Bakers Percentage::Wheat Germ - Inlude in flour??

Toast

Hi all,

I'm converting the ATK yeasted wheat sandwich bread into baker's percentage.  I've converted all the ounces and cups and spoon measure into grams...   So, the 1/2 cup wheat germ in the soaker is 57.5 grams. 

The biga has 312g bread flour.  The soaker also has 468g whole wheat flour.

Should I include the wheat germ in the total flour mass?  I'm thinking not.

How do you handle wheat germ in a formula, do you include it in the flour total or is it a % type ingredient?

So....   Option 1) included in flour total:  312+468+57.5 = 837g flour in this recipe

or

Option 2) flour = 312+468 = 780g

wheat germ = 57.5/780 -> 7.4%

Thanks,

Tom

While others might disagree (and I’ve seen a lot of discussions like this in the past), I believe it needs to be included in the flour. In particular, I think it’s important with wheat germ because wheat germ will absorb a great deal of water, and if you don’t include it  in the flour, your hydration numbers will be inaccurate.  I think it’s much more important, and more helpful, to have accurate hydration percentages than to be overly meticulous about what constitutes flour and what does not. That’s how I always approach this in any case.