Q&A Types of White Flour, Their Weights and How Much Water to Use
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.
I just love your books, I have ABin5 and Pizza and flatbread in 5. We just had naan tonight and I dry fried it on the electric skillet, turned out wonderfully. I also have the ABin5 boule in the fridge, aged about 4 days, and just got my Pullman pan. I am using unbleached white flour. This is my third time making the dough. The dough does not seem too wet or dry, but both my Artisan loaves and the loaf I just made from the Pullman pan are very dense and wet. I have read all these comments but am not quite sure what is off or how to fix it. I looked on youtube, but all the videos of you two don’t really show a good close up of the finished bread on the inside. The color photos on the cover and inside the book are all of loaves also uncut. I would love to see what it is supposed to look like, and how to fix my too dense bread. Thanks!!
Kim: I’m guessing that you’re filling the pan a little too high, so it ends up being compressed by the Pullman as it tries to rise. See what happens when you fill it a little lower in the pan. I assume you’re not finding the free-form loaves from the same dough to be wet and dense…
Thanks for replying! Actually, yes the free form ones are dense as well, but not as much. Every loaf I have made so far seems, how to describe it, doughy and too moist almost. They taste good, but I was hoping for larger holes and lighter bread.
Kim: check out the “Dense crumb…” post under the FAQs page– try those and see what you think.
Your bread made with fresh yeast and King Arthur flour is the GREATEST!!! One problem is slicing the loaf; I almost need a buzz saw, simply can’t cut through that great crust. I had to turn it over to cut it. Any suggestions, other than sharpen my knife? {I am using a convection oven, start @450, lower to 400 after 10 min
Hi Pat,
Do you have a sharp knife, that is the best tool for the job. I often turn the loaf on its side and cut from the side edge, since the top crust can often be the crustiest.
Thanks, Zoue
I just bought kaf high fiber flour blend. Pkg says use same as flour. Do you have any experience using this in Artisan Bread in 5 Min a Day recipes?
No experience but I’d trust KAF’s directions…
Thanks,Jeff! I decided to try it. I always make 1/2 recipe Light Whole Wheat(p.74). I substituted 1 cup of kaf high fiber flour blend for same of unbl. ap in recipe. It’s rising very nicely on counter. I also made 1/2 batch the usual way. I’m going to bake 1 batard shaped loaf of each at same time to compare.l love baking experiments!
Great!
Hi. Baked my experimental bread with kaf high fiber flour blend along w regular. You didn’t ask, but if anyone wants to try this product, it turned out great! Same “custard” interior texture, beautiful crust & wonderful flavor. (My dog goes crazy when she smells it. She had the regular). Thank you again for the wonderful,easy recipes!
Fantastic!
I have made several of the breads from HBin5 and every time I come out with a very dense crumb. I use either Bob’s Organic Unbleached flour or King Arthur Unbleached flours. I am used to making traditional yeast breads with no problem. But all my breads from HBin5 seem to be very wet with no oven spring and then turn out very dense. I do not know what I am doing wrong. Thanks.
Hi Laura,
Here is a post about dense breads: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/02/10/qa-dense-crumb
This video on handling the dough may also help: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/02/10/qa-dense-crumb
Are you baking at high altitude by any chance?
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you for your quick response.
I have read and tried everything already about the dense crumbs and I only handle to dough for about 10-15 seconds; tried letting it rise the second time up to twice as long; the dough is only 1-2 days old; and my oven temp is almost perfect. But still my bread looks more like a quick bread with small to almost non-existant holes. You say to make sure it’s not too wet but how am I supposed to know what too wet is? I really like the recipes in your books but at this point I am about to go back to making bread the traditional way. And possibly trying to convert the recipes in HBin5 to traditional recipes.
Actually, I only live a few feet above sea level.
Laura: The only other thing I’d have you try is drying out the dough a little bit. It’ll still be storable, but you may find it closer in texture to traditional bread. And maybe stay away from the whole-grains– the white loaves are lighter.
Hi there,
I was wondering if it matters what type of milk you use (2% vs whole milk) for the recipes that call for milk. Also, can I used creamed honey for recipes that call for honey?
