I’m, well, acquainted with the baker’s percentage for basic bread. Flour 100%, Hydration between 60% and 70%, salt 2%, yeast 1%. But what about eggs? Are they expressed as percent of the total hydration? And what’s the recommended percent? Sugar, a percent of the total flour, and how much can you add before interfering with fermentation? Fat is an issue too. And if you want to add, say, potato flakes or dehydrated milk, subtract those percentages from the flour’s total weight? Or add extra liquid?
Every bread cookbook touts the baker’s percentage, and baking by weight rather than volume, but I haven’t found any that actually explain how to use it! I’m anxious to start creating my own formulas and recipes, but can’t find any books with chapters like “So You Want to Make a Brioche,” and then goes on to give the basic formula for brioche, along with tweaks to make it sweeter, or denser, or moister, or whatever (I’m thinking I’m gonna have to write that cookbook, and I don’t know if I’ve got enough time left on earth to do it!).
I really need a teacher!
Every bread cookbook touts the baker’s percentage, and baking by weight rather than volume, but I haven’t found any that actually explain how to use it! I’m anxious to start creating my own formulas and recipes, but can’t find any books with chapters like “So You Want to Make a Brioche,” and then goes on to give the basic formula for brioche, along with tweaks to make it sweeter, or denser, or moister, or whatever (I’m thinking I’m gonna have to write that cookbook, and I don’t know if I’ve got enough time left on earth to do it!).
I really need a teacher!
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