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Dough hydration calculator

Type in your recipe's flour and water, tell us what flour you're using, and we'll show you exactly how much water you need - no baker's math required.

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What is hydration?

It's simply how much water is in your dough compared to flour. 70% hydration means 70g of water for every 100g of flour.

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Why does protein matter?

Protein forms gluten, which holds water. A stronger flour can absorb more water without turning into a puddle on your counter.

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Stiffer dough (60-65%)

Easy to shape, holds its form well. Great for bagels, pretzels, and rolls where you want a tight crumb.

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Wetter dough (75-85%)

Sticky and tricky to handle, but gives you that open, airy crumb inside. Think sourdough and ciabatta.

Popular Dough Presets

Your recipe

g
g

Use the total flour - including any wholegrain or rye if you're mixing.

Changing this updates the hydration slider below automatically.

Your flour's protein - check the bag label

11.5%

Standard bread flour - good for most loaves.

Target hydration - drag to adjust

70%

Within ideal range.

Recalculated recipe

Flour stays the same
500 g
New water amount
350 g
Actual hydration
70 %
50%65%80%100%
For All-purpose / bread flour (11-12%), hydration of 65-75% works well

How to use this calculator

1

Enter your recipe

Enter your recipe's flour and water amounts. These are usually in grams. If your recipe uses cups, weigh them - baking by weight is always more accurate.

2

Set protein level

Check your flour bag for the protein percentage. It's usually listed under nutrition as "protein per 100g." Drag the slider to match it. This tells the calculator how thirsty your flour is.

3

Adjust hydration

Drag the hydration slider up or down until you hit your target. Watch the "new water amount" update in real time - that's the number you use in your recipe.

4

Read the hints

Pay attention to the colour hints. Green means you're in the ideal range for your flour. Orange is a heads-up that the dough will be harder to work with - not impossible, just be prepared to use wet hands and a bench scraper.

Which flour are you using?

Flour typeProteinSweet spotDifficultyBest for
Pastry / cake8-9%55-65%EasyFlatbreads, crackers, pie crust
All-purpose10-11%60-70%EasyEveryday loaves, pizza, rolls
Bread flour11-13%65-75%MediumSandwich loaves, sourdough, baguettes
Strong / high-gluten13-14%70-80%MediumNeapolitan pizza, open-crumb sourdough
Whole wheat / rye13-14%75-90%TrickyRustic loaves, dense country bread

Common questions

My dough is always too sticky. What should i do?
Try dropping your hydration by 5% and see how it feels. Stickiness usually means either too much water for your flour's protein level, or not enough kneading to develop the gluten network. Also check you're using the right flour - pastry flour simply can't hold as much water as bread flour.
My bread is too dense. Could hydration fix it?
Sometimes, yes. A wetter dough can give you a more open crumb - but density is also caused by under-proofing, weak starter (for sourdough), or too little kneading. Try bumping hydration up by 5–10% first and see if the texture improves. Don't go too far too fast.
What about sourdough starter - does that count as water?
Yes, it does. A 100% hydration starter (equal parts flour and water by weight) is half flour and half water. So if your recipe uses 100g of starter, count 50g toward your flour total and 50g toward your water total before entering the numbers here.
Can i use this for pizza dough?
Absolutely. Neapolitan pizza typically runs 60-65% hydration with a high-gluten flour (13%+). New York style is usually 58-62%. Pan pizza like focaccia can go up to 75-80%. Use the flour protein slider to match your pizza flour and find your ideal range.
Dough Hydration Calculator | Mad Spatula