@gretabakes
bread books that actually stay on the counter covered in flour
6 items
- 01Tartine Bread (Chad Robertson)
- 02Flour Water Salt Yeast (Ken Forkish)
- 03The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Peter Reinhart)
- ··3 more entries
114900
the baker's percentage sheet taped inside my cupboard
flour is always 100%. everything else is a percentage of that. this is the reference version, not the full essay
01
baker's percentage - flour is always 100%, everything else is a % of that flour weight
the only way to compare two recipes that use different amounts of flour
02
total flour weight - the number every other percentage divides into
03
hydration % - water weight divided by flour weight, times 100
68% dough behaves nothing like 80%. first number I check on a new formula
04
salt % - usually 1.8-2.2% of flour weight
under 1.8 tastes flat, over 2.2 fights the yeast
05
prefermented flour % - the flour weight already fermenting in your starter or poolish before mix day
06
levain build ratio - starter : flour : water in the actual build, like 1:5:5
(feed it first). a cold sluggish starter ruins the timing no matter how good your ratios are
07
inoculation % - commercial yeast weight vs flour weight, usually under 1%
08
total formula % vs final dough % - whether the number counts the preferment's flour or just what you add at final mix
the one that trips people up copying a recipe off a forum. always check which one they mean
09
scaling factor - target dough weight divided by the formula's total percentage
multiply every ingredient percentage by this and you get a whole new batch size, no guessing
10
oil and sugar % - enriched doughs, usually 5-15% each depending how rich you want it
11
whole grain hydration bump - add roughly 5-10% more water swapping in whole wheat or rye
whole grain drinks more water, skip this and you get a dry brick
12
dough yield - the older alternate math, total dough weight divided by flour weight times 100
13
rounding convention - whole numbers for hydration, one decimal for salt and yeast
keeps the sheet readable, nobody needs 67.34% water
14
crumb shot before you touch the next variable
crumb shot or it didn't happen. otherwise you forget which change did what after the third loaf
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