Bread Dough Yield & Finished Loaf Calculator
Enter the finished loaf weight you want, your usual losses, and the baker’s percentages in your formula. The calculator works backward to the scaled dough, mixed dough, flour, and ingredient weights in grams.
Scaled dough weight per loaf852.27
- Total dough to mix
- 1,739.33
- Total flour
- 1,035.32
- Water
- 672.96
- Salt
- 20.71
- Yeast or starter
- 10.35
- Fat or oil
- 0
- Sugar and other ingredients
- 0
- Expected handling loss
- 34.79
- Expected baking and cooling loss
- 204.55
All results are grams. Round ingredient weights to the resolution of the scale you will use.
A starter, eggs, milk, syrups, and soaked inclusions are treated as one entered percentage; their flour and water are not separated.
How to use this calculator
- Enter how many equal-size loaves you plan to make and the finished weight wanted for each one.
- Use records from similar bakes for baking and handling loss, or start with the defaults as a planning estimate.
- Enter every ingredient as a baker’s percentage of flour, combining ingredients that you do not need to separate.
- Use the total dough to mix for the batch and the scaled dough weight when dividing individual loaves.
How finished loaf weight becomes a dough formula
A finished loaf is lighter than the piece of dough put into the oven. Most of the difference is water that leaves during baking and cooling, while a smaller amount of dough can remain in the mixer, bowl, scraper, or divider. This calculator starts with the finished weight and adds those two losses back before it works out the flour and other ingredients.
Let n be the loaf count, W the target baked weight per loaf, b the baking-loss rate, and h the handling-loss rate, written as decimals. The finished batch is B = n × W. The dough available for dividing is S = B ÷ (1 − b), and the dough to mix is D = S ÷ (1 − h).
The tool calls D mixed dough and S scaled dough. Mixed dough is the weight you need at the end of mixing. Scaled dough is the portion left to divide between pans or loaves. Finished bread is the cooled weight after the expected baking loss. Keeping these stages separate prevents a batch from coming up short even when the ingredient percentages are correct.
Turning baker’s percentages into grams
Flour is always 100% in baker’s percentage. Convert water, salt, yeast or starter, fat, and other ingredients to decimals, then add them to 1 for flour. If that total is T, flour is R = D ÷ T. Each listed ingredient is its percentage times R. For example, 65% water means water weighs 0.65 × R.
Hydration and the two loss rates usually move the result most. Higher hydration increases the total dough made from a given flour weight. A higher baking-loss estimate increases the scaled piece weight, while a higher handling-loss estimate increases the batch you must mix. Measure several finished loaves after the same cooling interval to replace estimates with a useful production average.
What this calculation does not model
The calculation treats a starter or preferment as a single ingredient percentage. It does not split its flour and water, and it does not separately account for the moisture or solids in eggs, milk, syrups, soaked grains, or fresh inclusions. Use a full formula calculation when those components need to be balanced precisely. It also does not predict fermentation, oven spring, crust development, pan loss, or the small continuing weight loss that can occur after cooling.
Worked example
For two finished 750 g loaves, with 12% baking loss and 2% handling loss, the finished batch is 1,500 g. The required scaled dough is 1,500 ÷ 0.88 = 1,704.55 g, or 852.27 g per loaf. The dough to mix is 1,704.55 ÷ 0.98 = 1,739.33 g.
With 65% water, 2% salt, and 1% yeast, the formula factor is 1 + 0.65 + 0.02 + 0.01 = 1.68. Flour is 1,739.33 ÷ 1.68 = 1,035.32 g; water is 672.96 g, salt is 20.71 g, and yeast is 10.35 g. The estimated losses are 34.79 g in handling and 204.55 g during baking and cooling.
Common questions
How much dough should I use for a finished 750-gram loaf?
It depends on your actual baking loss. At 12% loss, divide 750 g by 0.88, which gives 852.27 g of scaled dough per loaf. Add handling loss to the total batch, not to each divided piece, because it happens before scaling.
How do I measure my bread’s baking-loss percentage?
Weigh a shaped dough piece just before it goes into the oven, then weigh the finished loaf after a consistent cooling period. Subtract the finished weight from the dough weight, divide by the dough weight, and multiply by 100. Repeat this for similar loaves and use an average rather than a single bake.
What is the difference between mixed, scaled, and baked loaf weight?
Mixed dough is the entire batch after mixing, before dough is left in the equipment or lost while handling. Scaled dough is the amount you divide into individual pieces. Baked loaf weight is what remains after baking and cooling have removed moisture.
Should sourdough starter count as one ingredient or be split into flour and water?
This tool treats starter as one ingredient percentage, which is suitable for a quick production estimate. For strict hydration and flour accounting, split the starter into its flour and water using its known hydration, then include those amounts in the appropriate fields of a full formula.
Does bread keep losing weight while it cools?
Yes. Steam and moisture can continue to leave the loaf as it cools, so a loaf weighed warm will be heavier than one weighed later. Always measure finished weight at the same point in cooling if you use those measurements to set a loss rate.