Sourdough Salt Percentage: How Much Salt to Use
Most sourdough recipes use about 2% salt, meaning 2 g of salt per 100 g of flour. Here's a quick table, the starter question, and why you should weigh salt rather than spoon it.
The standard: about 1.8–2.2%
Salt is a baker's percentage of the flour weight: salt = flour × salt % ÷ 100. Most bread recipes sit around 1.8–2.2%, and 2% is the usual default. Some bakers go lower for health or taste reasons, for example 1.5%, but expect a blander loaf and slightly faster fermentation.
Salt by flour weight
| Flour | 1.5% | 1.8% | 2% | 2.2% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 g | 6 g | 7.2 g | 8 g | 8.8 g |
| 500 g | 7.5 g | 9 g | 10 g | 11 g |
| 750 g | 11.3 g | 13.5 g | 15 g | 16.5 g |
| 1,000 g | 15 g | 18 g | 20 g | 22 g |
In ounces: 10 g of salt is 0.35 oz, which is why grams are much easier for salt. Many kitchen scales only show ounces to the nearest 0.05 or 0.1 oz.
Should the starter's flour count?
Recipes differ. With 500 g flour and 100 g of 100% hydration starter, 2% of the added flour is 10 g, while 2% of all the flour (500 + 50 = 550 g) is 11 g. One gram rarely matters much, but it explains why two "2% salt" recipes can differ slightly. The calculator uses the flour you add (10 g in this example), matching most home recipes. See the starter percentage guide for more on these conventions.
What salt does in the dough
- Flavour. Bread without salt tastes flat.
- Dough strength. Salt tightens the gluten network, so a salted dough feels firmer than an unsalted one.
- Fermentation speed. Salt slows yeast and bacteria somewhat. More salt means slower fermentation, and less means faster.
Many bakers add salt after an autolyse or a short rest (with a splash of water to help it dissolve). That holds-back water still counts toward hydration.
Why not use teaspoons?
Salt crystals vary a lot in size, so a teaspoon of one salt can weigh twice as much as another:
- Fine table salt: roughly 6 g per teaspoon
- Morton kosher salt (US): roughly 5 g per teaspoon
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (US): roughly 3 g per teaspoon
- Flaky sea salt: varies widely, often well under table salt
These are approximate. Brands and how you fill the spoon both matter. Teaspoons are 5 ml in the UK and Australia and about 4.9 ml in the US. Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, not 15, so never convert salt by the Australian tablespoon. Our conversion chart lists spoon sizes by country.
Iodised, sea or kosher?
Any fine, dissolvable salt works. What matters is the weight. Iodised table salt is widely used in bread. Coarse salt dissolves more slowly, so dissolve it in a little of the recipe water first.
Set your salt percentage in the calculator and it gives the exact weight for any dough size, in grams or ounces.
Open the free calculatorFAQ
How much salt for 500 g of flour in sourdough?
At the standard 2%, use 10 g. The common 1.8–2.2% range is 9–11 g.
Is 2% salt too much for bread?
2% is the most common amount in bread recipes. You can reduce it, for example to 1.5%, but the bread will taste blander and may ferment a little faster.
Do I include the starter's flour when calculating salt?
Some recipes do and some don't. With 100 g of 100% starter in a 500 g flour dough, the difference is about 1 g of salt. The calculator uses the added flour.
How many grams is a teaspoon of salt?
It depends on the salt. Fine table salt is roughly 6 g, Morton kosher roughly 5 g and Diamond Crystal kosher roughly 3 g. That's why weighing is more reliable.