Baker's Hundred

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How to open BreadStorm .bun files without BreadStorm

Updated

A .bun file is a bread formula saved by BreadStorm, a formula app for Mac and iPad. If BreadStorm won't open, won't unlock, or isn't on your new computer, you can still open the file in a web browser, scale the formula, and print it.

What a .bun file is

BreadStorm's own FAQ called .bun "BreadStorm's native format for bread formulas." BreadStorm for Mac could export formulas as .bun files once it was unlocked with a paid BreadStorm Key. The free trial couldn't export. BreadStorm's sharing pages and tutorials also offered formulas as .bun downloads.

Inside, a .bun file is plain text in XML format. So far we've checked one BreadStorm file against what BreadStorm itself showed for it. That file holds the formula name, the instructions, each ingredient with its baker's percentage, and the total dough weight. It doesn't store grams for each ingredient, so you need a tool to turn the percentages back into weights.

Cakewalk music software also uses the .bun extension, for audio project bundles. If your file came from Cakewalk, it isn't a bread formula.

Why BreadStorm may not open anymore

Open a .bun file in your browser

Baker's Hundred is a free tool that opens .bun files right in your browser. It's an independent tool and isn't connected with BreadStorm or its makers.

  1. Go to bakershundred.com.
  2. Click Choose files…, or drop your .bun files anywhere on the page. You can open several at once.
  3. Set how much dough you want: a total dough weight, or a number of pieces and the weight of each. You can switch between grams, ounces, and pounds.
  4. Print a production sheet, or download it as HTML or as a CSV file for a spreadsheet.

Your files stay on your computer. The tool reads them in your browser, and the tool page's security policy blocks it from connecting to anything outside this site. This guide page uses Google Analytics to count visits. The tool page doesn't. The privacy page explains how you can check this yourself.

If you'd like to see first what you get, click Try the sample on the main page. It opens a formula we wrote ourselves.

Some files may use a layout Baker's Hundred doesn't support yet, such as several formulas in one file. When that happens, Baker's Hundred stops instead of guessing at amounts, tells you why, and shows you how to send us a copy so we can add support for it.

Look inside without any app

Because a .bun file is plain text, you can also open it in a text editor. In the Finder, Control-click the file, choose Open With, then choose an app. You'll see the ingredient names and percentages among XML tags, but no weights for your batch.

Where your .bun files are

If you exported formulas from BreadStorm, they're wherever you saved them. BreadStorm for Mac also keeps its own data in your Library folder. Here's where that is, and how to back it up.

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