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Dough temp — how warm your mixed dough feels (use a probe thermometer for accuracy). Inoculation — starter weight divided by flour weight × 100 (e.g. 100g starter in 500g flour = 20%). The timer updates as you type and shows a ±25% window because every kitchen is different. Open Start time, starter, cold retard to: set when you begin bulk fermentation and get a "ready at" clock; adjust for whether your starter is freshly fed, at peak, or hungry; or model a cold retard in the fridge. DoughRise Coach subscribers can record actual bulk times — after 3 bakes the predictions are calibrated to your kitchen, starter, and flour.
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Start time, starter, cold retard
Start time
Hours since fed
After (h)
Retard temp (°C)
Duration (h)
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Go Bakery →Bread Hydration Calculator
Find your dough's ideal water level
Quick answer
Bread hydration = (water weight ÷ flour weight) × 100. Most sourdough sits between 70% and 75% hydration — that's 700–750g of water per 1kg of flour. Example: 500g flour at 70% hydration needs 500 × 0.70 = 350g water.
Hydration is the single number that changes everything about how bread looks, feels, and bakes. Too low and you get a tight, dense crumb. Too high and you have dough climbing up the walls and a loaf that spreads flat. The bread hydration calculator gives you a starting point that accounts for your flour type, protein level, and any inclusions.
Input your total flour weight, flour type (white, wholemeal, rye, or a blend), and the percentage of wholegrain in your recipe. The calculator returns a target hydration range, adjusted water weight in grams, and notes on how ambient temperature and flour age might shift the ideal figure. It also accounts for wet inclusions like seeds or olives that contribute moisture.
Hydration percentages in recipes are always based on total flour weight: 75% hydration means 75g water for every 100g flour. Once you understand that relationship, you can adapt any recipe to your flour and your kitchen rather than following a fixed number that was written for someone else's conditions entirely. For the full picture, the bread hydration guide covers the maths, the right level for every bread type, and how your starter changes the numbers.
70–75%
Recommended starting hydration for most beginner sourdough bakers
+5%
Extra water to add per 20% wholegrain flour for full bran hydration
5 types
Flour profiles modelled: white, wholemeal, rye, spelt, and einkorn
See the full breakdown, including wholemeal and rye, in the bread hydration guide.
How It Works
How bread hydration actually scales
Hydration in bread and pizza dough is always calculated as a percentage of the flour weight, not the total dough weight. This is the baker's percentage system, and it's what lets you scale any recipe up or down while keeping the exact same ratios intact. If a recipe reads 75% hydration, that means 75g of water for every 100g of flour, whether you're making a single 500g test loaf or a 5kg batch for a Saturday market stall. The sourdough hydration calculator on this page runs that same formula: enter your flour weight and your current or target hydration, and it works out the water weight either way, then tells you exactly how much to add or take away to move from one to the other.
What that percentage actually feels like in your hands depends on more than the number on the screen, though. Flour protein content sets how much water the gluten network can hold onto: strong bread flour at 13 to 14% protein will happily take on 75 to 85% hydration and still form a workable dough, while a softer all-purpose flour at 10 to 11% protein starts turning to soup well before that point. Flour age and ambient humidity shift things too, since flour that's been sitting out in a warm kitchen absorbs less water than fresh flour from a cool pantry, so the same 75% can feel noticeably wetter on a humid summer afternoon than it did in the depths of winter. And if you're feeding a sourdough starter into the mix, it's not just flavour and lift it's bringing: the starter is itself a flour-and-water mixture, and its own hydration counts towards your dough's final total. A 100%-hydration starter added at 20% of total flour weight adds a meaningful chunk of extra water that's easy to miss when you're totting up your final percentage by hand.
Worked example: pushing towards a more open crumb
Say you've been baking a straightforward 500g flour test loaf at 65% hydration, that's 325g water, and it's turned out fine but a bit tight and dense compared to the sourdough you keep eyeing up at the market.