Thanks,
Lindsay
Hi Lindsay,
Doesn’t seem to matter what kind of milk you use, so any of them are fine. You can use creamed honey, but it may not be as sweet as the traditional kind if you are measuring by volume, since they whip some air into it.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi!
Just got the Health Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. Loving it so far! Have a question…
My husband wants to substitute the AP flour in the master recipe for bread flour we have in the cupboard. Should I adjust the vital gluten? Or try without adjust first and see how that goes?
Hi Vicki-Lou,
You may want to just add a bit more water to the dough to account for the additional protein in the bread flour. I would start with an extra few tablespoons and see if that gets a wet enough dough. You may want to watch some of the Healthy Bread videos to see what the consistency should be.
What brand bread flour is it?
Thanks, Zoë
the link at the end with text “click here if you want to understand baker’s percentages” is currently a dead link.
Hi n,
Thank you for letting me know! Here is the link https://www.kingarthurflour.com/professional/bakers-percentage.html
Cheers, Zoë
I would like to use Einkorn flour https://www.jovialfoods.com/products/einkorn-flour.html using the Master recipe. How would the recipe change using this? And also, what about using wheat berries?
Thank you! We are so enjoying our bread. Still can’t believe it is this easy. 🙂
Laura: Haven’t used Einkorn, bet it behaves like whole wheat (needs more water than white). Wheat berries– see page 83 of HBin5 (click amazon link above), we use them in that recipe.
Einkorn flour has an 18% protein content. How would we adjust the recipe for that type of protein content?
will need more water. How much, not sure at all. 1/4 cup? 1/3 cup? 1/2 cup?
I am new to making bread. I use the Boule recipe from the Artisan Bread book, which I am loving. I am confused about the stirring. My dough seems to be lumpy when I stir it with a wooden spoon. Almost like there are chunks of flour in it. Is that how it is supposed to be? Also, I accidently bought all-purpose bleached flour in bulk instead of unbleached. Can I use it still? If so, should I make any changes to the original recipe? Thank you in advance!
Hi Jamey,
You want to stir it until the dough is uniformly wet, so no lumps of dry flour. You can use the bleached flour with no changes to the recipe.
Thanks, Zoë
On this page you say to add 1/4 c. additional water to the full recipe if using King Arthur all-purpose flour. On page 6 of your pizza book the sidebar says to add 1/2 c. additional liquid if using King Arthur. Which one is correct?
Also, I’ve noticed over the years that I’ve been making your breads I never get my dough even close to the same weight as yours. My half-recipes usually yield something closer to 26 – 28 oz. dough rather than 32 oz. This is consistent, regardless of which recipe I use, even the rye bread. Is that because I use King Arthur exclusively or is something else at work?
Hi rockycat,
The book is referring to KAF Bread Flour, which has an even higher protein content than all-purpose. Sorry for any confusion. The recipes yield just under 4 pounds, so what you are getting is about right. You can always scale it up if you want larger loaves.
Thanks, Zoë
We have 20lbs of BLEACHED flour hubby wants me to use up before buying unbleached, any idea how toadjust for that fact? Thanks so much!:-)
Btw, getting friends and family the book for Christmas!:-)
Shelley: Many types of bleached flour these days are made with a process that doesn’t much change the protein, so you can often get away with the same liquid amount, or maybe slightly decreased. Try it w/o the adjustment first.
I’ve been struggling with my dough being too wet. Using UK white strong flour (12% protein) I started off attempting a dough above 80% hydration which was almost unmanageable, I’m now down to 70% and the dough is still clearly wetter than any dough in the clips I’ve seen of you guys shaping/cloaking. I’m not a complete novice and I can fashion a loaf out of it, but it’s pretty flat by the time it goes in the oven.
The UK is a much damper place than much of the US, but can that be having so much of an effect on my hydration?
Lain: More likely it’s a difference in the flours, possibly in the way percentage protein is calculated. In italy for example, the number is calculated “anhydrously,” in other words after all the water is driven off by heating the flour. So the protein percentage calculates higher than the way it would be labeled in the U.S., where the measurement is done on the flour without driving off the water. Possibly that’s the same issue in the UK, though I’m not at all certain. And yes, ambient humidity may be hydrating the flour (before mixing) more than what we get here in the US.
