Q&A Types of White Flour, Their Weights and How Much Water to Use

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Q: I want to use a white flour with higher protein, how do I adjust the recipe?

A: We wrote the original white-flour Master Recipe for The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day with typical all-purpose white flour (such as Gold Medal), which has a protein content of about 9.8-10.5%. The following flours have a greater protein content and will require you to add more water to dough that is entirely made from these white flours.  You don’t need all that extra water if white flour only part of the loaf’s flour mixture.

King Arthur All-Purpose, 11.7% protein (add approximately 1/4 cup extra water to the full recipe).

Dakota Maid All-Purpose:  add approximately 1/4 cup extra water to the full recipe

Canadian all-purpose flour, most brands:  add approximately 1/4 cup extra water to the full recipe

Gold Medal Better for Bread 12.5% protein: add approximately 1/3 cup extra water to the full recipe

King Arthur Bread Flour 12.7% protein (add approximately 1/3 cup extra water to the full recipe)

Any “bread” flour: Most flour labeled as “bread flour” is 12-13% protein (add approximately 1/3 cup extra water to the full recipe).  In Europe, this flour is labeled as “strong flour.”  If a flour is labeled as “high-gluten” it’s probably 14-15% protein (add approximately 1/2 cup extra water to the full recipe).

Q: What is the weight of the flour that you use?

A: We wrote the book with measures because we find that most people are still using cup measures when baking. We have been pleasantly surprised at the number of our readers that are scaling their recipes. Here are the weight equivalents to the flour that we use:

1 cup all-purpose flour = 5oz

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (master recipe) = 2 pounds

1 cup whole wheat = 4 1/2 oz

1 cup of rye = 4 1/4 oz

Q: What should the “hydration” of the dough be?

A: Again, we tried to avoid confusing professional language in the book, but several people have asked about bakers percentages and hydration levels for white flour. The hydration needed for dough storage will vary with to the type of flour you are using.  “Hydration,” when the term is used by professional bakers, means the ratio of the water weight to the flour weight, expresed as a percentage.  High protein flours absorb much more water and will require you to add more water. Here are the hydration levels we’ve used, but remember, this applies to dough made from white flours (whole grain is a different story, requiring higher levels of hydration):

When using most all-purpose flours (eg., Gold Medal):  75% hydration

When using Gold Medal Better for Bread:  83% hydration

When using King Arthur all-purpose:  81% hydration

When using King Arthur bread flour:  83% hydration

When using most bread flours:  83% hydration

When using most high-gluten flours:  85% hydration

More in The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and our other books. If you use vital wheat gluten to get an airier crumb with whole grains loaves, you need even more hydration–see The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

We recommend that you follow the Master Recipes in our books as we have written them until you get a feel for the proper consistency. Once you know what it should feel like then it is wonderful to play with other flours.

Click here if you want to understand baker’s percentages.

Note: BreadIn5.com is reader supported. When you buy through links on the site, BreadIn5 LLC earns commissions.

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648 thoughts to “Q&A Types of White Flour, Their Weights and How Much Water to Use”

  1. Hi Julie,

    I have to check out the KA website and see about this flour, but I’m assuming it is for pasta making??? If so, it is going to have a protein content that may be too low to make our dough successfully.

    Does it mention pasta on the bag?

    Thanks, Zoë

  2. Hi Julie,

    I went to KA and that flour is very low in protein, that is why they are suggesting that you stick to flat breads and pasta. You should give it a try and see what you come up with, but you will have better luck with breads that don’t require lots of rise, such as naan, pizza, crackers, pita or anything from the flatbread chapter.

    Thanks! Zoë

  3. I am an experienced bread baker – and over the years I have tried every technique to make the perfect chewy, crusty, flavorful loaf.

    So…thank you for sharing the answer to my long search. I am on my third batch of the European Peasant Bread and my husband and I are thrilled with the loaves I’ve made. I am getting a lot better at shaping this dough too. I am sure I will enjoy all the other recipes in the book as well.

  4. Thanks for the book – it is great!! Thanks for the weights for 1 cup flour, however, you did not give a weight for 1 cup of patent durum flour – what is it

    Thanks, Amy

  5. I have soooo many notes and on sooo many little pieces of paper etc and I can’t find the one that tells me how much rye flour to use in the Master Recipe – lowering the amount of AP flour. You said that it gives it a ‘better’ taste and last longer.

