Start by choosing the type of bread using the select button at the top. Some pre-filled recipes are also available to choose from.
If you already know how much flour you have, select "By flour weight" and enter the amount in grams. If you'd rather work backwards from how many loaves, switch to "By loaves" and the calculator will work out the flour for you.
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What Is Bread Hydration?
Bread hydration refers to the ratio of water to flour in a dough, expressed as a percentage. A dough made with 500g of flour and 340g of water has a hydration of 68%. This single number has a significant impact on how your bread turns out.
Impact on Dough Handling
Lower hydration doughs (55% to 65%) are stiffer and easier to handle.
Higher hydration doughs (70% and above) are wetter and stickier.
Practise makes perfect on these, so don’t give up if it becomes a sticky mess the first time you do it.
Doughs with less hydration like those used in bagels or other types of sandwich bread, are stiffer and easier to manage. Great for first time efforts and to get used to handling dough.
Effects on Crust and Crumb
The hydration level affects the final texture of both the crust and crumb. Higher hydration doughs result in a more open crumb with larger air pockets, creating a lighter and airier texture like those found in focaccia and sourdough.
Lower hydration doughs make a tighter crumb with smaller air pockets, and therefore a denser and chewier bread. The crust is usually thicker and less crispy, which is better suited for certain bread types like sandwich loaves and bagels.
If you want to make pizza dough then try my pizza dough calculator to work out your flour measurements.