- Current water: 500g flour × 65% = 325g
- Target hydration: 78%, so 500g flour × 78% = 390g water
- Difference: 390g − 325g = 65g water to add
- Enter 500g flour with 65% current and 78% target into the calculator and it returns exactly that: add 65g water
That's a genuinely big jump for a first attempt, 13 percentage points is more than double the usual 5% step most bakers use to build tolerance to wetter dough. If this is your first time above 70%, treat 78% as a two-bake target: mix at 71 or 72% first, get a feel for how the dough handles with a proper set of stretch and folds, then work upwards from there.
Common hydration mistakes
Forgetting your starter's own hydration
A mature starter kept at 100% hydration is roughly half flour and half water by weight, so every gram of starter you add contributes both flour and water to your final dough, not just water. Build your own formula from scratch and forget this, and your actual hydration ends up lower than the number you thought you were mixing to.
Jumping too many percentage points at once
Going from a comfortable 65% straight to 80% because a recipe you liked used that figure usually ends in a sticky mess and a wasted bake. Build hydration up in roughly 5% steps, giving your shaping technique and your gluten a chance to catch up with each increase.
Measuring flour by volume, not weight
A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120g to 150g depending on how it's scooped and settled, which throws every hydration percentage out before you've even started mixing. Weigh flour and water in grams on a digital scale, it's the only way the maths in this calculator, or any bread recipe, actually holds up.
Common questions about bread hydration
What hydration should my sourdough bread be?
Most sourdough beginners do best with 70–75% hydration. This gives an open, airy crumb without dough that's too wet to handle. As your technique improves you can go higher: 80% and above produces a more open crumb but requires stronger gluten development and good shaping skills. The right hydration also depends on your flour's protein content and absorption rate.
How does flour protein affect bread hydration?
Higher-protein flours absorb more water, so strong bread flours (13–14% protein) can handle 75–85% hydration while producing good structure. All-purpose flour (10–11% protein) is better suited to 65–72%. Wholegrain flours absorb significantly more water due to bran, so add 5% extra hydration for every 20% wholegrain substitution and allow extra rest time for the bran to fully hydrate.
Why does my high-hydration dough stick to everything?
Wet dough sticks because the gluten network hasn't fully developed. High-hydration doughs need more mechanical mixing or stretch-and-fold sets to build structure. Try cold bulk fermentation (overnight in the fridge), use wet hands instead of flour when handling, and ensure your bench is clean and slightly damp rather than floured. If it's still unmanageable, drop your hydration by 5% and work back up as your technique improves. Hydration also shifts how your dough rises, since wetter doughs ferment and proof at a different pace.
How do I calculate hydration percentage for bread by hand?
Divide the total water weight by the total flour weight, then multiply by 100. For 500g flour and 350g water, that's 350 ÷ 500 × 100 = 70% hydration. Any water that goes into the dough counts towards the total, including water contributed by a sourdough starter, tangzhong, or soaker, not just what you pour straight from the tap. The hydration calculator on this page does this instantly and also works in reverse, telling you how much water a target percentage needs for your flour weight.
Does my sourdough starter count towards total hydration?
Yes, and it's one of the easiest places to miscalculate. A mature starter kept at 100% hydration is roughly half flour and half water by weight, so every gram of starter you add contributes both flour and water to your final dough total, not just water. If your recipe already builds this into its baker's percentages you're fine, but if you're working out your own formula from scratch, add the starter's flour and water into your totals first, then calculate the overall hydration from there.
What's the maximum dough hydration I can work with by hand?
Most home bakers can comfortably manage up to 75 to 78% by hand using a strong bread flour, wet hands, and a stretch-and-fold technique rather than kneading on the bench. Beyond 80% you're relying heavily on gluten strength and shaping technique, and a stand mixer becomes genuinely useful rather than just convenient. If your dough is sticking to everything and refusing to hold its shape, that's the sign to build up gradually in 5% steps rather than jumping straight to a high number you saw in someone else's recipe.
Calculate your perfect hydration
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