Baker's Percentage Calculator
Welcome to Omni's baker's percentage calculator, a simple and convenient tool to determine the proportion of a particular ingredient you need relative to the amount of flour you use. This proportion is called baker's percentage.
If you're a baking enthusiast, you've probably have heard that baking is an exact science. To achieve the desired outcome — whether it's a fluffy muffin, a pancake (our pancake recipe calculator has the best recipe out here), or cake — you must measure your ingredients precisely. One way you can implement a perfect recipe is to utilize the baker's percentage formula! Before you bake your batch made in heaven 🥧, come along to learn more about baker's percentage and to get answers to some questions, such as:
- What is baker's percentage?
- What is the baker's percentage formula?
- What is the baker's percentage in bread - and more!
What is baker's percentage?
Baker's percentage (also known as baker's math) is a method to determine the proportion of ingredients when baking relative to the flour weight. You can use baker's percentage for many reasons, including:
- Needing precise proportions of ingredients with one unit of measure;
- Scaling recipes up or down without messing up the consistency of the dough or batter; or
- Experimenting with ingredients by changing only one of them while keeping other ingredient percentages constant.
What is the baker's percentage formula?
Now, you are probably wondering how to calculate baker's percentage. Don't worry; the best is yet to crumb 😉. The formula for baker's percentage is quite simple:
baker's percentage = (ingredient weight / total flour weight) × 100%
To put the formula in perspective, we have an example for you. Let's say you were trying to bake a sourdough bread 🍞 that has the following ratio of ingredients:
Ingredient | Percentage |
|---|---|
Flour | 100% |
Water | 67% |
Starter | 20% |
Salt | 2% |
For example, this would mean that we must add one part starter for each five parts flour we use in our recipe. "Part" can be any unit of weight — ounces, grams, kilograms, you name it!
🙋 We can help you with your baking passion: the sourdough calculator will become your best friend, after your starter!
So if you were to use 1.2 kg (1,200 g) of flour, then your measurements would be as follows:
Ingredient | Calculation | Weight |
|---|---|---|
Flour | 1,200g | |
Water | 67 / 100 × 1,200 g | 804 g |
Starter | 20 / 100 × 1,200 g | 240 g |
Salt | 2 / 100 × 1,200 g | 24 g |
Simple enough? Try experimenting with your recipes with the help of the Omni baker's percentage calculator!
🙋 Remember that, in baker's math:
- Flour is always expressed as 100%; and
- The portions of all ingredients are not supposed to add up to 100%.
If you are a chemist, you may have noticed a similarity between the baker's percentage and measures of concentration. We explored them at our concentration calculator: we even have a percentage concentration to molarity calculator, that deals with the most similar measures to this cooking one!
How do I calculate baker's percentage?
To calculate the baker's percentage for bread or any other baked goods:
- Weigh the ingredient of your choice.
- Divide the weight of your ingredient by the total weight of the flour.
- Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.
- Voilà! You have now calculated the baker's percentage.
What does 67% hydration mean in baker’s percentage?
67% hydration in baker's percentage displays how much water your dough or batter contains in proportion to flour. For instance, if you have 1,200 g of flour, 67% hydration means 804 g of water in the dough.
What is the use of baker's percentage?
You can use baker's percentage in several ways, including scaling a dough or batter formula to make as many batches (or as few) baked goods as you desire — without messing up the recipe.
What is the percentage of flour in baker's math?
The percentage of flour in baker's math is always 100%. Note that if you add up all percentages of ingredients in baker's percentage (including the flour) the sum will not equal 100%. The percentage indicates the quantity relative to the amount of flour.