W strength of flour

[Franci]

In picking my flours, I confess, I just hope to guess right. This subject really frustrates me, it's like the lack of proper measurement (=use of scale for ingredients) in the North American world.

 

A lot of my professional european recipe call for the W (strength) of the flour.

More or less, I need to look at the protein % to guess the W.

Weak less then 180 W (8-9% protein)

Meadium betwen 180-280 W (10-11%)

Strong Higher than 280 W up to 400 (more then 11%)

 

A lot of flours don't really carry the protein content as I percentage, but I guess it's a simple calculation a serving size 30 g with a protein amount of 3g must be a 10% protein.

 

Do you pay attention to this? Are there specific mills/flour brands that you like to use targeted to more professional approach to baking?

Edited January 28, 2016 by Smithy
Corrected misspelling in title (log)

[AlaMoi]

I don't bake professionally - but doncha' just hate it when a tried&true recipe flops?

 

which is why I do not just buy any flour on sale - I stick with a "brand name" that has a reputation for consistent quality.

store brands come from any mill that has a good price this quarter/year.  it can vary - and makes for flops.....

 

and I use a scale.   and grams - makes the math so much easier....

[cakewalk]

In general in the US, from lowest to highest protein level, there's cake flour, pastry flour, all-purpose flour, and bread flour. I've never noticed protein levels on the packaging of any flour here. The brand used would definitely make a difference. I mentioned previously that I have always used Hecker's all-purpose flour, and once I switched to King Arthur AP flour. One of my cakes (a cake I had been making for years) was tough and just plain awful. The thing is, of course, that the cake was simply not the same cake that I was used to because of the different flour. King Arthur AP flour has a much higher protein level than Hecker's, and that was the reason for the difference.

[Norm Matthews]

Shirley Corriher said in her book CookWise that flour mills round off the protein percentage in a way that makes that statement rather meaningless.  In general there are Southern All Purpose flours that are low protein.  A couple of them are White Lily and Martha White.  When I can get those, I prefer to use those for biscuits and pie crusts.  National brand mills usually blend bleached All Purpose flours at a lower protein percentage than their unbleached All Purpose flours because they suppose that the unbleached flour will most likely used with yeast.  I use unbleached all purpose flour for general use like gravy and to keep my sourdough starter fed because it's cheaper than King Arthur Bread flour which I prefer to use just for bread.   Self rising flour is also lower in protein than regular flour.  If you want to lower the protein content of flour, add about 1 part cake flour or 'instant' flour to 3 parts of regular all purpose flour.  

Edited January 28, 2016 by Norm Matthews (log)

[pastryani]

I too haven't noticed protein percentages on the package, but I believe you can call up the company to find out what the protein content is for your batch.

[SLB]

Franci:

 

Here is what Rose Levy Berenbaum published about the widely available commercial flours in The Bread Bible (a book that I think got really very mixed reviews here on eG when it came out, but one that I rather love):

 

Gold Medal unbleached AP:  10-12%, usually 10.5%

Gold Medal bread flour:  12.1 to 12.6%, usually 12.3%

Pillsbury unbleached AP:  10.5-11.5%

Pillsbury bread flour:  11.5-12.5%

King Arthur Flour (KAF) high-gluten flour (also known as "Sir Lancelot):  14%

KAF bread flour:  12.7%

KAF AP:  11.7%

KAF whole wheat flour:  14%

KAF white whole wheat flour:  13%

KAF Italian-style flour: 7.4%

KAF European-style Artisan flour (this one might have a new name):  11.7%

KAF French-style flour:  11.5%

KAF organic flour:  11.7%

 

I know that people do sub KAF all-purpose for bread flour, and don't always like KAF all-purpose as compared with other AP flours.  That said, KAF's reputation is for consistency across the seasons. 

 

I personally use Gold Medal unbleached AP, and KAF bread flour.  I like KAF cake flour (not mentioned above), but don't have a need for it often; I strongly prefer White Lily bleached (mentioned upthread) for biscuits and that sort of thing.  And I really don't like the KAF Italian-style flour, and instead strongly prefer the imported-but-otherwise-ordinary 00 flours that aren't that hard to find in NYC, when I'm trying to make super-soft pasta.  KAF "Italian-style" might be more for pizza than pasta, but I can't stand it.  

 

Edited January 30, 2016 by SLB (log)

[Franci]

SLB, thanks, that is a very good list. I know KA flour very well, when it was still a tiny store. I lived for 1 year 5 minutes away from there. It was indeed an adjustment using their flour for my recipes. I routinely cut AP flour with starches to get down the gluten for baking European cakes. I guess I need to ask in the Kitchen Consumer for some flours. Thanks everybody for your replies.

[AlaMoi]

Ash 	Protein 	Wheat flour type
                US 	                German 	French
~0.4% 	~9% 	pastry flour      	405 	45
~0.55% 	~11% 	all-purpose flour 	550 	55
~0.8% 	~14% 	high gluten flour 	812 	80
~1% 	~15% 	first clear flour 	1050 	110
>1.5% 	~13% 	white whole wheat 	1600 	150

this is a table I keep hanging around.

it's probably most accurate for "store brand" flours - for example KA is higher protein/gluten all around.

[lindag]

My flours usually go into breads (I'm not much of a dessert/cake baker).  And I, too, stick with what I know.

I buy my white flour from a farm/mill that's local to my state.  I buy KAF white whole wheat and their bread flour. I also get my ryes and similar flours from them too even though I have to have it shipped to me.

Baking bread is my passion and I want to get it right.