Bread hydration is the weight of water as a percentage of flour. It controls how wet, open, and chewy a dough is. Enter your flour and water to see your hydration, or set a target to find the water you need.
Hydration counts all the water in the dough. Low hydration (60-65%) gives a tight crumb; high hydration (75%+) gives an open, airy one but is stickier to handle.
How it works
Hydration = water weight / flour weight × 100. At 1000 g flour and 650 g water that is 65%. To hit a target, water needed = flour × target / 100, and the adjustment is the difference from what you have.
Typical hydration ranges
Bagels and pretzels sit around 55-60%, sandwich bread 60-65%, rustic and sourdough loaves 70-80%, and ciabatta can exceed 80%.
Work in baker percentages with the baker percentage guide and the Bakers Percentage calculator.