Dough Hydration Calculator
Work out the hydration of any bread or pizza dough — including sourdough starter — or find out how much water to add to hit a target hydration. Works as a bread hydration calculator and a pizza dough hydration calculator.
1. What is my hydration?
2. How much water do I need?
How to calculate hydration
- Add up all the flour, including the flour inside your starter or preferment.
- Add up all the water, including the water in the starter.
- Hydration = total water ÷ total flour × 100.
Example: 450 g flour + 300 g water + 100 g starter at 100% → flour 500 g, water 350 g → 70% hydration. To reach a target, water needed = total flour × target% − water already in the starter.
Next, turn your hydration into a full recipe with the pizza dough calculator or the baker's percentage calculator.
FAQ
What is dough hydration?
Hydration is the weight of water divided by the weight of flour, times 100. 700 g water with 1,000 g flour is 70% hydration.
How do I include sourdough starter in hydration?
Split the starter into its flour and water. A 100% hydration starter is half flour, half water, so 100 g adds 50 g flour and 50 g water. Enter the starter weight and its hydration and the calculator does this for you.
What is a good hydration for bread?
Sandwich loaves are often 60–65%, rustic sourdough 70–80%, and ciabatta 75%+ (King Arthur's ciabatta example is 73%). Whole-grain flours absorb more water.
Does milk or oil count toward hydration?
This calculator counts water only. Milk is mostly water, so some bakers count roughly 85–90% of its weight; oil is usually not counted. Add those amounts to the water field yourself if you want to include them.