Balances and Scales in Baking

 Formulas
 Scale capacity
 Scale readability
 Weight ounce
 Fluid ounce
 Density
 Viscosity
 Baker’s percentage
 Tempering
Most bakery items:
 Are all made of the same ingredients.
 Differ only in method of preparation or the proportion of ingredients.
 Small changes can have a large effect on the quality of a product.
Kitchen chefs make adjustments along the way; pastry chefs often
cannot.
Examples: soup and bread.
 Two main types:
 baker’s balance
 digital electronic
 Precision of a scale depends on:

 Scale design
 While many electronic scales are more precise than baker’s balances, this is not
always the case.
 Electronic scales vary in their precision.
 Whether scale is well-maintained
 Whether scale is properly calibrated
 Check that your scale works
properly using a standard weight on
a daily basis.
 If necessary, recalibrate scale.
Know your scale’s:
 Capacity: the maximum amount that it can weigh.
 Readability: the smallest weight that can be read off
display panel.
Example: 100 oz. x 0.1 oz.

Example: Max = 4.0 kg, d = 5 g
Readability of a scale is not the smallest amount that the scale can
accurately weigh.
Smallest quantity to be weighed =

scale readability x 10
Example: d = 1 gram
Example: d = 0.25 ounce
With digital electronic scales:
 Vibrations and breezes cause readings to fluctuate.
 Hot pans and cold bowls cause readings to drift.
 Nearby induction burners (magnetic fields) and use
of plastic weighing containers (static electricity)
can disrupt readings.
 Metric units:
 grams and kilograms, for weight
 milliliters and liters, for volume
 U.S. common units/Canadian imperial units:

 ounces and pounds, for weight
 teaspoons and quarts, for volume
 Why use metric:
 Used by most countries throughout world
 Fewer math calculations when scaling a formula up or down
 Gram scales are not necessarily more accurate than ounce scales .
Example: scale where d = 5 grams and another where
d = 0.1 ounce.
Measure all dry ingredients by weight, not volume.
 Will get same measurement; even if, ingredient has settled or was sifted.
 When dry ingredients are measured by volume; settling and sifting will affect the
measurement.
 Liquids are sometimes measured volumetrically, using measuring cups.
 Besides water, liquids often measured volumetrically include: milk,
cream, eggs.
 All have about the same density as water.
 16 fluid ounces of each weighs about 16 ounces by weight.
 500 milliliters of each weighs about 500 grams by weight.
 For all other liquids,
 When formula calls for 16 oz, use a scale; when it calls for 16 fluid oz, use a
measuring cup.
 When formula calls for 500 grams, use a scale; when it calls for 500
milliliters, use a measuring cup.
Do not confuse weight and volume measurements.
 Density is a measure of the compactness of particles, or molecules, in a
liquid or solid.
 Dense ingredients have less air or empty space between particles or
molecules.
Dense ingredients take up less space than the same weight of less dense
ingredients.
Which ingredient above is the least dense? Which is

the densest? How can you tell?
Why does a cup of sugar syrup weigh more
than a cup of water?
Viscosity is a measure of how easily a liquid flows.
 Thin liquids: particles or molecules slide past each other easily.
 Thick liquids: particles or molecules bump or tangle with each other.
Molasses is thick because molecules
do not slide past each other easily.
 Density and Viscosity are not the same.
 Cannot judge the density of a liquid by its thickness.
 Which is denser:
 Heavy cream or milk?
 Whole eggs or orange juice?
 Oil or water?
 Also called formula percentage or indicated as “on flour weight basis.”
 Is a ratio of the amount of an ingredient to the amount of flour.
 Not the same as the more commonly used percentage which is based on
total batch size.
 Advantage of percentages:
 can more easily compare formulas to one another.
 Advantage of baker’s percentages over total batch percentages:

 fewer calculations when changing the amount of one ingredient in a formula.
 Calculation:
Baker’s percentage =
100% x (weight of ingredient) ÷ (total weight of flour)
 Ingredients can change properties with a change in temperature.
 Example: butter
 Tempering: technique for carefully combining ingredients that are at

widely different temperatures.
 Example: cold yolks and hot milk.
 Example: warm gelatin and cold whipped cream.
 Control oven temperatures.
 Check oven temperatures before use.
 Avoid excessive opening of oven door during baking.
 Oven temperature can greatly affect how well a product rises.

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 Formulas

 Precision of a scale depends on:

Example: 100 oz. x 0.1 oz.

Smallest quantity to be weighed =

 U.S. common units/Canadian imperial units:

Which ingredient above is the least dense? Which is

 Advantage of baker’s percentages over total batch percentages:

 Tempering: technique for carefully combining ingredients that are at

 Oven temperature can greatly affect how well a product rises.

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