Breaking Down Baker's Percentages | Baker's math, dough hydration, baking formulas

One of the most valuable things I learned in culinary school was how to calculate and use baker's percentages. If you aren't familiar with the concept, baker's percentages or baker's math is a way of calculating a recipe formula where each ingredient is represented as a percentage as it relates to the amount of flour in the recipe. This skill is extremely helpful if you ever want to develop your own recipes, or if you are interested in getting in-depth into bread baking.
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:32 What are baker's percentages?
1:27 How to calculate baker's percentages
2:40 Calculating baker's percentages in basic bread recipe
3:42 Why baker's percentages are useful
4:13 How to calculate ingredient amounts from baker's percentages
5:43 Calculating final dough hydration for sourdough
8:25 Outro
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Practice Recipe:
Flour = 240 grams
Sugar = 200 grams
Baking Powder = 10 grams
Salt = 1 gram
Vanilla = 5 grams
Egg = 50 grams
Oil = 113 grams
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[@josephinebloggs5771]

Nice video. Took me a while to 'get it' when I first starting baking breads, rolls, making pizza dough, etc. But once the penny dropped, I've never looked back. Up or downsizing a recipe became super simple - and I get constant results every time I make a particular recipe. Working in grams is the way to go - I've always used a scale and always will.

[@BakerBettie]

So awesome! I agree, once you get this it can make your bread baking so much more versatile.

[@CraigMansfield]

Thank you. I don't have great confidence in my ability with maths, but I got this straight away. Thanks again.

[@ayodelebashirat7829]

a friend of my husband said i should check you on youtube, i did not regret it. thank you for your priceless information. it is really helpful.

[@BakerBettie]

Wow, thank you!

[@breamckinnon4730]

Thanks for this, it was super helpful! Also, are the answers to the "quiz" somewhere? I need to check my work 😂😂😂

[@christineacharles]

You explained it so clearly - Thank you!

[@charlier7711]

Thanks, this was GREAT! It will help with my future sourdough bakes! Thanks again and have a great holiday season!

[@michelleslifeonrepeat]

Thank you so much I have been trying to grasp this for days, I appreciate your patience.

[@sylviacarlson3561]

Baker Bettie you made this so easy to follow. Thank you so much! You're the best!

[@BakerBettie]

Glad it was helpful!

[@charliehartley8446]

THANK YOU! I have been banging my head against a wall trying to understand other explanations of this.

[@BakerBettie]

Happy to help!

[@mahharteumahseoul1812]

thank you so much!!! your explanation is so detailed yet concise! you broke down this concept into simpler and digestible terms and that eased the overwhelming feeling i had when this was first introduced to me!

[@BakerBettie]

I'm so glad!

[@iyahuri9568]

Wow, it's easy to follow. I'm about to go on college and i really need this, i did not know there's baker percentage in pastry arts😁

[@jassonjasson7418]

Excellent tutorial chef 👍👌👏. Thank you for your effort 🌞🌹🌹😎

[@amandafagan7780]

Thank you SO MUCH for your videos! For me, your style of teaching just clicks and I am learning so much from you! I am sure I will be referring to this one many many many times!

[@BakerBettie]

Wow, thank you!

[@gillisjack]

Great instructional video on percentages for bread baking. I wish you had been one of my math teachers in elementary school!

[@BakerBettie]

Wow, thank you!

[@marshallwelsh8453]

Thank you so very much. I'm glad I discovered your channel.

[@BakerBettie]

You're welcome!

[@oz9680]

Thank you very much for this lesson👍

[@hufemj]

Really good explanation! I'm only just getting into making bread, with six or seven tries so far and I was wondering why my bread was a bit dense. Heard about the importance of salt percentage and Bakers Math in other videos, but had no idea how the percentage was calculated.Your video made it abundantly clear. Thanks!

[@metroprepper9017]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@sylw9289]

This has been very helpful for me with understanding baker's percentage. Thank you. My question is how would I use baker's percentage in making the filling for a cheesecake since no flour would be used as an ingredient?

[@IpemisSweetTooth]

Thank you very much Baker Bettie

[@robinfoster2593]

Such great information! Thank you!

[@BakerBettie]

So glad you found it useful!

[@kbhave]

Thanks a lot for all your videos, sharing your knowledge with novices like me. Have learnt so much from you, much love from Pune, India.

[@BakerBettie]

So nice of you! Thank you from Chicago!

[@christophneumann112]

This video is excellent and very easy to follow. I love the concept of baker's math. Do the same ratios apply when using gluten-free flour? Gluten-free flour tends to be more dense and very dry compared to standard AP flour. The gluten-free flour can weigh more depending on the blend one uses so a gluten free bread recipe would, in theory, have less flour and, most likely, end up with a smaller loaf of bread. Any suggestions or guidance on applying Baker's percentages to gluten free recipes would be greatly appreciated.

[@anothermaria6981]

Thanks for this video! Perfect explanation, you're very good instructor!

