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Bread Baking 101 – Types of flour and how to accurately measure flour

January 17, 2013 by Roxana 25 Comments

Bread Baking 101 - everything you need to know about wheat flours and how to accurately measure flour from Roxanashomebaking.com

 

*Note to myself, never promise something unless I’m really good at predicting the future.

So today, I’m running a little late, because Comcast thought would be a good idea to leave us in the dark for a couple of hours, you know, who actually needs internet at 6 am? So here I’m, after one big cup of coffee talking about flour and how to accurately measure flour.

In case you missed the previous posts of my Bread Baking Series, here are the links

Bread Baking 101 – Equipment

Bread Baking 101 – Commonly used ingredients : water, salt, sugar, milk, butter, oil, eggs

Bread Baking 101 – Commonly used ingredients : flour

Bread Baking 101 – Commonly used ingredients : yeast

 

Bread Baking 101 - everything you need to know about wheat flours and how to accurately measure flour from Roxanashomebaking.com

Flour is the most ingredient in bread, and the type of flour you use will determine how good or bad your bread is going to turn out.

Wheat flour (the flours I’ll be talking about) is composed of protein forming components called gluten. Gluten is made of two types of protein : glutenin, which gives elasticity and gliadin which adds resistance to stretching. These two components, in contact with water or any other liquid, work together in balance to create structure within the dough, which in the end leads to that beautiful loaf of bread.

There are 4 types of wheat flour that are most used in bread recipes. : all-purpose flour, bread flour, whole wheat flour and white whole wheat flour.

Bread Baking 101 - everything you need to know about wheat flours and how to accurately measure flour from Roxanashomebaking.com

Although optional, I do recommend sifting the flour

All purpose flour 

All purpose flour is, I think, one of the most used flour in bread recipes. It has a gluten content between 9-11%. It’s usually made of a combination of hard and soft wheat and come in two varieties. Bleached and unbleached.

Unbleached flour is aged naturally to oxidize the proteins and bleach out the natural yellow pigment present in freshly milled flour. Unbleached flour has more nutrients.

Bleached flour is aged quickly with chlorine dioxide gas. Bleaching also removes some chemicals that interfere with gluten development. If you look carefully, you’ll noticed that some bleached flour are enriched, that means after the bleaching process some nutrients (mostly iron, B vitamins and sometimes calcium) are added back to the flour to match the nutritious value of the unbleached flour.

Both flours can be used in bread recipes with no problems. I haven’t noticed a difference when baking with bleached or unbleached, so don’t sweat over it.

If you’d like to hear my two cents, than use unbleached flour for bread recipes and bleached for cakes, cookies and other pastries.

Bread flour

As the name stats, this type of flour is used for making the cream of the breads. Unbleached bread flour is made from hard red spring wheat that is aged without chemicals or preservatives. (thus the higher price). Some national flour brands offer bread flour at a lower price, flour that was aged faster and enriched when the process was done.

The high percentage of gluten, usually between 11-14% , makes the dough more elastic and easier to work with creating light-textured breads.

Bread flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour, but you have to keep in mind that bread flour, since it has a higher gluten content, requires more liquid. When using all-purpose flour you can either add more flour (usually 1 tbsp per 1 cup flour) or add less water.

Whole wheat flour

Whole wheat flour is made from the whole wheat berry, including the oil-rich bran and germ. You should check the label to see if it’s 100% whole wheat flour, that means nothing was added or taken away. The flour is as natural as possible straight from the mill. Whole wheat flour creates intensely nutty flavors and a variety of fine to coarse textures that bake up into chewy crusted breads.

Whole wheat flour has the highest gluten percentage, sometimes up to 16%. You may be wondering now, than why the whole wheat bread are not the fluffiest of all, in fact they are heavy and dense, especially 100% whole wheat bread. That’s a good question, and I do have the answer for you : since the whole wheat flour is not as finely ground as the bread or all-purpose flour the hulls contained in the whole wheat flour tent to damage the gluten strands, making it less effective.

White whole wheat flour

White whole wheat flour is made from a new type of white spring wheat that is light-colored and sweet. It’s gluten percentage it’s around 12% making this type of flour a good substitute to all-purpose flour with no loss of light texture. It is as nutrition as the whole wheat flour but with a milder taste.

 

I’m not going to talk about that brands are the best and which ones are so and so. My advice is to buy different brands, try them and see how you like them.

I live in the somehow northern part of the country where King Arthur Flour (my go-to flour for bread) is available everywhere, but I know when I visit my mother in law in the south I hardly find it. Of course there are national brands like Pillsbury and Gold Medal that do a wonderful job as well, all you have to do is find your favorite.

Bread Baking 101 - everything you need to know about wheat flours and how to accurately measure flour from Roxanashomebaking.com

 

Measuring correctly the dry ingredients makes a world difference when baking (and not just bread). You can either add too much (in most cases) or add too little resulting in not at all satisfying results.

My favorite way to measure flour is weighting it. There’s nothing more accurate than measuring your flour with a digital scale, may it be in ounces or grams. If you still not have a digital scale (you really should buy one, it’s not at all expensive and it will save you lots of headaches in the long run) I advice you to fluff the flour in the bag or container and then gently spoon it in a measuring cup. With an offset spatula, remove the excess. A cup of flour should weight 120 grams or 4.25 ounces.

For a better understanding, check out this short clip from King Arthur Flour

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.

See you next time, hopefully tomorrow, when I’ll scare away your yeast-phobia

Sending love your way,

Roxana

Related Posts:

  • Bread Baking 101 – Baking with Yeast (types of yeast, proofing and a few tips)
  • Baking Bread 101 – Equipment
  • Stollen

Filed Under: Tutorial Tagged With: bread baking 101, bread flour, how to measure flour, white whole wheat flour

About Roxana

Roxana has a passion for all things food, a sweet tooth that can’t be tamed and a severe case of the wanderlust
With an audience in search for real food and no fuss recipes, I make midweek meals exciting sharing approachable recipes, both sweet and savory, that taste completely sinful.