For whatever reason, sounds like you need to dry out your dough with this particular flour. Try 65%. At some threshold, it won’t really be storable in the fridge, which is what we’re going for–so watch for that.
Hmmm. On further investigation it seems that this flour (Allinson Strong White Bread Flour) is well known for its stickiness and failure to hold its shape without a proving basket.
I’ll try a different flour.
Lain: When I was last in London (been a while) I bought a can of Allinson’s yeast, and I still use it to store yeast that I buy in bulk!
See what happens with other flours– I used a Shipton Mill flour when I was there and it worked nicely in these recipes.
Yes, those light green yeast tins are the business. Shame about the flour.
I just mixed up a batch of different brand plain flour dough (although it still states 12% protein). This new batch was the same consistency if not drier at 75% as the Allinson was at 70%…so looks promising.
It’s Iain BTW, not Lain 🙂
Aloha Jeff & Zoe…. it is getting cooler on our island of Maui, relatively speaking! At 74 degrees in the house overnight, we thought it was rather chilly, but none of our mainland family seem to feel sorry for us!
I just made the Christmas Stollen. I halved the recipe (pg 279 HB5)for only 2 loaves because I was uncertain I’d like it, but it is fabulous! Best Stollen I’ve ever made. Next loaf, I plan to use more slivered almonds and layer the marizan on top of the almonds rather than have the round affect. I used tropical candied fruit, sugared ginger, cranberries, and rum because I didn’t have brandy. What a terrific holiday treat and a fabulous gift. Thank you so much!
Fantastic Lis!
I have read all the comments about adding more water when using KA white flour but I failed to see anything about the white/wheat or wheat flour. How much extra water should I add?
Made the dinner rolls for Christmas and everyone raved about them. My biggest fans were my grands. So easy and delicious.
Last.y, we are all loving your pizza dough recipes. We have made it a family affair. My daughter prepares the toppings, I make and roll the dough, and my grands and son-in-law add the toppings. Hubby does his part by eating them!!! I must confess though that I use the KA pie crust bags to roll them out. Works perfectly.
Love your books and cannot wait for the next one.
Thanks,
Marlene
Marlene: Depends– on how much whole grain’s in the recipe. Can’t just swap whole grain for white flour above a certain level. Do you have Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day? Much more about whole grains in there, see https://bit.ly/3wYSSN
Jeff,
Sorry I wasn’t clearer on my question.
What I do is use the recipes that use both the unbleached white flour and the white/wheat or whole flour (eg: The Maste Recipe in Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day). My breads are coming out more dense and are like German breads. I weigh my ingredients and use an oven thermometer. My husband wants a lighter bread density.
Marlene: Our recipes are closer to German breads, you are right. Especially with recipes that are high in whole grain, this is unavoidable with stored dough.
In general, whole wheat takes more water, as you see in the comparison between the water amounts in “Artisan Bread,” compared with “Healthy Bread.”
I find it easier to weight my bvread flour out. I note that in your conversion chart you dont mention the weight for rye flour. Can you tell me the weight per one cup of rye flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
Thanks
Wendy
PS Absolutely love your recipes. We’ve converted half our friend population so far. Thanks for all your hard work on everyone’s behalf
Wendy: Rye is in the conversion chart, Healthy Bread in Five (https://bit.ly/3wYSSN ). We don’t have all our content here on the website. Haven’t weighed semolina…
Regarding the weight of semolina flour… Is there a typo in one of the books?
I noticed that for the Semolina Dough in the 2013 version of the main book, it lists 3 cups of semolina flour, with an equivalent weight of 15 ounces.
However, in the 2012 version of the Pizza and Flatbread book, it recommends the same 3 cups of durum flour, but the equivalent weight is 1 pound, 2 ounces (18 ounces). That’s a 20% increase.
I decided to weigh it myself (using Bob’s Red Mill Semolina Flour) and I came up with 16.40 ounces for 3 cups, using the scoop and sweep method.
For reference, I then used the scoop and sweep method for measuring and weighing 3 1/4 cups King Arthur AP flour and it came out to exactly 16.00 ounces, just as the recipe listed.
So I’m not sure which one is right! For the record, the batch came out great!
Does this simply mean that there is quite a bit of latitude in the amount of flour used?
