Bakers’ Percentage on OHAUS Scales
by Carl S. Joslyn
Many OHAUS products feature a Percentage Weighing mode
which can be used to quickly and precisely weigh ingredients using
the Baker's Percentage method. The Baker's Percentage
provides a recipe where the flour weight is expressed as 100%, and
all other ingredients (including water) are expressed as
percentages of the flour weight. By using weights only, the
baker avoids the complication of differing densities for the flour
and other ingredients which occur with volumetric
measurements.
Use a bread recipe which includes Baker's Percentages in the list
of ingredients. For example, a recipe with the following
percentages:
Flour 100%
Water 67%
Salt 1.5%
Yeast 1.5%
The Baker's Percentage allows the baker to quickly and accurately
measure out ingredients using a set amount of flour, and with an
OHAUS scale, there is no need for even the most basic
calculation. If the baker uses a regular weigh-only scale,
the first step would be converting each ingredient based on the
percentage. If 9 pounds of flour is used, each ingredient
would then be based on a multiplication of 9:
Flour 100% = 9 lb
Water 67% = 6.03 lb
Salt 1.5% = 0.135 lb
Yeast 1.5% = 0.135 lb
The process for completing the recipe would be as follows on an
OHAUS EB:
- 1) Turn on scale with nothing on platter and ensure it is
reading 0.
- 2) Place container on platform and press the Tare key - display
should read 0 again
- 3) Weigh flour into container.
- 4) Press % key once the display is stable - the display should
now show 100%.
- 5) If you will keep each ingredient separate, remove container
with flour from platform and put the next empty container on the
platform. Press the Tare key to enter the container's weight
into the scale's memory, and then weigh the next ingredient using
the % display until the ingredient reaches the required %. Continue
until all ingredients are weighed.
If you will use the same container, press the Tare key again and
then weigh the next ingredient using the % display until the
ingredient reaches the required %. Continue until all
ingredients are weighed, pressing the Tare key in between
ingredients.
The same procedure on the Valor 3000 Xtreme would be as
follows:
- 1.) Turn on scale with nothing on platter and ensure it is
reading 0.
- 2.) Press the Mode/Unit/Menu key until Set.rEF and the %
icon are displayed.
- 3.) To set the flour weight for a new batch, press the Yes key
- the scale display will now blink until the new flour weight is
stored in memory. (If you are using the same flour weight as
previous recipes, press the No key to use the reference weight in
memory and proceed to step .)
- 4.) Place container on platform and press the O/T/On/Off key,
the display should read 0 again.
- 5.) Weigh flour into container.
- 6.) Press the Enter/Cal key once the display is stable - the
display should now show 100%.
- 7.) If you will keep each ingredient separate, remove container
with flour from platform and put the next empty container on the
platform. Press the O/T/On/Off key to enter the
container's weight into the scale's memory, and then weigh the next
ingredient using the % display until the ingredient reaches the
required %. Continue until all ingredients are weighed.
- 8.) If you will use the same container, press the
O/T/On/Off key again and then weigh the next ingredient using
the % display until the ingredient reaches the required %.
Continue until all ingredients are weighed, pressing the O/T/On/Off
key in between ingredients.
Baker's Percentage software allows a baker to quickly scale up
to down a batch based on the total weight of flour used. Using
recipes written in Baker's Percentages-with each ingredient given
as a % of the flour weight-an OHAUS scale can be used to quickly
weigh-out ingredients without the baker having to recalculate each
item separately. OHAUS offers a range of products from portioning
scales to bench scales with Percentage Weighing mode software
perfect for Baker's Percentages.
Related Links:
Countertop & Floor
Defender™ 7000 Scales
Defender™ 5000 Scales
Countertop Only
Valor™ 5000
FD Series
Valor™ 3000 Xtreme