    What are the exact measurements of rye and white??

    I have to learn to organize my notes!

  6. Hi Jeff, it’s isn’t the deli style rye recipe.

    Somewhere on your site is a post from Zoe saying that possibly one cup of rye and 5.5 cups of white AP can be used in the Master Recipe Boule. What I need is the exact exchange – it may be one cup, but I’m not sure.

    I am sure that her words were close to ‘it changes the flavor and many people like it…. it makes the finished bread last longer’. It is here somewhere, but I can’t find it without going through every post. Ask Zoe if she remembers writing that.

    Thanks

  7. Or it may be exchanging 1/2 cup of rye flour for the AP??? Maybe 6 cups AP and 1/2 cup rye.

    This is driving me nuts and I don’t mean to do the same to you guys. Back to going through the posts.

  8. I don’t think it’s on the site, but it is in the book, in the “Peasant Loaves” chapter, probably the “Deli-Style Rye” recipe. We make a fair number of recipes available for free here on the website, but we do limit it, and we haven’t put this one up. Jeff

  9. Thanks for your trouble. I can’t find it in the book – but I just found my original note – that I should have written into the book immediately, on the Master Recipe page.

    Wherever I originally found it, it said verbatim:

    “You can replace 1/2 cup of white with 1/2 cup of rye. For some reason we find that this makes for a more interesting taste and it really seems to improve the crumb of the bread. It makes the brad last longer after baking”.

    So it’s 6 cups of white AP and 1/2 cup of rye.

    Fini

  10. Oh, I see what you mean… this isn’t a recipe in the book. It’s basically white dough with just a touch of rye (which will usually be whole grain if you got it in the supermarket). Gives some nice character to what is basically a white bread. Jeff

  11. I am positive that that quote is somewhere here in all of these posts.

    Now to the fun part … making, baking and eating.

  12. Help! I want to make the buttermilk recipe but am lactose intolerant and hate to waste the rest of it in the carton so is there any other substitution I can make like my home made yogurt or others that I sometimes use? I happen to love the stuff and it would be like an alcoholic keeping scotch on hand! The call would be too strong. If Yogurt would do, please answer soon!

    Pat

  13. Sure Pat, give it a try. Our new book has yogurt-based breads and they work well. You may need a touch more water.

  14. Hi Jeff and Zoe,

    I want to make your “wheat stalk” recipe. I can’t find the weight of a cup of bread flour, using your method. It’s not listed on the above list.

    Also, I intend to use King Arthur bread flour, since that is what I have on hand. Thanks so much.

  15. With regards to the variations between NZ/Australian measurements and USA measurements, I just went ahead and used a 250ml NZ cup measure for both the water and flour figuring that surely it is the ratio of flour to water that is important, and I suppose I just end up with a little more dough than you would given that our cups are a little bigger. The recipe works fine, so I will just keep going with these quantities. Still waiting for my copy of the book… so far I have only tried recipes I can find on your website, and the references to others in the book are making me impatient!! Hurry up and arrive!

  16. The link to the metric conversions site seems to be broken. I was able to get to the main site, metric-conversions.org They have multiple tables for converting, and an online calculator.

  17. I just wanted to say thank you so much for giving the weight measurements here in the forum. I’m sure many people have written to tell you already that every single country seems to have a measuring cup that is a different volume. Wikipedia explains all the variations. I couldn’t figure out how to approximate your scoop and sweep method with a measuring cup that is a different volume than you have in the US. Now with a weight measurement it eliminates all that international variation and getting the scoop method right (ie not compacting the flour. Tablespoon measure’s also vary between countries US 15ml Australia 20ml. I think a lot of people don’t realise this and are getting quite different volumes of ingredients in their dough as a result. My dough was very wet and it dawned on me that all my measurements are New Zealand volumes (cups and tablespoons) and I would have to convert to US measurements. Thank you so much for the book the bread tastes fantastic, I am a total convert and now I am spreading the word to friends and family. I initially borrowed the book from the library to taste the recipe first and even though my local library had about 30 copies there was quite a waiting list. So it is a big hit here in New Zealand. Thank you so much.
    All the best,
    Looking forward to your next book,
    Zoe

  18. Zoe: Thanks for visiting us from so far away (not with the web!). Here in the States, we missed a golden opportunity 30 years ago to switch to metric and get with a world-wide standard. Tried and failed.

