The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

baker's math

MIchael_O's picture

Recipes Understood, Converted, and Screened

August 17, 2010 - 11:23pm -- MIchael_O

In response to hearing people ask recipe-related questions I have created a

chart that graphs all baked goods (cookies, cakes, muffins, etc) using three numbers. The chart is easy to understand There is some math behind it so I automated everything with a web application called Caked-Face Menace.

mlucas's picture

Calculating Final Dough Hydration from Baker's Percentages

April 27, 2010 - 6:55am -- mlucas

When baking with any type of starter/levain/biga, it seems pretty important to know the final dough hydration of a recipe, as that is a much better way to gauge the feel of the dough than just the base hydration. (especially when a large amount of starter is used)

Of course, if the hydration of the starter matches the hydration of the dough recipe, there's no need to calculate. But usually this is not the case...

dmsnyder's picture

Need help with baker's math in spreadsheet!

February 4, 2010 - 11:16pm -- dmsnyder

I am building a spreadsheet to help me develop formulas for breads. I'm gaining a much better understanding of baker's math in this process. However, I am getting some discrepancies in my calculations that I just can't seem to understand. I'm looking for help.

As an exercise, I'm working with a dough with the following parameters:

 

flournwater's picture

Bread Dough Formula Math Dilemma (Some Help, I Hope)

December 29, 2009 - 12:57pm -- flournwater
Forums: 

From time to time I read posts with questions like this:

"I want to use 435 grams of starter at 70% hydration in a bread dough formula that calls for 500 grams of flour at 60% hydration.  How do I figure out how much flour and water I need to add in order to meet that requirement?"

Here's a primer that should alleviate the headache you might normally experience trying to figure it out.

Doc Tracy's picture

Confused about the math-

December 19, 2009 - 12:52am -- Doc Tracy
Forums: 

Ok, so I'm pretty good at math. I had to get by to get through graduate and medical school. But, I'm seeing recipes with 448.5% of total ingredients? How does that work? Also, how do you figure out the hydration of your starter? What is the difference between a levain and starter as far as the percentage in hydration? Can I convert a starter to a levain? How do I figure the amount of water/ flour used by my starter or levain when making a recipe if the recipe is not properly done with percentages?

Uberkermit's picture

Bread formula utility for Excel

June 27, 2007 - 7:34am -- Uberkermit
Forums: 

I put together an Excel workbook for working with bread formulas. Although there are other similar tools on this site, this one has some nice additional features. Let's say you have a formula for a sourdough bread, but you want to make a couple changes. First, you want to add 10% spelt flour, you want to up the hydration from 65% to 68%, change the salt form 1.8 to 2%, reduce the dough yield from 3.5 pounds to 3.0 pounds, and increase the percent of pre-fermented flour from 15-20%.

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