[@BakerBettie]

You're very welcome!

[@DizzyIzzyMom]

Loved this video

[@bparrish517]

A delighted new subscriber. Thank you.

[@BakerBettie]

Happy to have you here!

[@ms.angalig3006]

😍 This is it! That's what i was looking for.

[@BakerBettie]

Enjoy!

[@lucydawn5616]

missed class today, hoping you can help me learn this for tomorrow 😂

[@ALWAYSLOUDNEVERQUIET]

You have a great book! Thanks!

[@BakerBettie]

Thank you!

[@Maikoh]

Wow that’s so interesting! I haven’t baked a lot of breads, but I want to 😅 and this will be really helpful to learn about what makes a bread the way it is haha.. I LOVE the vintage aesthetic! Cheers from a fellow foodie/creator! 🤗

[@BakerBettie]

So glad you enjoyed the video! This is definitely helpful for bread baking!

[@maglee6520]

the video helps me understand the baking principles

[@BakerBettie]

I'm so glad!

[@quick9smitty511]

Question: In your sourdough example, would it work to subtract the flour and the water that exists in the starter, from the flour and water in your basic recipe?? So in your example, 900g. flour 600g. water??

[@riccardocarbo2479]

Good job on presenting. I do wish though, you might include the phenomenon of scaling a recipe to a bulk rate whereby the ratios may not hold as accurate. A minor point, but it can make or break the outcome if not accurate when scaled up.

[@BakerBettie]

Great suggestion!

[@OlegGunko]

Great topic! Thank you for not being afraid to come up with geeky content🤓 would you please do calcs for crepes? I am struggling sometimes with proportions when changing liquids., for example it differs if I use whey instead of milk.

[@BakerBettie]

Great suggestion!

[@reenadevarapalli2335]

Thank you so much for this information, now I don’t need to follow the cups or measurements based on any videos, rather I can do my own calculations based on the ingredients I have. However, may I ask who decides the percentages before we even calculate to grams? Thank you

[@fernandoosio4031]

Are there any templates or standard formulas for different types of bread?, like a formula for baguette or brioche or pizza dough.

[@hoannsf]

Thanks for your clear explanation. I have a question: If I want to make Japanese Bread using “Tangzhong”, should I use the your sour dough percentage to calculate the ingredients? Hope you can give me some tips.

[@BakerBettie]

I don't have experience making Japanese bread so I'm unsure! Sorry I couldn't help!

[@55418und]

I want to add to my bread dough with either cranberries, or sunflower seeds as an example. Can you show how the final calc. Is accomplished?

[@mikemaloy3044]

Hi, I'm just starting to do some bread making, and as I'm looking at different bread recipes, I'm seeing the water percent varying wildly - can you talk about what effect the water percentage has on the final bread? What's the minimum percentage?

[@ljuarez67]

The higher the percentage of water, the wetter the dough. The lower the water (standard 65%) the easier to handle the dough (e.g. the stickiness is less)

[@pronavsandhu]

have you tried recilator?

[@danicalorenzo7796]

Hello, Ms. Bettie! We do have a quiz in math about baker's percentage😅 I hope you will answer! I just wanted to ask how to compute all of the ingredients weight if the total of the ingredients are given (ex. 800g) thank you so much in advance for answering!❤🥺

[@riccardocarbo2479]

I'm a math teacher, so let me explain. It's fairly simple with a handy calculator. If the total weight is 800 grams, you read off the given percent that the water is (for example) of the total--let's say 66%. Then press the keys on your calculator this way: 800 X 66 %key, and it will display the weight for the water. The %key will act as the =key, so don't press "equals." Do the same, likewise with the remaining ingredient percents. Fini! You will find that all the separate weights of all the ingredients add to 800g.

[@dawn7612]

Hi there Bette, I am visiting family and not going to be baking until I return. See you then. 😄 In the meantime I have a request... Did you ever do a recipe for Irish Soda Bread? We really like the two recipes I tried recently. One was Gemma's. I would like another version too. Can I make Soda bread into rolls? How about bread sticks? Just a thought because I halved the recipes I found. That's because the two of us seniors are small eaters. I don't mind baking some Irish Soda Bread (no yeast involved) twice a week. I do bake yeast bread. Just not often since it takes me so long to eat a loaf by myself of whole grain seeded bread. My husband likes white bread but it's not for me. Not good for anyone pre-diabetic. However, we both agree on 50/50 Whole wheat Irish Soda bread. Dawn from PA Dutch Country and S. FLA

[@BakerBettie]

Hi! I have an Irish Soda bread recipe on my site. You can form the dough into rolls or bread sticks!

[@themusiccovenant]

Legendary Baker

[@BakerBettie]

Aw thank you!

[@nasarshakeel7065]

I know I will sound dumb but one question troubles me: How to calculate dough mass for a particular pan. For example I have 9x5. How do I go about it? I am still learning so please help.

[@lisanowakow3688]

It made sense!