Hi Jay,
The weight of the cup of flour may change slightly from season to season. It will also change depending on how finely the grains are ground and from brand to brand. As you suggest, doing anything from cups to weights is a bit of an imperfect science. The dough is pretty forgiving, so they tend to work just great even with the slight variables.
Thanks, Zoë
Sorry I meant to say Semolina flour, not rye (still Bob’s Red Mill)
Thank you
Wendy g
Hello!
I’ve been using your recipe healthy bread in five minutes. I used the youtube video to follow the recipe. I’ve been using 5 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat and 2 of whole wheat pastry flours instead of white flour. Last week I switched to the organic version of both flours and the dough is not rising as much in the two hours in the container and it’s really hard to mix with the wooden spoon. Shoul I increase the amount of water? If so by how much ? Right now it’s 4 cups of water. Thank you !!!
Gnequin: Since you want 100% whole grain, better off with the version on page 79 of the book. But pastry flour’s a bad choice, doesn’t promote good rise.
Thanks for your reply! Actually it was rising great all the way to the top of the container until I switched to organic.
I will have to buy the book then and try the recipe you suggested! Thank you so much!
I am in th UK and have your Five Minute Bread book. I have made the Master Recipe as well as the Brioche recipe and both have turned out too wet. (I made your recipes at home in the US as well, and have come out perfectly every time I have made it).
I am using Allinson Plain Flour and yeast. I now have 3 lbs of both doughs left over. How do I add more flour to the dough at this point? Do you need to let it rise again after adding flour, or just mix it in and place it back in the fridge? How much flour would you suggest adding?
Hi Melody,
I am curious to know if you are baking with the weights in that book? You certainly can add more flour to the dough and it will be just great. You do need to let the dough sit to allow the new flour absorb the excess liquid. I find it easiest to add the additional flour in a stand mixer, if you have one.
Hope that helps, thanks! Zoë
Yes, I am using an electronic scale and always measure in grams.
I didnt own any of your books, so when i got here, I bought the UK book since I read that the different flour types require different amounts of liquid. I was thinking of using the ‘tried and true’ (which I got off YouTube) next time and see how it works?
Thanks Melody,
That is very interesting, I need to look up the protein content of the flour you mentioned.Let me know if the dough comes together as you expect with more flour.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi! I’m loving your recipes and have your original book. A quick question on flour… I live in Australia where our main two flours are plain and self raising. I use the latter for all my usual baking (cakes etc). I accidentally bought volumes of it for bread making instead of plain. Is there any way I can adjust the recipe to use it or is that out of the question? The self raising flour contains unbleached wheat flour and raising agents.
Thank you,
Emelia
Hi Emelia,
I have never tried a batch with self raising flour. It would be an interesting experiment. If you try it, I would make just a half batch. Please let me know how it goes.
Thanks, Zoë
Hello! I have both of your books, the original and healthy.
I live in South America and we only have bleached flour over here (and it doesn’t give you the % protein) Flours are labeled by the 0000 system. Five zeros is for pastry, four zeros for all purpose, and 000 zeros for bread. That said, even using 000 flour my dough it’s always too wet. Not only with your recipes but in general – I weight all my ingredients. I am sure the problem is the flour (although the weather is wet on occasion, I don’t live in the tropics) and so I wonder if instead of reducing the water in my recipes, would it not better for me to increase the vital wheat gluten… What do you think? Many thanks!
Hi Valeria,
Yes, you can certainly try to increase the VWG a little and add a bit more flour to the batch. You don’t want to add too much VWG or the bread will get too tough.
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you! I will experiment and see what happens. My only concern in reducing water is that it might affect the final product too much… I will also contact the local mills to see if they can offer the % of protein in the flours to compare.
I finally found my reason for my wet dough and supper sticky. RISES GREAT but yes I am using bleached flour..Last time I went out couldn’t find unbleached. The only thing I haven’t found is how to compensate for it. Add more flour? Yes I found a place to get my unbleached and will do so. But in the mean time I have this bleached to use up.
Hi Amy,
The bleached flour may effect it slightly, but it may be more an issue of how you are measuring. We measure all of our recipes using the scoop and sweep method. If you are spooning the flour into the measuring cup you will end up with a dough that is too wet. Could this be the issue?
