The Baker's Percentage Explained

In baker's percentage, the total weight of the flour in the recipe is always set to exactly 100%, and every other ingredient is calculated as a percentage of that flour weight. For example, if you have 1000g of flour and 650g of water, the water is considered 65% (which is your hydration). This allows bakers to easily scale recipes up or down with mathematical precision.

A standard, manageable hydration level for a rustic sourdough boule usually sits between 65% and 75% in baker's percentage. A lower hydration dough around 65% will be easier to handle and yield a tighter crumb, while pushing it to 80% creates a highly extensible dough with large, open holes. Mastering baker's percentage helps you tweak these ratios to achieve your perfect crumb structure.

No, ingredients like salt, yeast, and sourdough starter are all calculated strictly as a fraction of the flour's weight, not the other way around. Commercial yeast is typically calculated around 1% to 1.5%, while salt sits at a standard 2% of the total flour weight. This standardization ensures that flavor and fermentation rates remain balanced regardless of batch size.

When incorporating sourdough starter into baker's percentage, you must account for the flour and water weight inside the starter itself to maintain accurate ratios. For example, if you use a 100% hydration starter, the weight of the starter is divided evenly into its flour and water components and added to the total pool. This prevents your total dough hydration from becoming accidentally too high.