Does the salt count toward hydration?

By convention, no. Hydration is water-vs-flour. Salt is its own variable, usually 1.8-2.2% of flour weight.

What about the water in oils, butter, milk?

Strict bakers count it. For practical home baking, the difference is small enough that I treat oil + butter as 'fat' and only count the literal water + the water content of dairy. Pick a convention and stay consistent across your bakes; the absolute number matters less than the comparison between your own bakes.

What hydration should a beginner start with?

68-72%. It's stiff enough to shape with confidence and still opens into a respectable crumb. Below ~65% the loaf gets heavy and tight; above ~78% you need stretch-and-folds and wet-hand shaping that take a few bakes to learn. Get three good loaves at 70% before you climb.

How do I raise hydration without wrecking the dough?

Two rules. First, move in 3-5% steps (about 10-20g more water per 500g flour), one step per bake. Second, for anything past 80%, use bassinage: hold back the last 5-10% of water, build the gluten with the drier dough, then add the reserve a splash at a time. Add a fold set per 3-5% you climb, and switch to coil folds plus wet hands as you go.

My dough is a sticky, slack mess - how do I fix it?

First check it's actually hydration and not under-developed gluten or warmth. If it's truly too wet, add flour in small 10-20g-per-500g amounts, kneaded fully in, and accept some streaking. Wet hands (not floured) for shaping, more fold sets, and a cold overnight proof all firm a slack dough up. Then log a lower hydration so next time is clean from the start.

Does higher hydration always mean a more open crumb?

No, and this is the most expensive myth in sourdough. Water alone doesn't open a crumb - fermentation and gluten do. A high-hydration dough that's under-fermented or has a weak starter bakes into a flat, gummy loaf. Hydration is a multiplier on good fermentation, not a substitute for it. Fix the rise first, then add water.

Why is my crumb dense even at high hydration?

Almost always one of three things, none of them water: under-fermentation (the bulk was too short for your kitchen temp), a weak starter that wasn't at peak, or over-handling that knocked the gas out at shaping. Diagnose by logging rise %, ambient temperature, and how the dough felt - the pattern across three bakes points straight at the culprit.

Why can't I just add flour when the dough is too wet?

You can, but it's a patch, not a fix. Flour added mid-mix hasn't had time to hydrate or develop gluten, so it stays as half-mixed streaks and tightens the crumb where it lands. Worse, you can't take water back out, so it's a one-way correction. A planned hydration - written down from the last bake - always beats a rescue.

Does flour protein content change how much water to use?

Yes, a lot. Protein builds gluten, and gluten holds water. Bread flour at 12-14% protein absorbs roughly 5-10% more water than all-purpose; whole wheat 10-15% more; rye up to 20% more. So the same hydration number feels wetter on a weak flour and drier on a strong one. Always compare hydration within one flour, and re-find your number when you switch.

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How to read hydration % - and why it changes everything

The single most useful number in sourdough. What it means, how to calculate it, and what it does to your crumb.

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Hydration

Recipe

Julia YukovichCo-Founder + CEO

·June 28, 2026·

7 min read

·Updated

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The formula, written out What different hydration % feel like Why whole-grain changes the math Logging hydration entry-by-entry Where to start, and how to move the number Match your handling to the hydration Protein decides how much water the flour wants Infographic: baker's math

Key takeaways

Hydration % = water weight ÷ flour weight × 100. Everything else is bookkeeping.

65% = stiff and shaped. 75% = open + friendly. 85%+ = pancake risk without strong technique.

Whole-grain flours absorb more water - add 5% hydration when switching from white to whole wheat at the same recipe.

Beginner? Start at 68-72%. It is far more forgiving to shape. Move up 3-5% per bake, never in one jump.

Higher hydration does not automatically mean an open crumb - it only pays off when fermentation and gluten are right.

Step by step

Weigh the water

Add up every gram of water in the dough, including the water inside your starter (half of a 100%-hydration starter is water).

Weigh the flour

Add up every gram of flour, again including the flour half of the starter you mixed in.

Divide water by flour, then multiply by 100

Water ÷ flour × 100 is your hydration percentage. 750 g water and 1000 g flour = 75%.

Pick your band

65% is stiff and easy to shape, 75% is open and friendly, 85%+ is a pour-not-shape dough. Beginners should start at 68-72%.

