Dough Hydration
Water as a percentage of flour — controls how open and airy the crumb is.
Formula
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Example
375 g water, 500 g flour: H = 75%
How it works
Dough hydration tells you how much water is present compared with the flour, expressed as a percentage of the flour weight. It works because flour is the dry base of a dough, so measuring water relative to flour gives a consistent way to compare recipes of different sizes. Higher hydration usually makes dough softer and more extensible, while lower hydration makes it stiffer and easier to shape.
When to use it
Use this formula when scaling bread, pizza, sourdough, or other yeast dough recipes and you want to keep the same texture. It is also useful for comparing two formulas or adjusting a recipe to get a more open crumb or a firmer dough.
Worked example, step by step
Given: Water = 420 g Flour = 600 g Use the formula: H = (m_water / m_flour) × 100 Substitute the values: H = (420 / 600) × 100 Calculate the ratio: H = 0.7 × 100 Final answer: H = 70% So the dough hydration is 70%.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using total dough weight instead of flour weight as the denominator
- Forgetting to convert the ratio to a percentage by multiplying by 100
- Mixing up grams and millilitres when measuring ingredients
Did You Know?
Ciabatta runs at 80%+ hydration, which is why the wet dough is nearly impossible to knead by hand.
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