What is the basic flour to water ratio for bread?

Flour-to-water ratio (expressed as "hydration percentage") is the foundation of all bread baking. The same flour with different water amounts produces dramatically different breads — from tin loaves to ciabatta.

Standard bread hydration percentages:

Basic yeasted bread (sandwich loaf, dinner rolls): - 60-65% hydration: 1000g flour + 600-650g water - Tight crumb, easy to handle - Beginner-friendly

Country/rustic loaves: - 65-72% hydration: 1000g flour + 650-720g water - Standard "artisan" bread style - Open crumb developing

High-hydration artisan: - 75-80% hydration: 1000g flour + 750-800g water - Significantly open crumb - Requires stretch-and-fold technique - Examples: Tartine-style, modern bread

Ciabatta / extreme open-crumb: - 80-90% hydration: 1000g flour + 800-900g water - "Liquid dough" — bench scraper required for handling - Maximum open crumb, large irregular holes

Brioche / enriched dough: - 50-60% hydration PLUS butter + eggs - Butter + eggs effectively act as fat-based "liquid" but don't count in hydration % - Lower water because butter doesn't hydrate gluten the same way

Pizza dough (Neapolitan-style): - 55-65% hydration for classic stretchy thin - 70-80% for New York/Neapolitan high-hydration

Brioche (special case): - 50% water + 30% butter + 18% egg + 2% salt - Different ratio system because of additional fats + eggs

Why hydration matters: - Water enables gluten formation (gluten network = stretchy bread) - More water = looser dough → easier expansion during proof + bake - More water = more open crumb (CO2 bubbles bigger) - Less water = denser, tighter, sandwich-friendly bread

Calculating hydration: - Hydration % = (water grams ÷ flour grams) × 100 - Includes ALL water sources: water + (milk × 0.85) + (eggs × 0.75) - Doesn't include flour from starter (that flour adds to total flour count)

Salt + yeast in standard bread (baker's percentage): - 2% salt by flour weight (1000g flour = 20g salt = 2 tsp) - 0.5-2% yeast by flour weight (1000g flour = 5-20g instant yeast) - Sweet spot: 0.5-1% yeast for slow flavorful fermentation; 1.5-2% for quick rise

Common bread ratios at glance (1000g flour):

Basic white sandwich bread: - 1000g flour - 650g water (65% hydration) - 20g salt (2%) - 8g yeast (0.8%) - 30g oil (3%)

Rustic Italian/country loaf: - 1000g flour - 700g water (70%) - 20g salt (2%) - 4g yeast (0.4%) - 8 hour cold ferment

Sourdough (using starter): - 1000g flour + 100g flour from starter = 1100g total flour - 700g water + 100g water from starter = 800g total water - 800 ÷ 1100 = ~73% hydration - 20g salt (2%) - 100g active starter (10% of flour weight)

Tin loaf (sandwich bread): - 1000g flour - 600g water (60% hydration) - 20g salt + 10g yeast + 50g milk + 30g oil + 15g sugar

Why protein content matters:

High-protein flour (bread flour 12-13%): - Handles 75-85% hydration - More stretchy gluten = better high-hydration handling - Recommended for artisan bread

Medium-protein (all-purpose 10-12%): - Handles 65-75% hydration - Tighter crumb at higher hydration - Most home baking

Low-protein (00 flour, cake flour 7-10%): - Best for 50-65% hydration - Doesn't hold high-hydration well - Italian pizza, pastry

Don't: - Match volume of water to volume of flour (volume → weight conversion is unreliable) - Increase hydration without adjusting technique - Use cake flour for high-hydration breads (gluten can't support it) - Measure water + flour at different temperatures (affects perceived hydration)

Cross-reference: see /pages/what-ratio-of/sourdough-hydration for sourdough-specific hydration + /pages/how-long-does/sourdough-rise for related timing + /pages/how-long-does/brioche-proof for enriched dough.

Most published references (Peter Reinhart "The Bread Baker's Apprentice", Jeffrey Hamelman "Bread", James Beard "Beard on Bread", Ken Forkish "Flour Water Salt Yeast") converge on 60-70% as the standard home-baker baseline.