What does 70% hydration mean in sourdough?

70% hydration means the dough contains 70 grams of water for every 100 grams of flour, by weight. It is a baker's-percentage convention: flour is always 100%, and other ingredients are expressed as a percentage of the total flour weight.

Which sourdough styles use 70% hydration?

Naan Sourdough, Spelt Loaf, Hokkaido Milk Bread Sourdough. See each style's page for the full recipe formula.

How do I convert 70% hydration into grams of water?

Multiply total flour weight by 0.7. For example, 500g flour × 0.7 = 350g water. Use the calculator below to handle salt, levain, and starter-discount math automatically.

Hydration reference · intermediate

Sourdough at70% hydration

Medium cells with some larger bubbles. Noticeable holes appearing. Chewy, moist, balanced.

Typical styles: Naan Sourdough · Spelt Loaf · Hokkaido Milk Bread Sourdough

What does 70% hydration look like?

Medium cells with some larger bubbles. Noticeable holes appearing. Chewy, moist, balanced.

Technique for 70% dough

Dough becomes visibly softer and stickier. Use wet hands or bench scraper. Starts requiring more careful handling to avoid degassing. Autolyse 45-60 min helps develop structure.

Try the calculator at 70% hydration

Adjust the target hydration, salt, and levain below. All outputs update as you type, with starter discount applied.

Total flour(g)

Target hydration(%)

Salt(%)

Levain of flour(%)

Levain hydration(%)

Flour to add: 450 g
Water to add: 300 g
Salt: 10 g
Levain @ 100%: 100 g
Total dough: 860 g
Effective hydration: 70%

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.

Open 70% hydration guide →

Popular recipes at 70% hydration

How to convert 70% to grams of water

Multiply total flour weight by 0.7. For a 500g flour dough at 70% hydration, that is 350 g of water.

Remember that the levain contributes some of the flour and water. The calculator above subtracts the levain's contribution automatically so the numbers you weigh on the counter are the real ones.