The Fresh Loaf

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Getting confused with flours

ideal2545's picture
ideal2545

Getting confused with flours

Hi Everyone,

Hoping I can get some clarification, so I've been following mostly the Tartine book, 900g Bread Flour combined with 100g Whole Wheat Flour. Easy I can find these two flours at the local grocery store, usually Organic King Arthur.

I'm exploring some local milling places and just higher protien content flours, and I'm trying to figure out how I would match this up to my current understanding of these 'two flours'. I look at central milling for example that has a 13.5% protein flour made from 100% Wheat Grain (Northern Spring Wheat)

Now I'm confused, would I only use this single flour for my entire bake instead of combining two flours like I would normally do with King Arthur? Or do I now try to find another 100% whole wheat flour like a "hard red" and just pick and choose which one is my 900 grams and which is my 100 grams for flavor variation?


newbie trying to gain an understanding!

Jon

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Assuming the recipe is calling for a mix for flavor reasons - such as adding some whole wheat or rye in a moderate amount, yes, if you want that flavor, you would want to stay with that ratio, and you are right - the 100 gram would be hard red.  There is a hard white whole wheat flour, but its taste is much more like the bread flour or AP flour, so you would not get the flavor variation. 

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Somewhere early in the book, Robertson gives the protein % of his white flour.  Going too high makes loaf bread chewy.

Like any hobby, sellers offer as many options as possible, so that hobbyists keep spending more money experimenting, always looking for their new favorite.

My thing, for now, is to use a high percent, at least 75%, of whole wheat.