Flour and ingredients for bread

Flour and ingredient guides

For water amounts by flour, see the hydration chart; for scaling, the baker's percentage guide.

• Bread flour vs all-purposeProtein, water and when you can swap them.
• Whole wheat flourMore water, more flavour, a denser crumb.
• Rye flourSticky, fast-fermenting and full of flavour.
• Spelt flourAn ancient wheat with weaker, stretchier gluten.
• Einkorn flourThe oldest wheat: sticky, golden, gentle mixing.
• Durum and semolinaGolden crumb, and the dusting for peels.
• Fresh-milled flourBaking with flour from your own mill.
• Storing flourHow long white and whole grain flour keep.
• Salt in breadHow much, which kind, and when to add it.
• Yeast types and swapsInstant, active dry and fresh, and converting.
• Diastatic malt powderEnzymes for colour and rise, in small amounts.
• Sugar, fat and milk in doughWhat enriching ingredients do to bread.

Protein, in one paragraph

Wheat flour's protein forms gluten when wet and worked. More protein (bread flour, about 12 to 13%) holds more water and gas and gives a chewier, taller loaf; less (all-purpose, about 10 to 12%) gives a softer, more tender one. Whole grain flours have plenty of protein but their bran cuts gluten strands. Rye, einkorn and spelt build weaker gluten. The bread flour guide goes further.

Weigh it

A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from about 120 to 150 g depending on how it is filled. Weighing on a kitchen scale removes that error; the converter uses ingredient-specific weights for recipes written in cups.