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Comments

  1. jen laceda says

    January 17, 2013 at 12:37 pm

    Roxana, I'm loving these basics series. It's nice to see a refresher post on basic baking knowledge. Very useful information, coupled with beautiful photography! You should start your own e-book! Just saying...hehehe.
    Reply
  2. Carol | a cup of mascarpone says

    January 17, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    I said it before, but I'll say it again...such a great, informative series, Roxana!!!
    Reply
  3. Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says

    January 17, 2013 at 2:17 pm

    Great post! Love all your breads, so amazing! I just made bread yesterday, and was thinking of you!
    Reply
  4. Sandra's Easy Cooking says

    January 17, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    amazing post! I am in love with your photos, and very well written!
    Reply
  5. Laura (Tutti Dolci) says

    January 17, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    Love your photos, and the info on the different types of flours is such a great resource!
    Reply
  6. RavieNomNoms says

    January 18, 2013 at 10:10 am

    This is just such a great post and your pictures are phenomenal!
    Reply
  7. Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says

    January 18, 2013 at 10:32 am

    Wonderful post--great information!
    Reply
  8. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says

    January 18, 2013 at 11:06 pm

    Great tips! I need to start weighing!
    Reply
  9. Stephanie says

    January 19, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    I have received better results when I fluff and scoop my flour. I have weighed both the scoop and spoon method...and the scoop wins each time!
    Reply
    • Stephanie says

      January 19, 2013 at 9:22 pm

      oh...and thank you for such an informative post!
      Reply
  10. The Café Sucré Farine says

    January 20, 2013 at 12:27 am

    Great post Roxanna, very informative! Sorry about your internet, that stinks!
    Reply
  11. Stephie says

    January 20, 2013 at 6:12 am

    Wonderful!!!! I learned so much! :) Thank you!
    Reply
  12. Liren says

    January 20, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    First of all, your images! Wow, Roxana. The first shot with the stacked flour and the shot with the sifting - beautiful. And I am loving this series, so helpful, especially for me - I love to bake bread but need to learn more!
    Reply
  13. Kitchen Belleicious says

    January 22, 2013 at 7:50 am

    oh girl this post has been getting pinned left and right! Good for you! It is amazing and I shall take your wonderful information and use it towards my GF baking now!
    Reply
  14. dixya @ food, pleasure, and health says

    January 22, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    I feel so much more informative about bread baking. Its really helpful and thanks once more :)
    Reply
  15. Heidi N says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:46 pm

    Thank you for these very informative posts! As a newbie bread baker this series is extremely helpful!
    Reply
  16. Nupur says

    March 26, 2013 at 7:11 pm

    Thank you Roxana.. for all the information ! I never knew anything like this about Bread flour and APF.. Came across your Blog through Groovey Gourmet challenge for this month.. Regretting why didnt followed you before... :) Love Nupur @ UK Rasoi
    Reply
  17. sarah says

    April 21, 2013 at 9:09 pm

    Hi I am glad I found your site and the informative information you are providing is awesome...I am trying to make a family bread/hot roll/cinnamon roll recipe that is famous by my late aunt...I only got to work with her a few times but I love making this recipe and rolling around a home bakery business possibly ...Thanks for this site and I look forward to more!!! p.s. do you bake any organic breads or any advice on that?
    Reply
    • Roxana says

      April 25, 2013 at 2:50 pm

      Hi Sarah, I'm glad you found my blog. Unfortunately I don't have specific advice for organic breads. I'm assuming it's the same, but can't guarantee Roxana
      Reply
  18. Cherri says

    February 11, 2014 at 8:33 pm

    I might have missed this but do you shift the flour? I have been doing breads; rolls; and nothing is coming out good. Last weekend the rolls where best way to describe them as heavy. I did a sour dough oatmeal sounded good but not. Any ideas I did not shift the flour but did measure it carefully. Thank you C
    Reply
    • Roxana says

      February 13, 2014 at 3:39 pm

      Hi Cherri, Good question. I normally don't sift the flour so I doubt that's the problem, especially when baking bread. If you're baking sweet pastries, it's recommended to sift the flour. I really don't know why your bread doesn't turn out the way it's supposed. Maybe you over handle the dough? That usually leads to a dry, heavy bread Roxana
      Reply
  19. Cathy says

    April 1, 2016 at 11:31 am

    Thank you for this information.Hopefully after trying 3x,my homemade bread for my group of friends will turn out good,I just bought bread flour.My bread doesn't raise too well,as I remember my mothers bread many years ago,hers was perfect.
    Reply
    • Roxana says

      April 9, 2016 at 11:16 pm

      Hi Cathy, There are various reasons why your bread does not turn out like your moms. It's not just bread flour. Other ingredients like eggs, butter, milk help the dough rise. Here's the post I wrote about ingredients in bread baking http://atreatsaffair.com/bread-baking-101-ingredients/
      Reply
  20. Sarah Robb says

    April 3, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    Very interesting to read how to measure flour accurately. But, seriously, why not just weigh it? My kitchen scales cost £9 and I use them for accuracy every day.
    Reply
    • Roxana says

      April 9, 2016 at 10:51 pm

      Hi Sarah, I often say my kitchen scale is the most important kitchen tool I have. I weigh everything!
      Reply

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Hi there! I'm Roxana. I have a passion for all things food, a sweet tooth that can’t be tamed and a severe case of the wanderlust. I make midweek meals exciting by sharing approachable recipes, both sweet and savory, that taste completely sinful. Read More →

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