Bread Hydration Calculator
Include a starter’s flour and water when calculating dough hydration and salt percentage.
Your result
EVERYDAYEnter your values and select calculate.
On this page How it works & practical examples
How to use the Bread Hydration Calculator
Starter hydration is water mass divided by flour mass, not water divided by total starter mass. Counting both starter components avoids understating the flour base used in baker’s percentages.
The calculation
Worked example
100 g of 100%-hydration starter contains 50 g flour and 50 g water. Added to 500 g flour and 300 g water, hydration is 350/550 = 63.6364%.
Assumptions and limits
Only flour, water, starter and salt are modeled. Moisture from eggs, milk, fruit or other additions is not inferred. The result does not determine fermentation time, baking loss or food-safety handling.
Common questions
What does 100% starter hydration mean?
Equal masses of flour and water in the starter.
Why is salt divided by total flour?
Baker’s percentages use total flour as the 100% reference, including flour contributed by the starter.