[@BakerBettie]

So glad it did!

[@michelleslifeonrepeat]

So in making a sourdough bread at 75% verses one at 80% would the second one be moister? Or would the outer crust be different? What makes them different when the numbers go up or down in the percent of hydration?

[@ixchelssong]

Maybe you learned this already, but lower hydration means more dense bread, etc.

[@esthertoks1067]

Thanks. Please how do I calculate the weight of dough o put in a pan

[@riccardocarbo2479]

How many is it to serve? Need more info.

[@lenavoyles526]

So… if you’re aiming for 1% yeast, what does THAT translate to in terms of quantity of sourdough starter? Inquiring minds want to know.

[@usmc2309]

I have a pizza dough recipe that makes a 28cm pizza. I want to make two pizzas. Can I double everything to make two pizzas? Here is an update: My pizza dough ball usually weighs 376g. I doubled everything, and the dough came out to 754g. So, I divide it in half, 377 grams each. Should I double all the ingredients? I was trying to figure out that information using the baker's percentage, but I'm confused about how much of everything I should use to make two pizza doughs based on my recipe. I was trying to find a very good pizza dough recipe for a while, and after trying, I finally came up with a recipe for a 28cm pizza. It tastes really good. The pizza with homemade sauce reminds me of a U.S. Pizza Hut pizza. I plan to make two pizzas, so I didn't know if I should double everything.

[@ixchelssong]

You can double by weight, I believe.

[@shirleesmith1525]

You had me almost up to 5:40. I understand how to do it I think, but I really don't get why you showed the recipe with a little less water other than changing the moistness of the bread. Perhaps showing it with the flour at 500g of flour that makes 1 loaf instead of 2 would be helpful. I hate making two loaves because it's just me and my husband. So, I am trying to figure out what the percentages would be, but I am lost because of what happened with the water in the first one that you showed and the second one. All I can think of is that the yeast will become 5g, the salt 10g, and the water about 350g. But that cannot be correct because that is just cutting everything in half?

[@BakerBettie]

I just showed a different ratio to show to calculate. Some bread has higher hydration, some had lower hydration. If you wanted to only make one loaf of bread, yes you would cut everything in half. The percentages would stay the same no matter how big the batch is. You could use either formula or even a higher hydration if you are experienced with shaping wet dough and want a more open crumb. I was mostly focused on how to calculate percentages in this video. Not really what the formulas are for different recipes. If you are a sourdough baker, this video might help you understand ratios a bit better: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5eUnnuOgLN3fsU

[@josephinebloggs5771]

The thing about example Baker's math calculations is that they use amounts of flour that are 'quick and easy' to work out if you want to halve or double a recipe. A recipe for 'basic bread' with 1kg of flour would probably be divided equally over two 900g/2lb loaf pans anyway. Baker's math comes into play when one wants to downsize/up-size a recipe to suit one's needs which has 'not so easy' ingredient amounts to work with. If you come across a recipe that calls for some 'less easy' amounts of flour, water, etc. and happens to have a hydration level of 65% - just because the recipe author likes it that way - that's when it really helps. For instance, say a bread recipe calls for 700g of flour, with 455g of water, 10g of yeast and 15g of salt. (I'm making this up as I type - just to give a purely hypothetical example). The percentages would be: Flour=100%, water=65% (hydration), yeast=1.28%, and salt=2.1%. If you want to downsize this recipe to 500g flour and keep the hydration level at 65% and the other ingredient ratios the same, you would need to calculate: Water: 500g x 65% = 325g, yeast: 500g x 1.42% = 7.1g and salt: 500g x 2.1% = 10.5g. You can round up/down to the nearest gram where necessary. That way, you know that the bread will turn out the same as the larger amounts used in the original recipe. Same goes for up-sizing a recipe.

[@riccardocarbo2479]

See Josephine's reply below or see mine in reply to Danica Lorenzo's post.

[@haji727]

Very good video but you didn’t explain how to compute the formula when you have 2 types of flour in various amounts.

[@jovitafaustine1086]

hello, i'd like to ask how to calculate for eggs?

[@BakerBettie]

You would use the weight. A large egg should weigh about 50 grams.

[@riccardocarbo2479]

@@BakerBettie as water?

[@tataiinsertlastnamehere6471]

I'm confused about percentages for dough with fats. Like a brioche

[@kabeermalhotra4236]

1st comment ✌️✌️✌️💯💯💯 (Not a comment though 😅)

[@BakerBettie]

Hello!!

[@Artzenflowers]

Yes, it helps, thank you Betty! But math…ugh!

[@BakerBettie]

Haha I know! I actually created some calculators on the linked post that will do the math for you!

[@garyskinner2422]

I'm lost

[@joyosomiha2785]

I found this very helpful, especially the Sourdough part. Thank you so much.

[@BakerBettie]

You're very welcome!

[@tataiinsertlastnamehere6471]

I'm confused about percentages for dough with fats. Like a brioche