Crust & Crumb AcademyCrust & Crumb Back to glossary
Scientific/TechnicalIntermediate

Hydration

The percentage of water to flour in dough.

Lower- and higher-hydration bread dough shown side by side
Water as a percentage of flour weight. 750 g water on 1,000 g flour is 75%.

The ratio of water to flour in dough, expressed as a percentage using baker's math. A dough with 500g flour and 375g water has 75% hydration (375÷500=0.75). Higher hydration typically means more open crumb but stickier dough.

Put this into practice

Related Tool

Baker's Percentage Calculator

Put the percentages to work. Enter your flour and hydration and turn the formula into practical dough weights.

Open calculator →

By Henry Hunter · Updated

Henry's notes from the bench

  • Start at 70% hydration and work your way up. Don't jump straight to 85% and wonder why you're wrestling with soup.

Connected terms

Baker's Percentage

Watch it at the bench

Baker’s Percentage Explained for Bread Bakers
My Bakers Kept Asking About Fresh-Milled Flour. Here's What I Built.
How to Use Fresh-Milled Flour in Any Recipe (Without the Guesswork)
Hang Out With Me: Toasted Sesame Sourdough at 80% Hydration
Report a correction for this termCorrection inbox owner: Henry Hunter · Reply within 7 days

Go deeper

BakingGreatBread.blog
Navigating the Sourdough Journey: Hooch, Hydration and More

Full article

More related reading (14)