The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

protein % question

kimemerson's picture
kimemerson

protein % question

Hello all, I'm new here so please forgive me if this one has been discussed. My question is, how much of a difference is there between very close % points? In other words, how radical is the difference between, say, 11% and 11.5%? Does it really matter if a flour is rated as 11.5% or 11.7%? That's not much at all, is it? It's not as radical as 9% to 12%. So as I learn about flours does it matter when I start seeing one at 11.5 and another at 11.7? All else being equal i.e., hard, red, winter, and as long as I'm happy with the 11% range, should I bother about a 2% difference?
Thanks

copyu's picture
copyu

Average beer is 5%, say. A stronger one is 6%. The difference is 1/5 x 100 = 20% stronger, NOT 1%.

Similarly, 10% 'protein' cake flour (AP flour) vs 13% bread flour means 3/10 x 100 = 30% "stronger".

It's also important to remember that most of those figures are actually estimates, not guaranteed measurements, so don't worry too much about the decimal points.

Cheers,

kimemerson's picture
kimemerson

That helps. Thanks