Understanding Baker's Percentages for Bread

If you bake bread, you've probably seen recipes in "baker's percentages"—where flour is 100% and everything else is expressed relative to it. Recipe Toolset's Pro features include a Baker's % mode that makes this intuitive.

Why Baker's Percentages?

Baker's percentages keep hydration and ratios consistent regardless of batch size. A 70% hydration dough is 70% hydration whether you make one loaf or ten. Professional bakers use this system every day.

How It Works in Recipe Toolset

1. Open a recipe that uses weight-based ingredients (flour, water, etc.).
2. Expand Scale Recipe and check Baker's %.
3. Choose your base ingredient (usually flour).
4. Enter your target amount in grams—e.g., 500g of flour.
5. The recipe scales proportionally. Hydration, salt percentage, and preferment ratios stay correct.

Choosing the Base Ingredient

For most bread, flour is the base. With multi-flour recipes (e.g., bread flour + whole wheat), pick the primary flour. The system calculates the rest from your chosen 100% ingredient.

Pro Tip

Start with a recipe you trust, then use Baker's % to scale up for larger batches or down for a single loaf. The math is handled for you—you just bake.