Free Baker's Hydration calculator with clear step-by-step results.
Most recipes quote hydration as added water over added flour and quietly ignore the levain, which can shift the real figure by five points or more. This splits the starter into its flour and water components first, so the hydration number reflects the dough you are actually handling.
Splitting the starter
Starter flour = starter / (1 + starter hydration); starter water = starter - starter flour
True hydration
Hydration % = (added water + starter water) / (added flour + starter flour) x 100
Roughly 60-65% for a sandwich loaf, 70-80% for an open-crumb sourdough and 55-58% for bagels. Higher hydration needs stronger flour and more careful handling.
No. Salt is expressed as its own baker's percentage of flour - typically 1.8-2.2% - and only enters here as part of the finished dough weight.