Thanks, Zoë
I have both ABin5 and HBin5 – love both books. Particularly fond of the white master recipe and the considerably more healthy seed bread recipe from HBin5.
My question is regarding, “White Wheat” flour. How does using it compare to white all-purpose flour? Is it actually used in the same style/proportions as “regular” whole wheat? I’m looking to get many of the health benefits of regular whole wheat with the lighter flavor and texture of white all-purpose flour. Thanks!
Hi Roger,
White whole wheat behaves exactly like regular whole wheat. It has all the same nutrition as whole wheat, but it is a slightly milder flavor. It doesn’t have the same gluten developing properties as all-purpose flour, so it won’t have the same texture as the white master recipe. If you try it in the Healthy bread Master recipe I think you’ll be pleased.
Thanks, Zoë
Excellent – thanks! I’ll try it out this week! (Need to finish up the seed bread dough first ;o)
One quick related question: If I were to substitute just part of the AP flour in the white master recipe with the WWW flour, say…1/3, or maybe 1/2…would I need to add vital gluten to compensate? If so, how much? (I don’t mean to harp on the white master recipe, but it is one of my favorites, and I don’t want to give it up despite how good the healthy breads are ;o)
Again – thank you so much; you’ve added so much to my love of bread by making it easy for us to make our own!
– Roger
Hi Roger,
It will change the white Master recipe with even the slightest amount of whole wheat. You will be essentially making the peasant bread, which will be a good place to start. Instead of adding whole wheat and rye, just add your white whole wheat and see what you think. Once you go beyond that amount of whole grain in the recipe, you will want to add vital wheat gluten. Once you do that, you are basically making the Healthy Bread Master!
Enjoy, Zoë
The Gold Metal Unbleached AP flour bag states that 1/4 cup = 30 grams. So 1 cup would be 120 grams or 4.23 oz. If I followed your suggestion of 5 oz per cup wouldn’t I be using too much flour? Please help. Thanks!
Hi Jose,
At Gold Medal they spoon the flour into the cup, which results in less flour. We use the scoop and sweep method, which is why our recipes call for 5-ounces of flour per cup.
Hope that clears it up for you! Thanks, Zoë
Thank you! I’m relatively new to the bread/pizza scene and there is so much to learn! Baker’s percentage is next!
Can I substitute sprouted whole grain flours like sprouted wheat flour (or barley, or spelt, etc) 1:1 in your recipes? I will try it on my own, and would appreciate your wealth of knowledge and experience as well.
Thanks much for all you have done for me and my family with your books. Truly, it has been a gift for us.
Hi Lisa,
I am sorry to say that I still have not had a chance to try the sprouted flours in our recipes. If you do try it, you may want to start with a 1/2 batch. Please let me know how it turns out.
Thanks, Zoë
I am wondering if anyone could chime on on this issue:
It seems like my yield is much less than indicated by the recipes. For example, when I took out about 1/3 of the dough (after it had been refrigerated for 3 days) in the Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread on pp 76-77 of your ABin5 book, it was not even close to filling the loaf pan half full. It didn’t rise much during the rest or the baking, and while it tasted good, it was rather dense. The initial rise when I mixed the dough had seemed very good, to me. It filled the bucket, but once the dough was refrigerated, it settled down to about a third of my bucket (4.5 qt ice cream pail) and stayed there.
Is the weight listed supposed to be the weight of the dough before baking, or of the finished loaf?
Further – what difference does using bleached flour make in recipes such as the Master Boule? Would it affect my yield?
Thanks in advance!
I meant to say also that when I mixed up the dough for the Buttermilk Bread, page 207 of ABin5, I get just under 4lbs of dough, so I don’t think I will quite get 3 1.5 lb loaves from that …
Hi Jody,
Here is a post on baking a loaf in a pan that may help: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2011/09/12/the-best-school-lunches-start-with-homemade-bread
The bleached flour won’t make a difference in the weight, it just changes the color and flavor a bit.
The loaves may be a scant pound for some of the recipes. If you are weighing the loaves and want 4 equal loaves, they are closer to 15 ounces, as apposed to 16 ounces. Are you using scoop and sweep to measure your flour? If you spoon the flour into the cup, that will result in a dough that weighs even less and it will be too wet.
