Hydration × flour
60% Hydration All-Purpose Flour
Tight to moderately tight crumb. Small to medium cells. Firm chew. Good for sandwich loaves.
✓ Within All-Purpose Flour's workable range (60–72%)
Is 60% hydration right for All-Purpose Flour?
All-Purpose Flour's workable hydration range is 60–72%. Its absorption multiplier is 0.97× bread flour. At 60%, you are in the sweet spot — the dough will handle predictably and produce the crumb described above.
Absorption math for All-Purpose Flour at 60%
A recipe written for bread flour at 60% hydration, when substituted with 100% All-Purpose Flour, becomes 58% effective hydration (because All-Purpose Flour absorbs 3% less water). Shorter autolyse (20-30 min) — longer autolyses over-soften the gluten. Fewer stretch-and-folds (2-3 sets) to avoid tearing the weaker gluten structure. Best for beginner hydration range 65-70%.
Technique at 60% hydration
Firm but pliable dough. Good for shaping into specific forms (tortillas, muffins, pizza). Less sensitive to mistakes than higher hydrations. Handles well with minimal flour on work surface.
Calculator pre-set to 60%
Weights below assume 100% All-Purpose Flour. For blends, use the main calculator on a recipe page.
- Flour to add
- 450 g
- Water to add
- 250 g
- Salt
- 10 g
- Levain @ 100%
- 100 g
- Total dough
- 810 g
- Effective hydration
- 60%
How the math works
Total water = flour × hydration %. Your levain contributes 50 g flour + 50 g water — both count toward the totals. You add only the remainder as fresh flour and water.
Salt % is computed on total flour weight, not final-dough flour.