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How To Calculate Weight of Flour & Water In Any Dough


Sometimes I’ve had occasion to try to figure out the weight of flour and water

in a formula knowing only the Total Dough Weight and the Baker’s Percentage of flour, and of water. This is not a common situation, but it’s good to know the formula if it ever happens. Here are the formulae to calculate that data. For example, a formula for Pain Ordinaire is Flour 100%, Water 65%, Salt 2%, and Yeast 1.4%. The Total Dough Weight of the formula is known to be 1000 grams. Using the formula below, the weight of flour can be calculated.


To Calculate the Weight of Flour

Total Dough Weight ÷ Total Formula Baker’s %  x Baker’s % of Flour = Weight of Flour

1000 ÷ 168.4 x 100 = 593.82 grams flour  (rounded to 594)


Of course once the weight of flour is known, all other ingredient weights can be derived using the Baker’s % for each, but the same formula above can be used to determine the weight of water without knowing the weight of flour.


To Calculate the Weight of Water

Total Dough Weight ÷ Total Formula Baker’s %  x  Baker’s % of Water = Weight of Water

1000 ÷ 168.4 x 65 = 385.98 grams water  (rounded to 386)


Another possible scenario that can occur is if the Total Formula Flour weight is known, but I used more than one flour in the formula. How to determine the weight of each of the flours used? For example, if I know that there are 594 grams Total Formula Flour, and I know that the formula stipulates T55 at 62.5%, and T80 at 37.5%.


To Calculate the Weight of each Flour

Total Formula Flour Weight x (T55 Baker’s % x .01) = Weight of T55 Flour

594 x (.625) = 371 grams T55  

594 x (.375) = 223 grams T80


Note that in the examples above I have simply expressed the T55 Baker’s % as a decimal value, and the same for the T80. In other words 62.5 x .01 and .625 are equivalent ways of saying the same thing.


To Calculate Weight of each Flour if Total Formula Flour Weight is Unknown

It should be fairly obvious that the formula at the top that states To Calculate the Weight of Flour can also be used to calculate the various weights of all flours used in the formula without knowing the Total Formula Flour Weight. To do so, we simply substitute the Baker’s % for T55 (62.5) in the formula in place of the Total Formula Flour Baker’s % (100), and do the same thing for the T80 (37.5). As a result the revised formula looks as follows.


Total Dough Weight ÷ Total Formula Baker’s %  x Baker’s % of T55 Flour = Weight of T55 

      1000 ÷ 168.4 x 62.5 = 371.14 grams  (rounded to 371)


Total Dough Weight ÷ Total Formula Baker’s %  x Baker’s % of T80 Flour = Weight of T80 

      1000 ÷ 168.4 x 37.5 = 222.68 grams  (rounded to 223)


Perhaps these notes come in handy some day.

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