OXO Good Grips 11 lb Stainless Steel Food Scale
For seeing the display past a wide bowl
OXO Good Grips 11 lb Stainless Steel Food ScaleA pull-out display helps keep the reading visible under larger containers.
11 lb (5.0 kg), reads in 1 g steps
Auf Deutsch · En français · En español
Baker's percentage explained
In baker's percentage every ingredient is a percentage of the flour you add, which is always 100%; the flour inside a levain is counted separately. A dough of 1,000 g flour, 750 g water, 20 g salt and 200 g levain is 100%, 75%, 2% and 20%. It lets you see a recipe's shape at a glance and scale it to any size.
To scale: add up the percentages (here 197%), divide the dough weight you want by that total, and you have the flour weight. For a 900 g loaf: 900 ÷ 1.97 = 457 g flour, then 343 g water, 9 g salt and 91 g levain.
A worked example
The loaf column is 900 ÷ 1.97 = 457 g flour, and every other line is that times its percentage. The calculator does this for any batch, number of loaves or target dough weight.
| Ingredient | Baker's % | Batch (1,000 g flour) | One 900 g loaf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100% | 1,000 g | 457 g |
| Water | 75% | 750 g | 343 g |
| Salt | 2% | 20 g | 9 g |
| Levain (100% hydration) | 20% | 200 g | 91 g |
| Total | 197% | 1,970 g | 900 g |
Formula percentages and overall percentages
The levain carries its own flour and water. In the example it adds 45.5 g of each to the 900 g loaf, so overall hydration is 388.5 ÷ 502.5 = about 77%, and the flour fermented in the levain (prefermented flour) is about 9% of all the flour. Recipes may quote either figure; the calculator shows both. See bread hydration.
Why bakers use it
It shows at a glance whether a recipe is wet or dry, salty or lean. It scales cleanly to any loaf, basket or pan: pick the dough weight from the banneton size chart or pan table, then divide by the total percentage.
Questions bakers ask
How do I calculate baker's percentage?
Divide each ingredient's weight by the weight of the flour you add and multiply by 100. Flour is always 100%. For overall hydration, add the levain's flour and water: in the example above, 850 g water over 1,100 g flour is about 77%.
Does starter count as flour in baker's percentage?
In the formula it is usually listed as its own ingredient. For overall hydration and salt, count its flour and water too.
What is 2% salt?
Salt at 2% of the flour weight: 10 g salt for 500 g flour, the usual amount for bread.
Equipment for this job
Keep what you own when it does the job. These are the other exact models we profile.
OXO Good Grips 11 lb Stainless Steel Food Scale
Drawn to its outside size
For batch weighing and percentage mode
My Weigh KD-8000An 8 kg scale with a separate platform and adjustable auto-off.
8 kg, reads in 1 g steps9.8 × 8 in outside