December 22, 2012 - 11:18am
Waste Factor
The Bread Baker's Guild Format Guide refers to a "Waste Factor" when determining "Total Dough Weight" (TDW) for a recipe. The TDW is the (Number of Loaves) * (Size of Loaf) * (Waste Factor).
My question is: What is the normal range for the Waste Factor?
This probably only applies in the commercial area, as we Home bakers don't waste anything. My wife and I took a baking class years ago. Our teacher was great in exposing us to new breads! She would always tell us to scrape that bowl as that little bit left was probably another slice of bread.
Thanks for your input. Dwayne
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Probably no more than 4% for waste.
For example, 800g dough ball + 4% waste (32g) = 832g. 32g is a good bit of waste.
When calculating for waste, just take your standard formula, and multiply each ingredient by the waste %
So original 500g flour becomes 500 + (500 x .04) = 520g; do the same for water, salt, yeast, etc.
Cranbo,
Thanks for your reply. Your answer makes sence. I wonder if this factor is also used to account for the difference in loaf sizes. For example: You want to make 24 100 gram bagels. As you are scaling each bagel it would take more time to make the each exactly 100 grams. So you may accept a weight within the 4% range (96 to 104 grams).
Thanks again, Dwayne