What does 95% hydration mean in sourdough?

95% hydration means the dough contains 95 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 95% hydration?

Pan de Cristal. See each style's page for the full recipe formula.

How do I convert 95% hydration into grams of water?

Multiply total flour weight by 0.95. For example, 500g flour × 0.95 = 475g water. Use the calculator below to handle salt, levain, and starter-discount math automatically.

Hydration reference · expert

Sourdough at95% hydration

Glass-like hollow crumb. The extreme of sourdough hydration. Traditional Pan de Cristal target.

Typical styles: Pan de Cristal

What does 95% hydration look like?

Glass-like hollow crumb. The extreme of sourdough hydration. Traditional Pan de Cristal target.

Technique for 95% dough

Only expert bakers attempt this reliably. Requires olive oil (5%) in dough, stand mixer to develop structure, oiled work surfaces, bench scrapers throughout. Cannot be free-form shaped.

Try the calculator at 95% 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: 425 g
Salt: 10 g
Levain @ 100%: 100 g
Total dough: 985 g
Effective hydration: 95%

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 95% hydration guide →

Popular recipes at 95% hydration

Pan de Cristal95%
Spain (Catalonia) · sheet pan · 500°F

How to convert 95% to grams of water

Multiply total flour weight by 0.95. For a 500g flour dough at 95% hydration, that is 475 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.