Food & Cooking⏱ 4 min read
How to Calculate Bread Dough Hydration
Hydration is the ratio of water to flour in bread dough. It determines the crumb structure, crust, and handling properties. Here is how to calculate and adjust hydration for any bread style.
Hydration is the single most important number in bread baking. A 65% hydration loaf handles like Play-Doh; an 80% hydration sourdough flows like a thick batter. Understanding the calculation lets you replicate any bread style and diagnose problems.
The Hydration Formula
Hydration % = (Weight of water / Weight of flour) x 100
Example: 350g water, 500g flour
Hydration = (350 / 500) x 100 = 70%
This is baker's percentage -- always relative to FLOUR weight, not total dough.
70% hydration means: for every 100g flour, 70g water.
Total dough weight = Flour + Water + Salt + Other ingredients
At 70% hydration with 2% salt:
500g flour + 350g water + 10g salt = 860g dough
Hydration by Bread Style
Bread TypeHydration RangeCharacteristics
Bagels, pretzels55-60%Stiff, easy to shape
Standard sandwich loaf60-65%Soft, uniform crumb
Baguette65-70%Open crumb, chewy crust
Country sourdough70-78%Open crumb, requires skill
Ciabatta80-85%Very open crumb, slack dough
Focaccia80-90%Almost pourable, oily
Adjusting a Recipe's Hydration
You want to change a 65% recipe to 75%:
Original: 500g flour, 325g water (65%)
Target: 500g flour, 375g water (75%)
Add: 375 - 325 = 50g more water
Or: find the water amount for a given flour weight and hydration:
Water = Flour x (Hydration / 100)
For 600g flour at 72%: Water = 600 x 0.72 = 432g
Scaling a recipe to a different total dough weight:
Original: 500g flour + 350g water = 850g dough (70% hydration)
Want: 1,200g total dough at 70% hydration
Total parts: flour(100) + water(70) = 170 parts
Flour = 1200 x (100/170) = 705.9g
Water = 1200 x (70/170) = 494.1g
Flour Type and Effective Hydration
Different flours absorb different amounts of water:
White bread flour (strong): absorbs ~65% of its weight
Wholemeal flour: absorbs 70-80% (more bran = more absorption)
Rye flour: absorbs up to 100%+ of its weight
If substituting flour types, adjust water accordingly:
Recipe: 500g white flour, 325g water (65%)
Switching to 50% wholemeal:
250g white + 250g wholemeal (absorbs ~10% more)
Extra water needed: 250g x 10% = 25g extra water
New water total: 325 + 25 = 350g (approx 70% effective hydration)
Always incorporate extra water gradually --
add 50% of the difference, assess dough, add more if needed.