I have a bread recipe that is slightly too large for my bread machine, so I need to downsize it a little, but I don't want to make it a full 25% or 50% smaller, meaning the ingredient amounts end up with weird values that don't fit normal measuring spoon sizes well even if I round them a bit. This makes the measuring part a bit annoying.

If I wanted a 15% smaller loaf of bread, would it still come out well if I only reduced the flour and yeast by ~15% and left the other values normal, or do all the ingredients need to have the ratio given in the recipe? The taste being affected a little is fine, as long as it rises properly and has normal texture/consistency.


Yes you do have to reduce all ingredients proportionally for the dough to come out the same. The best way to measure for baking is by weight in grams rather then in volume as weight in grams is extremely accurate and makes for much easier adjustments like those you need to make.

The most critical measurements to get right are the flour and the liquid ingredients to ensure your hydration remains the same, a 15% difference in water is huge in bread baking. Salt's also important, but less so as a 15% increase in salt isn't going to make a massive difference. Yeast you can eyeball to a certain extent and take just a bit off, you'll likely need to play with the amount anyway as bread makers often balloon bread dough - make it rise too quickly - reducing yeast helps to keep rise speed under control.

Again accurate weighing is the easiest way to make consistent bread. 1ml of water = 1g so I weigh the water too.

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