Comparing Bread Flour for Artisanal Baking or Pizza

Starting with the best flour for your dough means selecting among manufactures some of which have less information than necessary for a good choice. New York Bakers and King Arthurs both  (see links below) provide good information. Different types of wheat flour contain different amounts of protein. Unbleached all-purpose has the lowest amount of protein, usually around 10.5 percent. Bread flour contains about 11 to 12.7 percent. High-gluten and whole-wheat flours have about 14 percent protein.

Flours with different protein levels are good for different kinds of breads. For instance, unbleached all-purpose is most suitable for soft varieties such as white sandwich bread, while bread flour works best for rustic or hearth loaves.

Flour Type NumbersIn some markets, the different available flour varieties are labeled according to their ash mass ("mineral content") that remains after a sample is incinerated in a laboratory oven. This is an easily verified indicator for the fraction of the whole grain remains in the flour, because the mineral content of the starchy endosperm² is much lower than that of the outer parts of the grain. Flour made from all parts of the grain (extraction rate: 100%) leaves about 2 g ash or more per 100 g dry flour. Plain white flour (extraction rate: 50–60%) leaves only about 0.4 g.

• German flour type numbers (Mehltypen) indicate the amount of ash (measured in milligrams) obtained from 100 g of the dry mass of this flour. Standard wheat flours (defined in DIN 10355) range from type 405 for normal white wheat flour for baking, to strong bread flour types 550, 812, and the darker types 1050 and 1600 for wholegrain breads.
• French flour type numbers (type de farine) are a factor 10 smaller than those used in Germany, because they indicate the ash content (in milligrams) per 10 g flour. Type 55 is the standard, hard-wheat white flour for baking, including puff pastries ("pâte feuilletée"). Type 45 is often called pastry flour, and is generally from a softer wheat (this corresponds to what older French texts call "farine de gruau"). Some recipes use Type 45 for croissants, for instance,^[16] although many French bakers use Type 55 or a combination of Types 45 and 55.^[17] Types 65, 80, and 110 are strong bread flours of increasing darkness, and type 150 is a whole meal flour.
• Czech flour types describes roughness of milling instead of amount of ash, though sometimes a numbering system is used, it is not a rule. Czechs determine following four basic types of mill: Extra soft wheat flour (Výběrová hladká mouka / 00), Soft wheat flour (Hladká mouka / T650), Fine wheat flour (Polohrubá mouka), Rough wheat flour (Hrubá mouka) and Farina wheat flour (Pšeničná krupice)

In the United States and the United Kingdom, no numbered standardized flour types are defined, and the ash mass is only rarely given on the label by flour manufacturers. However, the legally required standard nutrition label specifies the protein content of the flour, which is also a way for comparing the extraction rates of different available flour types.
In general, as the extraction rate of the flour increases, so do both the protein and the ash content. However, as the extraction rate approaches 100% (whole meal), the protein content drops slightly, while the ash content continues to rise.

The following table shows some typical examples of how protein and ash content relate to each other in wheat flour:

Ash	Protein	Wheat flour type
		US	German	French	Italian	Czech
~0.4%	~9%	pastry flour	405	40	00	Hladká mouka výběrová 00
~0.55%	~11%	all-purpose flour	550	55	0	Hladká mouka
~0.8%	~14%	high gluten flour	812	80	1	Polohrubá mouka
~1%	~15%	first clear flour	1050	110	2	Hrubá mouka
>1.5%	~13%	white whole wheat	1600	150	Farina integrale di grano tenero	Pšeničná Krupice

This table is only a rough guideline for converting bread recipes. Since flour types are not standardized in many countries, the numbers may differ between manufacturers. Note that there is no Type 40 French flour. The closest is Type 45.
It is possible to determine ash content from some US manufacturers. However, US measurements are based on wheat with a 14% moisture content. Thus, a US flour with 0.48% ash would approximate a French Type 55. For US bakers of French pastry seeking an equivalent, for example, they could look at tables published by King Arthur Flour, showing their all-purpose flour is a close equivalent to French Type 55.
Other measurable properties of flour as used in baking can be determined using a variety of specialized instruments, such as the Farinograph.

