Baker's Percentage Calculator (Build Any Bread Formula by Weight)
Working backwards from a target dough weight is how bakeries plan production: you know you need six 900 gram loaves, so you need 5,400 grams of dough, and every ingredient follows from the percentages. This formula builder inverts the usual arithmetic so the batch always comes out to the loaf count you actually want.
Hold back about 37 g of water as bassinage and add it after the gluten has developed.
| Ingredient | Baker's % | Weight | Added at |
|---|---|---|---|
| White flour | 80% | 828 g | Autolyse |
| Wholegrain flour | 20% | 207 g | Autolyse |
| Water | 72% | 745 g | Autolyse (hold 5% back) |
| Levain | 20% | 207 g | After autolyse |
| Salt | 2% | 20.7 g | With final water |
| Commercial yeast | 0% | 0.00 g | With levain |
| Flour inside levain | — | 103 g | Already counted |
Reading a baker's formula
Flour is always one hundred percent, and every other ingredient is expressed relative to it. A formula reading 100 / 72 / 2 / 20 means flour, seventy-two percent water, two percent salt, twenty percent levain. Percentages therefore sum to more than one hundred, which is correct and intentional.
Autolyse and bassinage
Mixing flour and most of the water and resting for thirty to sixty minutes lets enzymes begin breaking down starch and the gluten network begin forming without kneading. Holding back roughly five percent of the water as bassinage lets you adjust for flour variability at the end, when you can feel the dough.
Wholegrain changes everything downstream
Bran fragments cut gluten strands and absorb water slowly, so a dough with thirty percent wholegrain feels stiff at mixing and slack an hour later. Increase hydration by about two percent for every ten percent wholegrain added, and shorten bulk fermentation because wholegrain flour ferments faster.
Classic bread formulas in baker's percentage
| Bread | Hydration | Salt | Levain / yeast | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country sourdough | 75% | 2.0% | 20% levain | Overnight bulk |
| Baguette (poolish) | 68% | 2.0% | 0.2% yeast | Long cold proof |
| Ciabatta | 82% | 2.2% | 0.3% yeast | Biga preferment |
| Focaccia | 80% | 2.5% | 0.5% yeast | High oil content |
| Sandwich loaf | 62% | 2.0% | 1.2% yeast | Milk and butter enriched |
| Bagel | 55% | 2.0% | 0.8% yeast | Boiled before baking |
| Rye 100% | 80% | 2.0% | 30% rye sour | No gluten network |
People also ask
How much dough do I need per loaf?
A standard boule uses 800-1,000 g of dough, a batard 750-900 g, a sandwich tin loaf 850-950 g and a baguette 350 g. Multiply by loaf count for the batch total.
How much yeast per kilogram of flour?
For a same-day bake, 8-12 g of fresh yeast or 3-4 g of instant per kilogram. For an overnight cold ferment, drop to 1-2 g of instant per kilogram.
Why do baker's percentages add up to more than 100?
Because flour alone is defined as 100%. Every other ingredient is expressed relative to flour weight, so totals of 195-210% are normal.
Three worked examples
Same engine, three different starting points — useful if you want to see how sensitive the answer is before you type your own numbers in.
Example 1: number of loaves 1.56
On the lower / more conservative end. Hold back about 29 g of water as bassinage and add it after the gluten has developed.
Example 2: number of loaves 2
A typical middle-of-the-road setup. Hold back about 37 g of water as bassinage and add it after the gluten has developed.
Example 3: number of loaves 2.6
On the higher / more demanding end. Hold back about 48 g of water as bassinage and add it after the gluten has developed.
Quick answers about the Baker's Percentage Formula Builder
What exactly does the Baker's Percentage Formula Builder work out?
Working backwards from a target dough weight is how bakeries plan production: you know you need six 900 gram loaves, so you need 5,400 grams of dough, and every ingredient follows from the percentages. You enter number of loaves, dough weight per loaf, hydration and salt (plus 3 more optional details) and the result panel updates straight away, so you can compare two or three versions of the same question in a few seconds.
What do I need before I start?
Only 7 fields: number of loaves, dough weight per loaf, hydration, salt, levain / preferment, commercial yeast and wholegrain flour share. Nothing else is needed and nothing is stored.
How is it calculated — reading a baker's formula?
Flour is always one hundred percent, and every other ingredient is expressed relative to it. The same maths runs inside this page, so hand-checking the result on paper gives you the identical figure.
Why do two calculators give me different answers for baker's Percentage Formula Builder?
Mixing flour and most of the water and resting for thirty to sixty minutes lets enzymes begin breaking down starch and the gluten network begin forming without kneading. Different sites pick different assumptions, so always check which method a calculator states before you trust the gap between two numbers.
What does the "Classic bread formulas in baker's percentage" table on this page tell me?
It is the reference range this tool works against — 7 rows from "Country sourdough" (75%) up to "Rye 100%" (80%). Use it to sanity-check whether the number you just calculated sits where you expected it to.
Do I have to press a button or reload the page to see the result?
No. Baker's Percentage Formula Builder runs completely inside your browser, so the moment you change a value the cards recalculate — there is no submit step, no page reload and no waiting for a server round trip. That also means it keeps working on a weak or intermittent mobile connection.
Is it free, and do you keep what I type?
It is free with no sign-up, no app install and no usage limit. Nothing you enter into Baker's Percentage Formula Builder leaves your device — the calculation is JavaScript running locally, so there is no upload of your figures to DrHint or anyone else.
Can I use it on a phone?
Yes — the layout stacks to a single column on small screens and the number fields open the numeric keypad on both Android and iOS. Many people bookmark this page or add it to their home screen and re-open it whenever the question comes up.
Anything to be careful about with the result?
A standard boule uses 800-1,000 g of dough, a batard 750-900 g, a sandwich tin loaf 850-950 g and a baguette 350 g. Treat the output as a well-grounded estimate for planning, not as a professional, legal or medical decision on its own.
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