    Thanks for all the kind words!

  19. Hi,
    My question is regarding water quality. The water I have been using comes from a well and is acidic, PH=5.4. Will this make a difference in the basic recipe?

    I’m going to try using a good quality steam distilled water that I use in a manufacturing process. I’ll let you know if it makes a dif.

    My first try was a disaster! Excitement over making bread for the first time since I was a child (70 years ago) probably got the best of me!

    The dough was very, very loose and would not make a ball. Looks like I miscounted the 6-1/2 cups of flour and only used 5-1/2. Baked it anyway. This proves how good your recipe is! The bread was rather flat but tasted great.

    Second batch was let stand and rise for 2.5 hours. Pulled a one-pound ball from it, formed a ball and let stand for 1 hour then baked. It looked great, tasted great, but the crumb did not have a lot of large holes, mostly a fine crumb.

    This again brings up the point of water quality. Further testing of my well water shows PH=5.3, TDS=60.

    DrBill

  20. Your book is a problem. I had to buy a second one because in five days time, the first book I bought looked a hundred years old from use. Anyway, I envision myself giving beautiful loaves of your bread to friends. I just can’t see myself handing them a naked loaf. Can I wrap it in parchment without it dying?
    Thanks for all your hard work to make me look good. Jean

  21. Hi Dr. Bill,

    I don’t think that your acidic water is the issue. The acid will actually aid in the formation of the gluten and allows the yeast to perform best. In fact, there are many recipe that have you add vinegar or vitamin C to get more acid in the dough.

    What kind of flour are you using? Is it unbleached flour?

    How are you measuring the flour? We use scoop and sweep.

    If your not getting large holes in the bread and you don’t think it is the flour, then it could be that you are over handling the dough when you form your loaf. It should only take 20-30 seconds to form the ball.

    Let me know if any of this sounds like it could be the culprit.

    Thanks! Zoë

  22. Hi Jean,

    When I give the bread as a gift I usually line a paper gift bag with parchment and lay the bread in it, but don’t wrap it tight. This way it looks nice but won’t ruin the crust on your bread.

    Enjoy and thank you for spreading the word by gifting all the bread!

    Zoë

  23. HELPPPPP!!! ok now that i hopefully have someones attention, i need some help. I just bought the artison 5 minutes a day bread book and i ran into a few issues. I am completly new to baking. I did it once a few years ago in high school but it sucked… Any way im not sure what you mean by wetter dough. I dont know what normal wet dough is supposed to be like. Im not sure what to dry or to wet is.

    I noticed that my flour is 100% whole wheat with 16% protein according to wheat montana, the company who makes my flour. My bead crumb is really really dense and small air holes. I used this flour because its all my sister had in our house. Plus its healthier.

    The reason i ask what you mean by wet dough is because i followed the recommendations on here for 3.5 cups of water rather than 3 for flours over 15% protein and let me tell you. My flour sucked it up like nothin. I had to add another cup of water to get it to a somewhat not so dry dough. Im not sure if i have enough water because i dont know what to look for.

    Maybe i should buy all purpose flour to make life easier HAHA

    thanx for the help. I want the big air holes in me bread rather than the lil stuff.

    thanx

    Matt
    feel free to email me as well.

    1. Hi Matt,

      Welcome to the site and to bread baking! I have to answer your question with a few questions and then we can figure this out.

      Which recipe are you trying? You are best to work with a recipe intended for 100% whole wheat and not the Master recipe. As you have noticed whole wheat flour drinks up tons of water.

      Wet dough will stick to your hands when you reach into the bucket and dry dough will not. You want wet, sticky dough.

      You also want to read the post we did on high altitude baking: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=144
      Because of the high altitude your recipe is going to take some playing with, but bread baking is fun and once you get the recipe as you like there is nothing more satisfying.

      Thanks! Zoë

  24. forgot to mention that the batch i just made, after two hours of rising, the top has somewhat dried up and crusted over. I am at 4500 feet and very dry heat here in utah.

