The arithmetic that makes recipes scale and baking repeatable. The baker's-percentage and pizza figures were computed and checked against the calculators.
Formulas
| Measure | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Scale a recipe | new amount = amount × (new servings / old servings) |
A recipe for 4 that needs 300 g of flour, made for 6: 300 × 6/4 = 450 g |
| Baker's percentage | ingredient % = ingredient weight / flour weight × 100 |
500 g flour, 350 g water, 10 g salt, 5 g yeast: 100%, 70%, 2% and 1% |
| Flour from a total dough weight | flour = total × 100 / (100 + sum of other %) |
865 g of dough at 70%, 2% and 1% (173% in all): 865 × 100 / 173 = 500 g of flour |
| Pizza area | area = π × (diameter / 2)² |
12 in: 113.1 sq in; 16 in: 201.1 sq in. A pizza 33% wider has 1.78 times the area |
| Pizza price per square inch | price / area |
12 in for $12: $0.106; 16 in for $18: $0.090, the better value |
| Oven temperatures | °F = °C × 9/5 + 32 |
180 °C = 356 °F, 200 °C = 392 °F, 220 °C = 428 °F |
Try them
Use the Recipe Scaler to resize any recipe, the Baker's Percentage Calculator to convert between weights and percentages, and the Pizza Size Calculator to compare pizzas by area and price. For temperatures and conversions see the Weather Formulas Cheat Sheet.
Tips
- Weigh, do not scale by cups. Flour packs differently each time; grams are repeatable, and baker's percentages need weights.
- Hydration is the water percentage. 70% is a typical bread dough; more is stickier and more open.
- Area, not diameter, is what you eat. A 16 inch pizza is 1.78 times a 12 inch one, so it can cost more and still be cheaper per bite.
- Round sensibly. Scaled amounts like 1.33 eggs need rounding; adjust the smaller ingredients first.