Bread and sourdough hydration calculator
Find your dough’s hydration and the water needed for your next batch.
Enter 0 g starter for a dough without preferment. Do not include the starter’s flour or water in the first two fields.
- Total flour
- 550 g
- Total water
- 400 g
- Flour in starter
- 50 g
- Water in starter
- 50 g
This is the total water to add separately, not an extra amount on top of your current water.
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How it works
Dough hydration compares the total water weight with the total flour weight. For sourdough, the flour and water inside the starter both count. Enter only the flour and water added separately in the first two fields.
Hydration = total water ÷ total flour × 100
Example
500 g flour, 350 g water and 100 g starter at 100% hydration contain 550 g total flour and 400 g total water: 72.73% hydration.
Further reading: King Arthur Baking: Hydration in bread doughCommon questions
What does 100% starter hydration mean?
It means the starter contains equal weights of flour and water. A 100 g starter at 100% hydration contributes 50 g flour and 50 g water.
Should I enter a starter feeding ratio?
No. Starter hydration is water divided by flour by weight, expressed as a percentage. A feeding ratio such as 1:2:2 is a different measure.
Does this include water in eggs, butter or milk?
No. This tool calculates flour-and-water dough hydration. It does not estimate the water content of milk, eggs, butter, fruit or other ingredients.