  25. Zoe, Thanx for the reply. This was for the master recipe.

    i have been watching youtube videos to see what the dough looks like. i cant use a wooden spoon because it is way to tough so i have to use my hands to mix it up. Im not kneading, im just mixing… i think..

    Thanx

    Matt

  26. EDIT

    the dough was really really sticky and it still dried up on top and had small air holes.

    hmmm. All purpose flour here i come!!

  27. Hi, Jeff and Zoe,
    I want to make some half batches of dough because I like soem of the breads (as in Rye) and my wife likes others (as in whole weat and oat breads), though we do agree on the Master and Challah.

    Anyhow, I was converting the recipes to half and double (might as well as I was doing it) and I ran into some problems with measurements.

    How do I go about getting the proper amounts with salt, yeast, and flour with measuremnts like 1/8. 1/3, 1/6 for cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons, when there are no measuring devices with those capacities?.

    I am using King Arthur AP and following Jeff’s suggestion to reduce the amount of flour by 1/4 cup, which leaves me with some hard to calculate measurements when I am cutting the recipe in half.

    BTW Jeff, the 1/4 cup reduction of the flour worked.

    Thanks.

  28. Jeff,
    I’ll follow your suggestion as I usually do- they are always right on.

    The great thing that I love about your recipes is how forgiving they are, so if my measurements are not as exact as the recipe, the bread still turns out pretty much as it should.

    I made a ha;f batch of whole wheat last night and I goofed. I think I put in the full amount of the oil. I just baked the loaf (the half batch was good for one loaf) and I will see what my wife thinks (she is the one that wanted whole wheat), though it seemed fine when I took it out of the oven.

    My KA dough still seems a bit dry, though not as bad as when I asked the question about reducing the flour. Would it be better for me to reduce the flour again by 1/4 cup oor try adding 1/4 cup of water?

    Whoever om the site had the suggestion of using plastic pitchers with covers with slotted holes as a dough container had a great udea. I used a 1 gallon pitcher for the half batch of whole wheat dough and it really worked wonderfully. Turning the cover so the slots lined up with the spout meant I didn’t have to worry about trapping the fermentation gas- it all escaped through the spout.

  29. Jeff.
    My thanks.

    When I use the egg wash for the Challah bread, I only use 50% and I have been tossing the rest away. Can I keep the other half to use on the next Challah I bake? If yes, how long can I keep it safely?

    1. Hi Stuart,

      You can save the remaining egg wash in the refrigerator for a few days, but you can also freeze it for up to a month.

      Thanks, Zoë

  30. Hi..I live in Guatemala and can only find Whole Wheat flour at 11% protein or bleached All Purpose flour at 9.5%. No rye flour available. Can I use one cup of the whole wheat flour plus the 5.5 cups of all purpose to compensate for the half cup rye flour in the peasant bread on page 46? Could I add wheat germ? Or bran flakes? Or use all whole wheat flour? Should I then increase the water?

    Another question: I have a pizza stone, is that the same as a bread stone? I am assuming it is, just want to be sure.

    Re high altitudes, we are at 1500 meters but I’ve found that I rarely, if ever, need to adjust recipes of any sort. What about your bread?

    One more question: do you have a good sourdough recipe? As in San Francisco!!

    My brother in upper NY State recommended the book, he loves it! I can’t wait to start, just wanted to do my homework first.

    Thanks!

    1. Imogen: Your 9.5% AP may not absorb quite as much water, so it may be a bit loose. But maybe not. If it’s too loose (compared to our videos https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=63), just work in a little extra flour (maybe a quarter-cup). Wheat germ and bran flakes are fine but may end up requiring a bit more water.

      Pizza stone is the same as a bread stone.

      1500 meters isn’t all that high, but take a look at our high-altitude reccomendations: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=144

      Re: sourdough. Our stuff develops sourdough characteristic as the batch ages. Early loaves won’t have it. Jeff

  31. Thanks…I have my first loaf in the oven. I used whole wheat flour to compensate for the rye flour and exchanged an extra cup of all purpose for whole wheat flour to get more “peasant” flavor. The dough didn’t seem too loose. Let’s see what happens. I’m not changing temperature or baking time this first time around. Regards…

  32. I saw your article on motherearthnews.com and the Master Recipe calls for “unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour”. I have pre-sifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour. Will pre-sifting make any difference?

