Using our dough example with 1,000 grams flour: If our recipe calls for 40 grams of honey, the percentage of honey in baker’s math is 4%.īut this brings us to another question: Are there firm rules that prescribe percentage amounts of water, fat, sugar, yeast, or other ingredients in a bread recipe? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Just like with water, yeast, and salt, you should determine the ratios of these sub-ingredients by calculating them against the flour. What about ingredients beyond the basics: honey, oats, seeds, etc.? The same goes for liquid sweeteners (like honey) and melted butter. They simply don’t contain significant quantities of water, a key requirement for gluten formation. Yes, the addition of oil will soften the dough, but fats - even liquid fats - are not considered hydration. If our dough example above (with 1,000 grams flour) has 700 grams of water and 50 grams of olive oil, the hydration remains 70% (1,000g flour, 700g liquid = 70%). Other liquids that contain a majority portion of water, such as milk or beer, can also be considered as hydration. While it’s true that many ingredients (such as eggs or oil) may be considered liquids and will change dough consistency, the primary baker’s math consideration for hydration is water. Which ingredients are considered a liquid when calculating hydration? Sourdough baguettes, 73% hydration in baker's math. Since in baker’s math the total amount of flour is always assigned a value of 100%, the flour portion of this recipe would be written like so: All-purpose = 70%, whole wheat = 20%, rye = 10%. Additionally, sugar is not considered flour.)Īn example: If a bread recipe has 700 grams of all-purpose flour, 200 grams of whole wheat flour, and 100 grams of rye flour, the total flour weight of that recipe is 1,000 grams. (Rolled oats and other flaked products, including cracked grains like rye or corn grits, are generally not categorized as flour. Whether whole wheat, rye, all-purpose, " 00," or even gluten-free, each and every flour should be counted as part of the total flour amount. The basic answer is that any flour should be considered flour. In baker's math, which ingredients are considered "flour"? Plus (bonus!), after the questions we have a quiz where you can test your expertise. Keep reading to find yours (and if we don’t cover it, add it to the comments below and we’ll get on it). Here, we’re focusing on some of the questions that we hear on a regular basis. For a more in-depth guide, we also have our professional baker’s reference page. If you're new to the concept of baker's math and want a straightforward introduction that covers the basics, see our previous baker’s percentage blog post. Here's an example of a simple formula using baker's percentages: Ingredientīut as helpful as it is, baker’s math can also get confusing. Primarily used in bread-specific applications, baker’s math is indispensable for scaling recipes up or down for determining batch sizes based on the amount of any given ingredient (how many baguettes can I make with only 20 grams of yeast?) or simply for comparing different recipes. While ingredient amounts change with different batch sizes, the ratios - that is, the relationship between the flour, water, salt, yeast, and other ingredients - will always remain the same. It's a formula that uses the total weight of flour as its centerpiece: The total weight of flour is always treated as 100%, and all other ingredients are measured against that flour weight to convert the recipe into percentages. Baker’s math (aka baker’s percentages) is a numerical system used to identify ratios in bread recipes.
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