# Baker's dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 8, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/147284 "2003-01-08T12:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LibertyGeis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@LibertyGeis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibertyGeis)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/147284/1 "2003-01-08T12:54:38Z")
[Dex’s article](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbakersdozen.html) on the origins of the phrase “baker’s dozen” was an interesting read. As a baker though, I have a bit of a conjecture as to where the term comes from. My theory pins the origin to simple spacing. Most cookie sheets are something close to a 3:2 length/width ratio. Consider, say, an 18" by 12" sheet: [http://pic4.picturetrail.com:80/VOL58/849351/1530279/18147938.jpg](http://pic4.picturetrail.com:80/VOL58/849351/1530279/18147938.jpg) We can fit 12 cookies of 4" diameter onto the sheet with this pattern. This is an even dozen – numerically convenient, but most bakers prefer to economize on space. Taking a cue from some of nature’s finest and most efficient foodmakers, we simply adopt the honeycomb pattern: [http://pic4.picturetrail.com:80/VOL58/849351/1530279/18147936.jpg](http://pic4.picturetrail.com:80/VOL58/849351/1530279/18147936.jpg) That’s 13 cookies in the space designed for 12. Over the course of a day or week, that’s hundreds of extras for no additional effort. When we’re tallying our goods for a shipment, we usually count by sheet – one, two, three dozen, since “dozen” is as good a word for it as any, then multiply by 13. Hence, a dozen to a baker is 13 in this regard. I can’t say for certain that this is how the term came into being, but it seems as good a reason as any, and is used regularly by bakers today. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/147284/2 "2003-01-09T00:05:11Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, Liberty, glad to have you here. I have a problem with assuming that the size of today’s baking sheets and cookies is at all relevant to a several centuries’ old expression. But it’s an interesting theory. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/147284/3 "2003-02-09T12:49:02Z")
Sounds like a darn good theory to me. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/147284/4 "2003-02-11T10:54:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LibertyGeis \* > **I can’t say for certain that this is how the term came into being, but it seems as good a reason as any** Except for the lack of documentation. Why would all cookies be exactly one third the width of the baking sheet? And does this somehow apply to bread loaves? ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/147284/5 "2003-02-11T10:57:57Z")
O yeh what about “mister” and “meister”?