Baker’s Percentages

Why are we mathing?

 While sitting in 7th grade math class, I remember thinking, “Why do I have to know this?  When am I going to use math in my life outside of a classroom?”  I didn’t want to be an engineer, a math teacher, or even a pharmacist like my husband.  In fact, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I was certain that if a profession required math, I wanted no part of it!  Fast forward several years later to an older version of that 7th grader sitting in a Basic Skills class at The California Culinary Academy.  One of the first things we were to learn was about some devil called “Baker’s Percentages.”  Um, excuse me?! Math?  Shoot.  I could have sworn that bakers didn’t use math.  Alas, there I was learning about a concept that I was so petrified of that I had such a hard time understanding it at first.  My brain struggled to process that the super simple math involved in baking was so important. I immediately feared failure and put up a mental block.

            Because of this poor start I had with Baker’s Percentages, I completely understand if you clam up and stop reading immediately.  But, if you can stick with me for a minute, I promise that it’s not as hard of a concept to grasp as it sounds.  If you can do quick calculations of a 30% off sale on a coveted pair of shoes, then I promise you, this will be a piece of cake for you to master.
           

            What are Baker’s Percentages?   It’s a simple system of percentages used to express ingredient proportions.  It is a way to scale a recipe to any size you need without compromising the integrity of the recipe.  The percentages used show the amount of each ingredient used as a percentage of the amount of flour used.  The reason why ingredient amounts are calculated based on the total amount of flour used is because in baking, flour is usually* the dominant ingredient. 

Still confused?  Let’s practice using a basic formula:

Baguette

Ingredient                           U.S. Measurement                      Baker’s %

Bread Flour                         2 lb 2 oz (34 oz)                             100%                                             

Salt                                          0.67 oz                                              2%

Yeast, Fresh                         0.75 oz                                             2.5%

Water                                     1 lb 4 oz (20 oz)                              60%

Let’s say you want to double this recipe or even multiply it by 45, you will use the same exact formula using the Baker’s Percentages to write your recipe.  So, let’s break it down.  If you want to double the recipe and use 68 oz of flour, to calculate the amount of salt needed, you will multiply the Total weight of Flour (in ounces) by the percentage of the salt. 68 x .02 = 1.36 oz of salt.  For the yeast, multiply the weight of flour in ounces by the percentage of the yeast. 68 x .025 = 1.7 oz of yeast.  And lastly, for the water, 68 x .60 = 40.8 oz of water.  So, by doubling the amount of flour, it doesn’t automatically exactly double the amount of the rest of the ingredients…because math.  This is why it is important to use baker’s percentages when scaling a recipe instead of automatically doubling each ingredient.  You can use this method for almost any baking formula you already have in your arsenal. In order to find the percentages, use this formula below and then calculate each ingredient accordingly. 

Total Weight of Ingredient ÷ Total Weight of Flour X 100 =  % of ingredient

I hope this clears things up.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to drop a comment below and I will be happy to help!

*In some recipes, you may find that the most major ingredient is not flour, but something else and that ingredient will show 100%.  For example, Almond Filling will have 100% almond paste and all other ingredients will be a percentage of the amount of almond paste used.