King Arthur Bakery Flour

Brand name	Sir Lancelot	Special	Sir Galahad	White Whole Wheat	Round Table	Queen Guinevere
Moisture (Maximum)	14.0% 14.0%	14.0% 13.5%	14.0% 14.0%
Protein (14% M.B.)	14.2% +/- 0.2%	12.7% +/- 0.2%	11.7% +/- 0.2%	12.5%-14% 9.2 +/- 0.3%	7.0% +/- 0.2%
Ash (14% M.B.)	.52% +/- 0.02%	.48% +/- 0.02%	.48% +/- 0.02%	1.20% min .44% +/- 0.02%	.34% +/- 0.02%
Falling Number	250 +/- 30 sec.	250 +/- 30 sec.	260 +/- 30 sec.	350 sec. min 280 +/- 30
FARINOGRAPH:
Absorption %	63.0 +/- 2.0	62.0 +/- 2.0	61.0 +/- 2.0	70 +/- 2.0	53.0 +/- 2.0	53.0 +/- 2.0
Peak	7.0 min. +/- 1.5	7.0 +/- 1.5	7.0 +/- 1.5	9.0 +/- 1.0	1.5 +/- 1.0	1.5 +/- 1.0
Stability	14.0 min.+/- 3.0	13.0 min. +/- 3.0	12.5 min. +/- 3.0	13.0 min. +/- 1.5	2.5 min. +/- 1.0	3 min. +/- 1.0
MTI 1	30 B.U/ +/- 10	30 B.U. +/- 10	30 B.U. +/- 10	20 B.U. +/- 10	80 B.U. +/- 10	80 B.U. +/- 10
Wheat Type	100% Hard red spring	100% Hard red spring	100% Hard red winter	Hard white spring Soft white/red winter	Soft red winter
Treatment	Malted	Malted	Malted	None	None	Chlorination
Enrichment**	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No

**Enrichment includes: Wheat flour enriched (niacin; reduced iron; thiamin; riboflavin; folic acid) and malted barley flour. All flours are to be prepared by grinding clean; sound wheat in accordance with current FDA regulations. All testing methods AACC approved.

King Arthur Organic Flour

Brand name	100% Organic Bakers Classic	100% Organic Select Artisan Flour	Organic Baker's Classic Flour With Restored Germ	100% Organic "Big-O" Hi-Gluten	100% Organic Whole Wheat Flour
Moisture (Maximum)	<14.0 percent	14.0 percent	14.0 percent	14.0 percent	14.0 percent
Protein (14% M.B.)	12.7% +/- 0.2%	11.3% +/- 0.2%	12.7% +/- 0.2%	14.1% +/- 0.2%	13%
Ash (14% M.B.)	.60% +/- 0.02%	.54% +/- 0.02%	.60% +/- 0.02%	.55% +/- 0.02%	> 1.40%
Falling Number	250 +/- 30 sec.	260 +/- 30 sec.	250 +/- 30 sec.	250 +/- 30 sec.	> 300 sec
Farinograph
Absorption %	62.0 +/- 2.0	61.0 +/- 2.0	62.0 +/- 2.0	62.0 +/- 2.0%
Peak	7.0 +/- 1.5	7.0 +/- 1.5	7.0 +/- 1.5	7.0 +/- .1.5 min
Stability	13.0 min. +/- 3.0	12.5 min. +/- 3.0	13.0 min. +/- 3.0	13.0 min +/- 3.0 min
MTI 1	30 B.U. +/- 10	30 B.U. +/- 10	30 B.U. +/- 10	30 B.U. +/- 10
Wheat Type:	Hard red spring	Hard red winter	Hard red spring	Hard Red Spring	A blend of HR and HW Wheat
Treatment	Certified organic malted barley flour	Certified organic malted barley flour	Certified organic malted barley flour	Certified organic malted barley flour	Untreated
Enrichment	Unenriched	Unenriched	Unenriched	Unenriched	Unenriched

All flours are to be prepared by grinding clean; sound wheat in accordance with current FDA regulations. All testing methods AACC approved.

Links:

1. New York Bakers Flours
2. Pre-Fermenting Flour
3. Ash Content
4. King Arthur’s Flour
5. King Arthur's -Description of Premium Flours (PDF)

Notes:

1. MTI, or Mixing Tolerance Index, is a measurement of dough strength as determined by the Farinograph recording dough mixer. The MTI is the measure of breakdown rate of the dough after it has reached its optimum or peak mixing time. An MTI of 20 indicates only slight breakdown and a strong flour, 30 is a mellow flour, and 40 to 50 indicates a slightly weak flour. An MTI of more than 50 indicates a weak flour.
2. The endosperm is the largest part of the wheat kernel and takes up 83% of its mass