What is baker's percentage and how do I use it?

By Paulo de VriesLast verified 2026-05-215 sources~4 min readhigh consensus

Baker's percentage: flour = 100%, everything else as percentage of flour weight. Standard bread: 100% flour, 60-75% water, 2% salt, 1% yeast. Example: 500g flour + 350g water (70%) + 10g salt (2%) + 5g yeast (1%) = 865g dough.

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The full answer

What baker's percentage is

Baker's percentage (BP) is a notation system where flour is always 100%, and every other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. It's the universal language of professional baking — used in bakeries, milling industry, and serious home baking.

The advantages over standard recipes

Scales infinitely: same recipe works for 1 loaf or 10,000 loaves
Compares recipes universally: 70% hydration is 70% hydration whether for 100g or 100kg flour
Eliminates ambiguity: no cup-vs-tablespoon-vs-handful confusion
Reveals dough character at a glance: 60% hydration = stiff dough; 80% = wet/sticky
Industry-standard: bakery recipes always written in BP

Standard percentages by bread style

Bread style	Flour	Water	Salt	Yeast	Other
Sandwich bread	100%	65%	2%	1%	4% sugar, 2% butter
Pizza dough	100%	60-65%	2%	0.5%	(none)
Sourdough (rustic)	100%	75%	2%	(starter 20%)
Sourdough (high-hydration)	100%	80-90%	2%	(starter 20%)
Baguette	100%	67%	2%	0.5%
Brioche	100%	45%	2%	1%	50% butter, 20% sugar, 30% egg
Bagel	100%	56%	2%	1%	4% malt
Whole wheat	100%	70%	2%	1%
Rye bread	100%	75%	2%	(or 30% rye starter)
Focaccia	100%	80%	2%	1%	10% olive oil
Croissant	100%	45%	2%	1%	50% butter (laminating)

How to convert a standard recipe to baker's percentage

Identify the flour weight in grams (e.g., 500g)
Divide every other ingredient by flour weight × 100

Example recipe converted: - "500g flour + 350g water + 10g salt + 5g yeast" - = 100% flour + 70% water (350÷500×100) + 2% salt + 1% yeast

How to scale a baker's percentage recipe

To make 5kg dough total: 1. Sum all percentages: 100% + 70% + 2% + 1% = 173% 2. Total dough = flour × (173 ÷ 100), so flour = 5000 ÷ 1.73 = 2890g flour 3. Other ingredients: water = 2890 × 0.70 = 2023g; salt = 2890 × 0.02 = 58g; yeast = 2890 × 0.01 = 29g

Hydration matters most

Hydration % (water as % of flour) determines dough character:

Hydration	Texture	Bread style
45-55%	Stiff, dense	Bagels, pretzels, croissants
55-65%	Standard	Sandwich bread, baguette
65-75%	Medium-wet	Rustic loaves, sourdough
75-85%	Wet	High-hydration sourdough, ciabatta
85%+	Very wet	Focaccia, panettone, some sourdoughs

Higher hydration = more open crumb, more flavor development, harder to handle.

Common pitfalls

Forgetting to convert grams — using cup measurements + percentage = chaos. Always weigh in grams.
Confusing flour as 100% with total dough as 100% — flour is 100% in BP, dough total is 173-200%.
Adding ingredients without recalculating — adding 30% sugar to a sandwich loaf shifts everything; recalculate hydration impact.
Not adjusting for sourdough starter — starter contains ~50% water + 50% flour. A "20% starter" recipe needs adjustment to actual water/flour totals.

Cross-reference: see /pages/what-ratio-of/sourdough-hydration for sourdough-specific math + /pages/what-ratio-of/water-to-flour-bread for hydration → texture + /pages/how-long-does/sourdough-rise for fermentation timing.

