I tried @Timothy McQuaid’s sandwich bread, and used the bakers percentage for it. Hopefully my math was correct. Baked in a 13x 4 x 4 Pullman pan.

Classic White Sandwich Bread With several posts on Baker’s percentages over the past several days, I decided to make two loaves of Classic White Sandwich Bread. One was baked in an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2", standard loaf pan, and one was baked in a 9 x 5 (9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75), 2-pound loaf pan. Both use the following recipe: 100% AP flour, 31% milk, 37% water, 16% melted butter, 7% sugar, 2% salt, and 2.5% instant yeast. Questions that I had to answer: 1. What is the hydration? Hydration comes from the liquid, so 31% milk + 37% water = 68% hydration 2. What ‘Total Dough weight’ do I use in these two pans? - In the 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" standard loaf pan I use 750 grams total dough - In the 9 x 5 (9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75), 2-pound loaf pan,I  use 1,000 grams total dough. 3. What is the sum of ALL of the ingredient Baker’s percentages? 100% AP flour + 31% milk + 37% water + 16% melted butter + 7% sugar + 2% salt + 2.5% instant yeast = 195.5% or 195.5 / 100 = 1.96 (rounded off) 4. What is the ‘Total flour weight’ that I need for each size pan? - Total flour wt. = (Total Dough wt) / (Sum of ALL Baker’s %’s) - For the 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" pan: 750 / 1.96 = 383 grams ‘Total flour’ - For the 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 pan: 1,000 / 1.96 = 510 grams ‘Total flour’ 5. What is the recipe in grams for each size pan? Given that (Total flour wt.) x (Ingredient Baker’s %) = Ingredient wt. - For the 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" pan: 1. 100% AP flour = 1 x 383 = 383 grams 2. 31% milk = 0.31 x 383 = 119 grams 3. 37% water = 0.37 x 383 = 142 grams 4. 16% melted butter = 0.16 x 383 = 61 grams 5. 7% sugar = 0.07 x 383 = 27 grams 6. 2% salt = 0.02 x 383 = 8 grams 7. 2.5% instant yeast = 0.025 x 383 = 10 grams 8. Total Weight = 750 grams (rounded off) 9. Hydration = (119 g milk + 142 g water) / 383 g flour = 68% - - For the 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 pan:  1. 100% AP flour = 1 x 510 = 510 grams 2. 31% milk = 0.31 x 510 = 158 grams 3. 37% water = 0.37 x 510 = 189 grams 4. 16% melted butter = 0.16 x 510 = 82 grams 5. 7% sugar = 0.07 x 510 = 36 grams 6. 2% salt = 0.02 x 510 = 10 grams 7. 2.5% instant yeast = 0.025 x 510 = 13 grams 8. Total Weight = 1,000 grams (rounded off) 9. Hydration = (158 g milk + 189 g water) / 510 g flour = 68%

Question: Be honest, no judgment here. When someone mentions "baker's percentage," where do you actually stand? Real talk. I see a lot of nodding along when baker's percentage comes up, and I have a feeling most people are just being polite. No shame in that. I've got something in the works and I want to know where everyone actually stands before I build it out. Pick the one that's honestly you. No wrong answers here.

Here's the thing. Most of us started baking by following recipes. Somebody says "5 cups flour, 2 cups water" and we just... do it. But what happens when the dough's too sticky? Or the bread tastes bland? Or you want to double the recipe and suddenly nothing works right? You're stuck, because you were following instructions without understanding the architecture behind them. That's what Baker's Percentage fixes. It's not complicated math — if you can divide and multiply, you're already fluent. But it changes everything about how you read recipes, how you scale them, how you troubleshoot, and how you communicate with other bakers. In this lesson I break down: 👉 The one formula you need — and why flour is always 100% 👉 What hydration percentage actually tells you about how your dough will feel before you touch it 👉 The salt sweet spot (and why bland bread is almost always a math problem) 👉 How to control your timeline using yeast and starter percentages 👉 Scaling from 1 loaf to 100 without ever guessing 👉 How to decode any online recipe in about 60 seconds 👉 A troubleshooting guide that uses the numbers to diagnose exactly what went wrong This is the lesson that turns recipe followers into real bakers. 🎥 Watch the full lesson Drop a 🔥 in the comments if you've ever looked at a recipe and thought "I have no idea if this is going to work." After this lesson, you will. And if you've already been using Baker's Percentage — share your favorite formula below. Let's see what ratios this community is working with.

‘German Rye & Spelt Loaf’ Another Ancient Grain loaf. 100% Rye & Spelt flours The recipe is for a sourdough loaf with: 885 grams total dough 500 grams of flour - 60%; 300 grams Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour - 40%; 200 grams Bluebird Farm Spelt Flour. - 74%, 370 grams Water - 2%; 10 grams salt. - 1%; 5 grams instant yeast  The above includes 60%; 300 grams, of levain. I learned how to handle high concentrations of Rye & Spelt. I learned how to handle high concentrations of Rye & Spelt. 1. One of the best ways to prepare rye flour is to pre-ferment it when using it as a major component in a dough. The preferment in this recipe is 60% as a baker’s percentage. During the extended fermentation time, the amylase enzymes will break down the rye's starches into sugar. Rye starches gelatinize at baking temperatures. Thus, a preferment will prevent a ‘Starch Attack’, or the resulting crumb from being gummy. 2. Rye flour is more absorbent than wheat flour because it is higher in bran and finer. You will need more water as compared to wheat flour. It contains high levels of pentosan carbohydrates, which absorb a lot of water. If the pentosans break down during kneading, the dough will become stickier. To avoid this, use your hands to gently fold rye dough instead of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. A stand mixer can be used for the initial mix but not for kneading. Stick to the ‘no knead’ method. 3. The same goes for Spelt flour. But for the opposite reason. Too much water will make the dough sticky and weak. You will need less water as compared to wheat flour. Spelt flour also requires careful mixing. Overmixing can break down the protein strands that help the dough rise, while undermixing can lead to a crumbly texture. You should mix the dough for no more than four minutes after adding the water. 4. Use the ‘No Knead’ method; mix it gently, and don’t worry about kneading it; just do a few folds. For my preferment, I made a levain as follows (1-3-3):