Baker percentage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baker's percentage is a notation method indicating the proportion of an ingredient relative to the
flour used in a recipe when making breads, cakes, muffins, and other baked goods.[1][2][3][4] It is also
referred to as baker's math,[5][6] and may be indicated by a phrase such as based on flour weight.[1]
[7]
 It is sometimes called formula percentage,[1] a phrase that refers to the sum of a set of bakers'
percentages.[note 1] Baker's percentage expresses a ratio in percentages of each ingredient's weight to
the total flourweight:[10][12][13]

For example, in a recipe that calls for 10 pounds of flour and 5 pounds of water, the
corresponding baker's percentages are 100% for the flour and 50% for the water. Because these
percentages are stated with respect to the weight of flour rather than with respect to the weight
of all ingredients, the sum of these percentages always exceeds 100%.
Flour-based recipes are more precisely conceived as baker's percentages, and more accurately
measured using weight instead of volume. The uncertainty in using volume measurements
follows from the fact that flour settles in storage and therefore does not have a constant density.
[14][15]

Contents
  [hide] 

 1Baker percentages
o 1.1Conversions

 1.1.1Using baker percentages

 1.1.2Creating baker's percentages
 1.1.3Formula percentage and total mass
o 1.2Weights and densities

 2Drawbacks

 3Advantages

 4Common Formulations

 5Dough hydration

 6Errata

 7Notes

 8References

 9External links

Baker percentages[edit]
A yeast-dough formula could call for the following list of ingredients, presented as a series of baker's
percentages:

flour  100% 

water 35%

milk† 35%

fresh yeast  4%††

salt 2%

Conversions[edit]
There are several common conversions that are used with baker's percentages. Converting
baker's percentages to ingredient weights is one. Converting known ingredient weights to
baker percentages is another. Conversion to true percentages, or based on total weight, is
helpful to calculate unknown ingredient weights from a desired total or formula weight.
Using baker percentages[edit]
To derive the ingredient weights when any weight of flour Wf is chosen:[note 2]

Digital scale for weighing ingredients.

Baker's weights
percentage [note 3]

ingredient   % method 1 method 2

flour  100%   Wf * 1.00  Wf * 100%

water 35%  Wf * 0.35  Wf * 35%

milk 35%  Wf * 0.35  Wf * 35%

fresh yeast 4%  Wf * 0.04  Wf * 4%

salt 1.8%  Wf * 0.018   Wf * 1.8%

In the example below, 2 lb and 10 kg of flour weights have been calculated.
Depending on the desired weight unit, only one of the following four weight columns
is used:

Weighing ingredients.

weights
Baker's
percentage
2 lb 10 kg

ingredient   % lb oz kg g

flour  100%  2 32 10  10000 

water 35% 0.7 11.2 3.5 3500

milk 35% 0.7 11.2 3.5 3500

fresh yeast 4% 0.08 1.28 0.4 400

salt 1.8%  0.036   0.576   0.18  180

Creating baker's percentages[edit]

The baker has determined how much a recipe's ingredients weigh, and uses
uniform decimal weight units. All ingredient weights are divided by the flour
weight to obtain a ratio, then the ratio is multiplied by 100% to yield the baker's
percentage for that ingredient:

Using a balance to measure a mass of flour.

ingredient   weight    ingredient mass⁄flour mass  × 100%

flour 10 kg 10 kg ÷ 10 kg = 1.000 = 100%

water 3.5 kg 3.5 kg ÷ 10 kg = 0.350 = 35%

milk 3.5 kg 3.5 kg ÷ 10 kg = 0.350 = 35%

fresh yeast 0.4 kg 0.4 kg ÷ 10 kg = 0.040 = 4%

salt 0.18 kg 0.18 kg ÷ 10 kg = 0.018 = 1.8%

Due to the canceling of uniform weight units, the baker may employ any
desired system of measurement (metric or avoirdupois,[16] etc.) when using a
baker's percentage to determine an ingredient's weight. Generally, the
baker finds it easiest to use the system of measurement that is present on
the available tools.
Formula percentage and total mass[edit]

Ingredient baker's true

[note 4]
% %

flour  100%   56.88% 

 water 35% 19.91%

milk 35% 19.91%

fresh yeast  4% 2.28%

salt 1.8% 1.02%

Total 175.8% 100%

The total or sum of the baker's percentages is called the formula

percentage. The sum of the ingredient masses is called the formula
mass (or formula "weight"). Here are some interesting calculations:


The flour's mass times the formula percentage equals the formula
mass:[11]

 An ingredient's mass is obtained by multiplying the formula

mass by that ingredient's true percentage; because an
ingredient's true percentage is that ingredient's baker's
percentage divided by the formula percentage expressed as
parts per hundred, an ingredient's mass can also be obtained
by multiplying the formula mass by the ingredient's baker's
percentage and then dividing the result by the formula
percentage:

Thus, it is not necessary to calculate each ingredient's true percentage in order to calculate
each ingredient's mass, provided the formula mass and the baker's percentages are known.

