Sourdough hydration, calculated.
Exact flour, water, salt, and starter weights for any hydration, any flour, any style. Starter discount applied automatically. Temperature-adjusted fermentation timing cited from Modernist Bread.
- Flour to add
- 450 g
- Water to add
- 325 g
- Salt
- 10 g
- Levain @ 100%
- 100 g
- Total dough
- 885 g
- Effective hydration
- 75%
How the math works
Total water = flour × hydration %. Your levain contributes 50 g flour + 50 g water — both count toward the totals. You add only the remainder as fresh flour and water.
Salt % is computed on total flour weight, not final-dough flour.
To bake this recipe you need
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Sourdough hydration runs from 55% (bagels, pretzels) to 95%+ (Pan de Cristal, expert-only). The sweet spot for artisan hearth loaves is 72–78%. Lower means tighter crumb and easier handling; higher means more open crumb but demands more technique.
55–65%
Tight crumb
Bagels, pretzels, brioche, challah
65–75%
Balanced
Baguette, country loaf, pain au levain
75–85%
Open crumb
Ciabatta, focaccia, pan de campagne
85%+
Extreme
Pan de Cristal, advanced only
Popular recipes
Hydration targets cited from Hamelman, Robertson, AVPN, and King Arthur Baking.
Find a recipe by flour
Absorption multipliers from King Arthur, Central Milling, Jovial, Caputo.
Temperature changes everything
Your 4-hour bulk at 76°F becomes 6 hours at 68°F — and under 3 hours at 82°F. Multipliers from Myhrvold, Modernist Bread vol 3.
The gear that makes the math work
A short, honest baking kit. The scale matters most — every weight on this page is in grams. The Dutch oven is what turns a good crumb into a great crust.
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Digital kitchen scale (0.1 g)Baker's percentage is by weight, not volume — a 0.1 g scale is what makes the math on this page accurate.
View on Amazon →- Dutch oven / combo cooker
Traps steam for the first bake phase — the single biggest factor in oven spring and a blistered, glossy crust.
View on Amazon → - Banneton proofing basket
Wicks moisture and holds shape during the final proof, so high-hydration dough doesn't spread flat.
View on Amazon → - Bread lame
A sharp lame scores clean ears — the cut that decides whether the loaf opens up or bursts at the side.
View on Amazon → - Bench scraper
Steel scraper handles wet, sticky high-hydration dough without tearing the gluten you just built.
View on Amazon → - High-protein bread flour
The math assumes ~12–14% protein. Real bread flour absorbs the hydration you calculate — all-purpose won't.
View on Amazon → - Danish dough whisk
Mixes shaggy, high-hydration dough in seconds without the gluey mess of a spoon or your hands.
View on Amazon →
Or learn the craft by earThe numbers here are the what; a good baking book is the why. An Audible trial gets you any title free — Michael Pollan’s Cooked(the “Air” chapter is the best story ever told about why bread rises) is a perfect first listen.
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Gear guides — what actually matters
Common questions
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage is a way of expressing bread recipe ingredients as percentages of total flour weight. 75% hydration means water weight is 75% of flour weight. 2% salt means salt is 2% of flour weight. This system scales recipes up or down cleanly and compares different recipes directly.
Why does whole wheat need more water than bread flour?
Whole wheat contains bran and germ, which absorb more water than refined endosperm. Bran particles also disrupt gluten formation, so the dough needs to be softer (higher hydration). Typical adjustment: add 5-10% more water when substituting whole wheat for bread flour.
How do I adjust timing for a cold kitchen?
Fermentation roughly doubles for every 10°F drop below 76°F baseline. A 4-hour bulk at 76°F becomes 6 hours at 68°F and 10 hours at 58°F. Use the temperature calculator.
Does sourdough starter count toward hydration?
Yes. A 20% levain at 100% hydration contains flour and water equal to 10% of total recipe flour each. The calculator on this site automatically subtracts the starter's flour and water contribution from the final dough ingredients.
What's the highest hydration I can achieve?
For practical home baking, 82-85% with bread flour is the upper limit for free-form hearth loaves. Above 85% requires pan-baking or specialized technique like Pan de Cristal with olive oil. Whole wheat and high-extraction flours can go higher.
How do I know if my dough is over-hydrated?
Over-hydrated dough won't hold shape after shaping (spreads flat), tears easily during folding, and produces bread with gummy crumb. If you encounter these signs, reduce hydration by 3-5% next bake.