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Dough Hydration Calculator
By Strudel Team · Updated
Quick answer
Dough hydration calculator
I want to
Using a sourdough starter?
Hydration
70%
In the range for Baguette · Sourdough country loaf
Total flour
500 g
Total water
350 g
| Ingredient | Weight | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Water | 350 g | 70% |
| Total dough | 850 g | 170% |
Dough hydration chart by bread style
Water as a percentage of flour weight. The calculator's presets sit inside each range.
| Style | Hydration | Preset | How it handles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bagels | 50-58% | 57% | Stiff and smooth. Holds a tight shape through boiling. |
| Neapolitan pizza | 56-65% | 62% | Soft and supple. Stretches thin without tearing. |
| Sandwich loaf | 60-65% | 62% | Easy to knead and shape. Even, tight crumb. |
| Baguette | 65-75% | 70% | A little tacky. Irregular holes, crisp crust. |
| Sourdough country loaf | 70-80% | 75% | Slack and sticky. Needs folds, not kneading. |
| Focaccia | 75-90% | 80% | Barely holds a shape. Poured into the pan, big open bubbles. |
Ranges assume white bread flour. Whole wheat and rye drink more water, so a 75% whole wheat dough handles like a 70% white one.
Why weigh flour instead of using cups
A cup of flour weighs about 120 g spooned in and leveled, and 140 g or more scooped straight from the bag. So the same 4 cups can be anywhere from 480 g to 560 g of flour. With 350 g of water, that’s anywhere from about 63% to 73% hydration: a sandwich loaf at one end and a baguette at the other, from one recipe.
Water is easier: 1 ml weighs 1 g, so a measuring jug is as good as a scale. Put the bowl on the scale, zero it, and weigh each ingredient straight in. It’s faster than cups and there’s less to wash.
How flour type changes hydration
Flour absorbs water through its protein and, in whole grain flour, its bran. The chart assumes white bread flour. Adjust from there:
| Flour | Compared with the chart | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | As written | The chart’s baseline |
| All-purpose | 2-5 points less water | Less protein, so less gluten to hold the water |
| Whole wheat | 5-10 points more water | Bran and germ soak up water, and slowly |
| Rye blend | 5-10 points more water | Absorbs a lot but builds little gluten, so it turns sticky, not stretchy |
Scale the adjustment to the blend: a dough with 30% whole wheat needs about a third of it. With a flour you haven’t used before, hold back a tenth of the water and add it once the dough has rested for 20 minutes and you can feel how it’s taking up the water.
How to handle wet dough
Stretch and folds instead of kneading. Past about 70%, dough is too slack to knead on the counter. Leave it in the bowl, grab one edge, stretch it up until it resists, and fold it over the middle. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until you’ve gone all the way around. A set every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours takes the dough from shaggy to smooth and strong.
Wet hands, not floured ones. Dip your hands in water before you touch the dough. It won’t stick to wet skin, and a little water doesn’t change the dough the way handfuls of flour do.
A bench scraper. Use it to lift, turn and divide the dough, and to scrape the counter clean. Dust only the counter, not the dough, and shape with quick, firm movements. The scraper does the work your fingers would stick to.
Fix common dough problems
Too sticky to shape
Usually it needs more strength, not less water. Give it another set of stretch and folds and 30 more minutes, then shape with wet hands and a bench scraper. If it still pours, drop the hydration 3-5 points next time.
Dense crumb
Most often underproofed: let it rise until it looks airy and jiggles when you shake the bowl. Too little water for the flour also makes a tight crumb, especially with whole wheat, so try a few points more.
Spreading flat
Too wet for the flour, too little tension when shaping, or overproofed. Drop the hydration 3-5 points or build more strength with folds, and shape tighter. If a floured finger poke doesn't spring back at all, it rose too long.
Dough hydration questions
What is dough hydration?
The weight of the water in a dough as a percentage of the weight of the flour. 375 g of water in 500 g of flour is 75% hydration. The higher the number, the softer and stickier the dough and the more open the crumb.
Does sourdough starter count toward hydration?
Yes. Starter is flour and water, so both count. 100 g of starter at 100% hydration adds 50 g of flour and 50 g of water to the totals. The calculator does this for you when you add a starter.
Do milk and eggs count as water?
Mostly. Milk is close to 90% water and eggs about 75%, so many bakers count them at those rates. Butter and oil make a dough feel softer but aren't counted. The style chart on this page is for lean doughs of flour, water, salt and yeast.
Is a higher hydration better?
No, just different. Wetter dough gives bigger holes and a crisper crust, but it's harder to shape. If you're new to a style, start at the low end of its range and add water as you get comfortable.
How do I convert a recipe in cups to grams?
A cup of bread flour weighs about 127 g and a cup of water 240 g, but a scooped cup of flour can weigh 140 g or more. If a recipe was written in cups, weigh your own cupful the way you usually fill it and use that number.
Floury hands? Strudel reads the next step.
Strudel reads you each step out loud and runs the timers, so you can keep your hands on the food.