 Ingredients' masses can also be obtained by first

calculating the mass of the flour then using baker's
percentages to calculate remaining ingredient masses:
  The two methods of calculating the mass of an
ingredient are equivalent:

Weights and densities[edit]

The use of customary U.S. units can sometimes be
awkward and the metric system makes these
conversions simpler. In the metric system, there
are only a small number of basic measures of
relevance to cooking: the gram (g) for weight,
the liter (L) for volume, the meter (m) for length,
and degrees Celsius (°C) for temperature;
multiples and sub-multiples are indicated by
prefixes, two commonly used metric cooking
prefixes are milli- (m-) and kilo- (k-).[17] Intra-metric
conversions involve moving the decimal point. [18]
Common avoirdupois and metric weight
equivalences:[19]
1 pound (lb) = 16 ounces (oz)
1 kilogram (kg) = 1,000 grams (g) = 2.20462262 lb
1 lb = 453.59237 g = 0.45359237 kg
1 oz = 28.3495231 g.
In four different English-language
countries of recipe and
measuring-utensil markets,
approximate cup volumes range
from 236.59 to 284.1 milliliters
(mL). Adaptation of volumetric
recipes can be made
with density approximations:
Main article: Cup (unit) §  Using
volume measures to estimate
mass

Volume to mass conversions for some common cooking ingredients

ingredient density metric cup imperial cup U.S. customary cup

g/mL 250 mL ≈284 mL ≈237 mL[note 6]
[note 5]

g oz g oz g oz
water[note 7] 1[note 8] 249–250 8.8 283–284 10 236–237 8.3[note 9]

granulated sugar 0.8[20] 200 7.0 230 8.0 190 6.7

wheat flour 0.5–0.6[20] 120–150 4.4–5.3 140–170 5.0–6.0 120–140 4.2–5.0

table salt 1.2[20] 300 10.6 340 12.0 280 10.0

Due to volume and density

ambiguities, a different
approach involves
volumetrically measuring the
ingredients, then
using scales or balances of
appropriate accuracy and
error ranges to weigh them,
and recording the results.
With this method, occasionally
an error or outlier of some
kind occurs.

Drawbacks[edit]
Baker's percentages do not
accurately reflect the impact
of the amount of gluten-
forming proteins in the flour
on the final product and
therefore may need to be
adjusted from country to
country, or even miller to
miller, depending on
definitions of terms like "bread
flour" and actual protein
content.[21] Manipulation of
known flour-protein levels can
be calculated with a Pearson
square.[22][23]
 Digital scale with readability
of 0.01 g.

In home baking, the amounts

of ingredients such as salt or
yeast expressed by mass may
be too small to measure
accurately on the scales used
by most home cooks. For
these ingredients, it may be
easier to express quantities
by volume, based on standard
densities. For this reason,
many breadmaking books that
are targeted to home bakers
provide both percentages and
volumes for common batch
sizes.
Besides the need for
appropriate readability scales,
a kitchen calculator is helpful
when working directly from
baker's percentages.

Advantages[edit]
Baker's percentages enable
the user to:


compare recipes more
easily (i.e., which are
drier, saltier, sweeter,
etc.).

spot a bad recipe, or
predict its baked
characteristics.[3]

alter or add a single-
ingredient percentage
without changing the
other ingredients'
percentages.[2][10]
 
measure uniformly an
ingredient where the
quantity per unit may vary
(as with eggs).

scale accurately and
easily for different batch
sizes.

Common
Formulations[edit]
Common formulations for
bread[24] include 100% flour,
60% water/liquid, 1% yeast,
2% salt and 1% oil, lard or
butter.

Dough
hydration[edit]
In a recipe, the baker's
percentage for water is
referred to as the "hydration";
it is indicative of the stickiness
of the dough and the "crumb"
of the bread. Lower hydration
rates (e.g., 50–57%) are
typical
for bagels and pretzels, and
medium hydration levels (58–
65%) are typical
for breads and rolls.[25] Higher
hydration levels are used to
produce more and larger
holes, as is common in artisan
breads such
as baguettes or ciabatta.
Doughs are also often
classified by the terms stiff,
firm, soft, and slack.[26] Batters
are more liquid doughs.
Muffins are a type of drop
batter while pancakes are a
type of pour batter.

Doughs
[25][26]
 Very stiff < 57%

Stiff to firm 57-65%

Soft 65-70%

Soft to slack 70-80%

Batters
[note 10]

Drop 95%

Pour 190%

To find out what percentage each ingredient is in your formula you would divide the
Ingredient Weight by the Total Flour Weight then multiply that number by 100.

  Ingredient Percentage=Ingredient Weight/Total Flour x 100

To find out what the required weight of each ingredient you need you would take the
Ingredient Percentage and multiply it by the Total Flour Weight.

  Ingredient Weight=Ingredient Percentage x Total Flour Weight

If you have a formula all worked out in percentages and you want to find the weight of
each ingredient then you would take the total amount of bread you want to make and
divide that by the total percentage of the formula. This will give you the total flour
weight.

  Total Flour Weight=Total Weight/Total Percentage