Adjust 3-5% per bake

Log the result, then move hydration up or down by only 3-5% (about 10-20 g water per 500 g flour) on the next bake. Never jump in one leap.

The formula, written out

Take the total weight of water in the dough. Divide by the total weight of flour. Multiply by 100. That number is your hydration percentage. A dough with 750g water and 1000g flour is 75%. The starter you added counts toward both - if you added 200g of 100%-hydration starter, that's 100g flour and 100g water that you fold into the totals.

What different hydration % feel like

60-65%: stiff dough, easy to shape, dense crumb. Bagels and pretzels live here. 70-72%: classic country loaf - workable, forgiving, decent crumb opening. 75-78%: open + airy, sticky to handle, needs a couple of stretch-and-folds. 80-85%: ciabatta and high-hydration breads - serious shaping technique required, but the alveoli are spectacular. Above 85%: focaccia + flatbreads. Don't try to shape it; pour it.

Why whole-grain changes the math

Whole-grain flours absorb noticeably more water than white flour - bran is thirsty. A 75% hydration recipe with white flour will feel like 70% if you swap in whole wheat at the same weight. The crumb will be tighter and the loaf squatter. Fix: bump hydration by 5% (or pre-hydrate the bran with an autolyse step). Same recipe, different number, same result.

Logging hydration entry-by-entry

Tracking hydration on every bake is the fastest way to figure out what your starter and flour combination actually likes. After three or four bakes at different hydrations - all logged with rise %, ambient temperature, and an outcome rating - the answer becomes plainly visible. Sourdough Tracker has the field on every bake entry, so the chart that matters writes itself.

Where to start, and how to move the number

If you're new, start at 68-72% and stay there for your first handful of bakes. A 70% country loaf is workable, forgiving, and still opens nicely - chasing a 'wetter is better' number before your hands know the dough just makes a sticky mess that bakes into a dense puck. Once a recipe feels easy, raise hydration 3-5% at a time (roughly 10-20g more water per 500g flour), bake it, log the result, and only then go higher. Big jumps - 70% straight to 85% - skip the part where your handling catches up to the water.

Going the other way is harder, which is why bakers warn against it. You can't cleanly subtract water - so to firm up a too-wet dough you add flour, in 10-20g-per-500g increments, fully kneaded in. But added flour mid-mix is half-hydrated and under-developed, so it shows up as streaks and a tighter crumb. Treat flour as a last-resort patch; the real fix is writing down the right hydration next time. That's the whole reason to log it.

Match your handling to the hydration

Hydration and technique are one decision, not two. At 60-70% a short knead is fine. From 70-78%, drop the kneading and switch to stretch-and-folds - 3 to 4 sets in the first couple of hours of bulk. Above 78%, go gentler still: coil folds and a lamination develop strength without tearing a slack dough, and you shape with wet hands, not floured ones, so the surface doesn't slip. A high-hydration dough also wants tighter shaping and often a cold overnight proof to firm up before baking. If a recipe feels impossible to handle, the honest fix is usually 'drop 3% hydration', not 'try harder'.

One pro trick for getting water in without a soup: bassinage. Hold back the last 5-10% of the water, develop the gluten with the drier dough first, then work the reserved water in a splash at a time. You get the strength of a lower-hydration mix and the crumb of a higher one. It's the safest way to push past 80%.

Protein decides how much water the flour wants

The same hydration number behaves differently from flour to flour, and protein is why. Protein builds the gluten network that holds water and traps gas, so a high-protein flour both can and wants to take on more. Rough absorption deltas versus a plain all-purpose: bread flour (12-14% protein) drinks ~5-10% more, whole wheat ~10-15% more, and rye up to ~20% more. So 75% with a strong bread flour can feel like 70% with a weaker one. The lesson: hydration is only comparable within the same flour. When you change flour, expect to re-find the number - which is exactly why your choice of flour and your hydration belong in the same log.

Infographic: baker's math

Here's the whole thing on one page. Tap it to download, or pin it for your next bake.

Infographic explaining baker's percentages with a worked 1000 g example. — Tap the infographic to download it.

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Written by

Julia Yukovich

Co-Founder + CEO

Julia is one of the Co-Founders. She handles design, development, product direction, and most of the support replies that arrive in the morning.

julia.yukovich at aicuflow dot comLinkedIn