    Thanks,

    Andrew

    1. Hi Andrew,

      Sifting the flour before measuring it will mean that you will have less flour per cup. Because they aerate the flour before packing it, the flour should be less densely packed. What this means for your bread is that if the flour is not as packed as we intended your dough will be too wet.

      If the bag has been sitting around for a while, chances are that it has all settled and you will be just fine. To be on the safe side you may want to check out our videos and see the consistency of the dough when we mix it and use it. https://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9780312362911&m_type=2&m_contentid=119255#video

      Thanks and enjoy all the bread you bake! Zoë

  33. Thanks for responding Zoe. I went ahead and mixed a batch last night and it seems fine following the master recipe. The bread was delicious, but quite dense. I noticed another post where you list the measures in weight and I will try that next time.

    Thanks again and I will definitely be picking of the book.

    1. Hi Andrew,

      1 1/2 tablespoons = 2 packets of yeast. I never weigh it because it is such a small amount. Once you get hooked on baking your own bread you amy consider buying the yeast in bulk, it is much cheaper that way. I get a HUGE package at costco for $3, which will last me for months (I bake every day!)

      You may want to read this post about breads that have a dense crumb before making your next loaf: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=141

      Thanks, Zoë

  34. Oh, one more question. I was trying to measure 1 and 1/2 Tbps of yeast and I used 2 and 1/2 packets, which seemed right measuring by eye. However, after mixing I discovered the corrected instructions said to use 2 packets. The bread tasted pretty yeasty and I was wondering if it’s possible to weigh the yeast as well to get an accurate amount?

  35. Hi,

    I bought your book after a friend brought a loaf to a dinner party and I almost had to cry because it tasted like bread from a french market. However, I seem to fail miserably at this…my first two loafes were tiny and sort of dense inside. The second batch I just pulled out of the oven, but it looks like a big flat mushroom– maybe because I forgot to slash it? It rose a lot more than the last batch. Any tips?

    1. Cora: Sounds like your dough is too wet, or at least, that’s the most likely explanation. Are you sure you’re using unbleached all-purpose flour? Bleached flour is protein-depleted and doesn’t absorb enough water, and you’re left with too-wet dough. There are other tricks if you’re finding they’re too dense inside, see our post on this at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=141. Most likely if it’s not a “too-wet” problem is that you’ll appreciate a longer rest time after shaping the loaves. While we say 20 minutes for baguettes in the book, try 30 to 60 minutes and see what you think. Jeff

  36. Thanks! The 2nd batch bread tasted great- no more gummy. Might the weird mushroom shape (looks like a muffin with stalk and cap) have something to do with the cloak? They are free-shaped loaf.

  37. Yes, could be an inadequate cloak (see our videos on this at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=63). But more likely, you just need to slash a little deeper with that serrated bread knife. Try that and see what you think. I assume you’ve already tried the longer rest time, which can help prevent it from exploding out of itself this way. Jeff

  38. It is so nice of you and Zoe to take time to answer emails! Thanks very much!

    I will pull the cloak down more (I saw the video several times, but the cloaking is actually really hard to see- it looks like you aren’t doing much to the dough at all, just sort of turning it-but this may very well be just my impression :-)).
    Thanks again, and sorry about these beginner questions!

  39. i’d like some advise on the chocolate bread. i made a batch and baked 2 loaves on day 4 and 5 ( used gold medal ap flour). i am quite pleased with flavor, but not the texture, too soft, not chewie. what’s the best texture i can achieve with this fairly rich dough? i’m an experienced baker, i use weights for all ingredients including water.

    1. M: Weight equivalents: Unbleached AP, by our measure, is 5 ounces per cup). And we’ve used 1 fluid ounce water = 1 ounce weight. That’s the first thing. You might want to check this recipe out by doing it exactly as we wrote, could be worthwhile.

      But, this particular bread is not to everyone’s liking. For folks expecting a soft, cakelike texture, it’s probably not going to be a winner. At its best, it’s sort of a cross between bread and cake. Jeff

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