Bakers write formulas, not recipes. Every ingredient is a percentage of the flour, so any batch size is one multiplication away.
Key idea
Baker's percentage: flour = 100%; every other ingredient = its weight ÷ flour weight × 100. If there are two flours, their total is 100%. To make a batch, multiply each percent by the flour weight. To make a set amount of dough, flour weight = dough weight ÷ (total of all the percents ÷ 100).
| Ingredient | Baker's % | For 1,000 g flour |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 100% | 1,000 g |
| Water | 68% | 680 g |
| Salt | 2% | 20 g |
| Instant yeast | 1% | 10 g |
| Total | 171% | 1,710 g |
Why it works
The percents add up to more than 100%, and that is the point: they compare everything to flour, so you can see at a glance that one bread is wetter (higher water %) or saltier than another.
Worked example: Ingredient from percent
A formula has 2.2% salt. How much salt for 1,500 g of flour?
- $1500 \times 0.022 = 33$ g.
Answer: 33 g.
Worked example: Flour from dough weight
You need 1,800 g of the 171% dough above. How much flour?
- $1800 \div 1.71 \approx 1052.6$ g.
Answer: About 1,053 g of flour.
Common mistake
Making the percents total 100. In baker's math only the flour is 100%.
Practice at home
- Take a bread recipe written in cups, weigh each ingredient as you measure it, and rewrite it in baker's percentages.
In Meal Prep
- Sandwich bread: a good first loaf
- French bread and baguettes: a lean dough