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Culinary & Baking Math

Kitchen maths: baker's percentages, hydration, recipe scaling, food cost and dough temperature

Baker's Percentage

NEWBasic
%=mingredientmflour×100\% = \frac{m_{ingredient}}{m_{flour}} \times 100

Every ingredient expressed relative to the flour weight — the backbone of bread recipes.

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Dough Hydration

NEWIntermediate
H=mwatermflour×100H = \frac{m_{water}}{m_{flour}} \times 100

Water as a percentage of flour — controls how open and airy the crumb is.

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Recipe Scaling

NEWBasic
mnew=mold×ndesirednoriginalm_{new} = m_{old} \times \frac{n_{desired}}{n_{original}}

Scales every ingredient up or down for a different number of servings.

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Desired Dough Temperature

NEWAdvanced
Twater=3Tddt(Tflour+Troom+Tfriction)T_{water} = 3\,T_{ddt} - (T_{flour} + T_{room} + T_{friction})

Water temperature that lands the mixed dough at its target for good fermentation.

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Food Cost Percentage

NEWBasic
FC=CP×100FC = \frac{C}{P} \times 100

Ingredient cost as a share of menu price — the key restaurant profitability metric.

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Portion Cost

NEWBasic
Cp=CtotalnC_p = \frac{C_{total}}{n}

Cost of a single serving from a batch.

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Yield Percentage

NEWIntermediate
Y=mediblempurchased×100Y = \frac{m_{edible}}{m_{purchased}} \times 100

Usable food remaining after trimming and peeling.

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As-Purchased Quantity

NEWIntermediate
AP=EPYAP = \frac{EP}{Y}

How much raw product to buy to end up with the edible amount you need.

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Salt Percentage

NEWBasic
S=msaltmflour×100S = \frac{m_{salt}}{m_{flour}} \times 100

Salt relative to flour — too little makes bland bread, too much slows the yeast.

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Sugar Content (°Brix)

NEWIntermediate
Brix=msugarmsolution×100Brix = \frac{m_{sugar}}{m_{solution}} \times 100

Grams of sugar per 100 g of solution — measured for jams, wine and syrups.

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Fresh to Dry Yeast

NEWBasic
mdry=mfresh3m_{dry} = \frac{m_{fresh}}{3}

Converts fresh (cake) yeast to active dry yeast by weight.

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Fahrenheit to Celsius (Oven)

NEWBasic
C=59(F32)C = \frac{5}{9}(F - 32)

Converts an oven temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

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Roasting Time

NEWBasic
t=m×rt = m \times r

Total cooking time from the meat's weight and a per-kilogram rate.

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Simple Syrup Ratio

NEWBasic
R=msugarmwaterR = \frac{m_{sugar}}{m_{water}}

Sugar-to-water ratio defining a syrup's thickness.

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Batch Scaling Factor

NEWBasic
f=nnewnoldf = \frac{n_{new}}{n_{old}}

Single multiplier applied across a whole recipe when changing batch size.

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Beverage Cost Percentage

NEWBasic
BC=CdrinkPdrink×100BC = \frac{C_{drink}}{P_{drink}} \times 100

Cost of a drink's ingredients relative to its selling price.

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Boiling Point vs Altitude

NEWIntermediate
Tb100h285T_b \approx 100 - \frac{h}{285}

Approximate drop in water's boiling point with elevation (h in metres).

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