Clayton's New Book of Breads - flour weight?

I'd start with 4.5 ounces (128 grams) and work from there.  Depending on the type of flour used, the weight of a cup varies from one formula to another, and in some instances is as high as 5 ounces (142 grams).

Keep in mind that bread baking is not an exact science.  Variations in flour, ambient temperature and humidity play a big role in the process.  IMO, It's best to work your way through each experience, making notes as you go along, until you eventually get a feel for the dough that works best for a particular style of bread.  Once you have a formula that you like for each style of bread, stick with that formula as a basic model with the knowledge that your best formula will require some adjustments when the uncontrollalble variables change.

Your post has prompted me to try an experiment with my own flour.

Many of the bread books I've read say to measure volume of flour by lightly spooning the flour into a measuring cup and then striking off the surface of the cup with a knife or other flat surface.

I tried this method with my standard bread flour (Dakota Maid) and the results were consistantly within a gram or two of 141 grams per cup of flour for 5 measurements.

I also tried this method with Dakota Maid whole wheat flour and the results were consistantly within a gram of 125 grams per cup for 5 measurements.

The next thing I tried was to dip the measuring cup into the flour in one fell swoop and strike off the surface.  When I used this method the bread flour came out at about 156 grams per cup (a 15 gram per cup increase over the spoon and strike method).  When I used this method with whole wheat flour it came out at 145 grams per cup (a 20 gram per cup increase over the spoon and strike method).

I'm not familiar with the book you reference, but I would first check to see if it includes directions for measuring flour by volume.  Once you have that information you can try it out with the flour(s) you are using and convert volume to weight measurements.

Prairie19

In my version of Bernard Clayton's book he has a conversion: 142g per cup, unsifted.

But you can tell from his writing style that Clayton is a casual baker and I wouldn't worry too much about 10g here or there.

I really like this book, btw. Sure, it was written before the latest bread-craze so uses yeast sourdoughs etc.  But the recipes and writing style are inspiring and give you other ideas which can be modernized.  

I have the version published a few years back and love it. 

Clayton's 142 g (5 oz) mentioned above is close enough, but I usually use 4.7 oz on recipes that are giving volume measurements and see what the % hydration is.  If too high or low, I'll adjust the liquid.

FF