This free bagel dough calculator works out exactly how much flour, water, yeast, salt and barley malt you need for a batch of bagels. Enter how many bagels you want and how heavy each one should be, and the tool scales the whole formula at once, so a batch of four and a batch of twenty-four both come out right.
Bagels are stiff, low-hydration doughs, and small errors show up fast. Too much water makes a slack dough that will not hold its ring shape, while too little leaves a dry, cracking dough that tears when you shape it. Weighing every ingredient, instead of scooping cups, is what gives bagels their dense, chewy crumb and shiny crust.
To use the tool, enter your numbers in the fields above and press the calculate button. The results table updates at once, and you can change any number and calculate again as often as you like. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing you enter is sent to a server, and you need no account and no sign-up.
The formula uses baker percentages on the flour weight: water at 58 percent, salt at 2 percent, instant yeast at 1 percent and barley malt syrup at 1.5 percent. Total dough weight is the bagel count times the size you choose, and flour is that total divided by 1.625, which is the sum of all the percentages plus the flour itself. Every other ingredient then follows from the flour weight.
Example: for 8 bagels at 110 grams each, total dough is 880 grams. The tool gives 541.5 grams of flour, 314.1 grams of water, 5.4 grams of yeast, 10.8 grams of salt and 8.1 grams of malt syrup, with a boil of 75 seconds per side. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces of 110 grams and the batch matches the plan exactly.
Tip: knead bagel dough longer than soft bread dough. A firm dough needs a full 8 to 10 minutes of kneading to build the gluten that gives bagels their chew, and under-kneaded dough bakes up soft and bread-like instead of dense.
Tip: chill the shaped bagels before boiling. A night in the fridge firms the dough, deepens the flavour, and makes the rings much easier to lift into the boiling water without stretching them out of shape.
Tip: boil in water with malt, not plain water. The malt in the bath is what gives bagels their glossy, deep-brown crust, and a short boil keeps the crumb dense while a longer boil makes a thicker, chewier crust.
Common question: Can I use all-purpose flour for bagels? Yes, but bread flour is better. Bread flour has more protein, so it builds stronger gluten and a chewier bagel, while all-purpose flour gives a softer, less chewy result that still tastes good.
Common question: How long should bagels boil? This tool suggests 60 seconds per side for small bagels, 75 for medium ones and 90 for large ones. Shorter boils give a thinner crust and a softer bite, while longer boils give a thicker, chewier crust.
Common question: Why is my bagel dough so stiff? Bagel dough is meant to be stiff. At 58 percent hydration it feels much firmer than sandwich bread dough, and that firmness is exactly what keeps the ring shape and the dense crumb.
Timing and storage matter as much as the numbers. Make the dough when you have time for a slow rise and a proper bake, not rushed between other jobs, because bread rewards patience far more than speed. Store finished bread in a way that protects the crust you worked for, and reheat gently rather than microwaving it soft.
A note on accuracy: weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale, because cup measures vary by how flour is scooped and packed, and a 10 percent flour error changes hydration enough to notice. Check your scale with a known weight now and then, and keep the same units through the whole recipe so nothing gets converted twice by mistake.
This tool is free to use as often as you like. Bookmark it, run it for every batch, and let it carry the measuring while you focus on shaping, baking and enjoying the bread itself.