Sourdough Hydration Calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my starter affect dough hydration?

A starter is itself part flour and part water. Both amounts must be added to your bowl ingredients to find the true total hydration of the dough.

What hydration should I aim for?

Most home sourdough sits between 70% and 80%. Start at 72-75% with bread flour and adjust up for whole-grain blends or down if shaping is a struggle.

How do I figure out my starter's hydration?

Equal weights of flour and water = 100%. A stiff starter fed at 1:2:1 (starter:flour:water) lands near 50%. Use whichever ratio you actually feed at - it's what the calculator needs.

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Estimates for informational purposes only.

Important Disclaimer: Estimates for informational purposes only.

This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Results are based on assumptions and may not reflect actual outcomes. Consult qualified professionals in relevant fields before making important decisions based on these results.

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How This Calculator Works

Bakers describe dough by its hydration: the weight of water as a percentage of the weight of flour. A 75% hydration dough has 75 g of water for every 100 g of flour. The tricky part is that your sourdough starter is itself part flour and part water, so it shifts the final hydration of the whole dough.

This tool splits the starter into its flour and water components based on the starter's own hydration, then adds those to your bowl flour and water to return the true total hydration of the dough.

How To Use It

Enter the flour and water you add to the bowl, the weight of starter you use, and your starter's hydration (100% for a typical liquid starter fed with equal flour and water; 50-60% for a stiff starter). The result shows total dough hydration along with total flour, total water, and total dough weight - everything you need to scale or reproduce the loaf.

Why Hydration Matters

Higher hydration doughs are stickier and produce a more open, airy crumb but are harder to shape. Lower hydration doughs are stiffer, easier to handle, and yield a tighter crumb. Knowing your true hydration lets you adjust water to hit the texture you want and to reproduce a loaf reliably.

Tips

Whole-grain and high-protein flours absorb more water; nudge hydration up by 3-5%.

Weigh everything in grams; volume measurements drift loaf to loaf.

Keep notes on hydration and crumb to dial in your house loaf.

If you swap from a 100% to a stiff starter, recalculate - the same starter weight carries less water.

Sourdough Hydration Calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

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