Time ranges by condition

Condition	Duration	Note
Standard sandwich bread	BP: 100% flour + 65% water + 2% salt + 1% yeast	Plus 4% sugar + 2% butter if enriched
Pizza dough	BP: 100% flour + 60-65% water + 2% salt + 0.5% yeast	Lean dough
Sourdough	BP: 100% flour + 75% water + 2% salt + 20% starter	Adjust for starter water content
High-hydration artisan	BP: 100% + 80-90% water	Very wet; sticky; requires technique

What changes the time

Flour type. AP flour vs bread flour vs whole wheat: same BP recipe absorbs water differently. Whole wheat absorbs more.
Hydration target. Higher water = open crumb but harder to handle. Match your skill level.
Salt percentage. 2% standard; below 1.5% = slack dough; above 2.5% = stiff + inhibits yeast
Yeast amount. More yeast = faster rise but less flavor. Pro bakers minimize yeast (0.5-1%).

Common questions

Why do bakers use percentages instead of cups?

Three reasons: (1) Universal scaling — same recipe works for 1 loaf or 10,000 loaves; just multiply flour by desired total. (2) Precision — eliminates the 30-50% variance of cup measurements (a cup of flour can weigh 100-180g). (3) Recipe comparison — "70% hydration" is unambiguous; "1 cup water" depends on what cup. Cup measurements compound errors across multi-step recipes; percentages stay precise.

My BP recipe calls for 70% water but my dough feels dry — what to do?

Likely your flour is more absorbent than the recipe expected. Modern artisan flour (high-protein, finely milled) absorbs more water. If 70% feels stiff: increase to 72-75% gradually. If 70% feels right: stay there. Brand variation matters: Bob's Red Mill flour absorbs differently than King Arthur Sir Galahad. Most home bakers learn their flour's "true hydration sweet spot" over 5-10 bakes.

How do I calculate sourdough levain percentage?

Levain (sourdough starter) is itself ~50% flour + 50% water. A "20% levain" recipe means 20% of flour weight (in g) of starter. Adjust water + flour totals accordingly: if recipe says 500g flour + 20% levain (= 100g starter), the dough actually has 500 + 50 (from levain) = 550g flour and 350 + 50 = 400g water. Recalculate hydration based on total flour + total water, not just the "main flour + main water."

Sources

We cite primary research, expert practice, and authoritative reference. Higher-tier sources weighted heavier. See methodology.

Tier 1 · peer-reviewed / governmentalTier 2 · editorial referenceTier 3 · named practitioner

T2Jeffrey Hamelman, "Bread" — Industry-standard professional baking reference; baker's percentage canon
T2Peter Reinhart, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" — Detailed baker's percentage instruction for home bakers
T2Ken Forkish, "Flour Water Salt Yeast" — Practical BP-based home baking
T2King Arthur Baking — Baker's Percentage — Authoritative published explanation
T1Modernist Bread (Myhrvold) — Comprehensive baker's percentage application across breads

Verify this answerEvery number, range, and recommendation on this page traces to a cited source listed above. Click any source to read the original. See how we verify for the full source-tier discipline, or browse the citation graph to see every source we cite across 188 answers.

What could change this answer

honest uncertainty

We don’t know your specific equipment, ingredient batch, or environment. This answer is the best directional estimate from cited sources. Here’s where it’s less certain:

4 factors shift the answer. Your specific flour type, hydration target, salt percentage (and more) can move this estimate in either direction. The table below shows the documented ranges.
Range spans 4 documented conditions. Pick the row that matches your scenario; halfway between two rows is your best estimate. The widest condition you can imagine is the safer upper bound.
Treat as a directional starting point. Real-world equipment, ingredient batch, and ambient conditions cause natural variance the table cannot capture. Use sensory checks (sight, smell, touch, internal temperature when relevant) alongside this answer — not instead of it.
Backed by 5 cited sources — verify if precision matters. See the Sources section for primary references. Cross-check the cited materials when stakes are high: commercial production, food safety, allergens, dietary or medical considerations.
Verified today. If you found a better-sourced answer or our answer no longer matches reality, tell us — corrections are public and dated. The page exists to be accurate, not to be unchanged.

Cite this page

de Vries, P. (2026). What is baker's percentage and how do I use it?. AskedWell. Retrieved 2026-05-21, from https://askedwell.com/pages/what-ratio-of/baker-percentage-flour-base

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Last verified: 2026-05-21 · Published 2026-05-21

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