Have you seen this post on a dense crumb: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/02/10/qa-dense-crumb
Hope that helps, thanks! Zoë
Thanks so much for the quick reply! 🙂
Looks like some good information in those links; thank you. I will read through them again more carefully! Good to know about the bleached flour; I have a lot of it right now, so I’m glad I can use it easily.
I do scoop & sweep my flour, and this last time weighed as I was measuring to see if I was getting 5 oz per cup – pretty much bang on. So that’s good. I baked the Buttermilk Bread this afternoon in two loaf pans that measure about 12×4, and they are decent sized loaves. I might have let them rest longer after putting them in the pan if I weren’t in a time crunch to get the oven available for supper cooking… Anyways, the weight of the finished loaves totaled 3 lbs 6 oz, for what it’s worth.
Thanks so much for your comments! I’m really enjoying the book even just to read through, let alone the fun of trying the recipes!
Jody
My bread seems to have a rounded bottom on one side instead of a nice flat bottom. I am using Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the Master Recipe page 26. What am I doing wrong?
Three things: 1) make sure you’re gluten-cloaking adequately, see our video on this at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/03/08/new-video-shaping-the-ball-from-a-very-wet-dough
2) Consider a longer resting time, 60 or even 90 min (but cover with plastic wrap or an overturned bowl to prevent drying out
3) deeper slashes, 1/2-inch
I made a half recipe using generic AP flour because that was all the flour I had & it was great. Today I bought KAF AP flour, added the 1/4 cup water recommended & it is really wet. I had a heck of a time shaping the first loaf, I ended up using a about 1/3 cup of flour just to shape it, and had to handle it much more than I would have liked. Despite all the flour I ended up with one hand covered in dough. I am using the refrigerator overnight rise, hoping that will help it recover some of its air. Anything I can do to save the rest of the batch.? If folding in more flour ok?
Hi Lara,
Yes, you sure can add more flour to the batch. Just add as much flour as you need to get it to the consistency of the dough you made with AP flour. Let the dough sit so the flour can absorb the excess water and then you can use it.
Thanks, Zoë
I am on my 4th batch of breads.
Question One: Of 3 based on 100% WW (AB page 76), 2 came out well: the recipe done as written and substituting 1 C of oats + 1/4 C vital wheat gluten for 1 c of WW flour. The bread I got by substituting 1 C of toasted millet + 1/2 C of vital wheat gluten for 1 C of WW flour had an off taste: an unpleasant sharp sourness (not like rancid flour or grain). Texture was OK. Would the millet have been the taste problem, or the extra 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten? Please help me understand what went wrong.
Question 2 I am making the chocolate expresso ww bread (HB page 301). The sponge rose like the others, but seems very stiff and did not deflate overnight in the frig as the others did. Is this normal or a mistake on my part? Thank you! Mary
Hi Mary,
If you toasted the millet too much it can certainly produce a bitter flavor. Millet does have an assertive flavor, so that may be the culprit. Vital Wheat Gluten doesn’t typically effect the flavor, just the texture.
Some of the doughs, especially any with butter, may not deflate, since they tend to set up a bit stiffer. This is totally normal. If the dough feels a bit too dry, let it rise for an extra 15 to 20 minutes before baking.
Thanks, Zoë
Zoe,
Thank you for your suggestions. I did toast the millet until it was fairly dark, so that must have been the source of bitterness. I’ll see how it tastes without toasting.
I tried letting the slightly dry dough rest longer before baking. It made a great birthday loaf for my chocolate-loving husband!
I’m really enjoying making whole grain breads with such convenience and ease. Thank you for your work and your responsiveness.
Mary
Wonderful Mary,
Thanks for the note!
Enjoy, Zoë
Hi Jeff & Zoe,
I’m your big fan. I’ve just tried the first bread-baking lifetime experience with your AB in 5 book today.
Result? Fairly acceptable, every friend likes it except having a rather dense crumb. Now, I know I might have kneaded the dough a bit while mixing the flour. Plus, I could have improved it by letting it rest in 28 Celcius room temp a little longer than 40 minutes.
But there’s the thing about cup measurement? How come my liquid measuring cup (i used it for scooping flour) says 1 Cup = 8 Ounce? But you say 1 CUP = 5 Ounce?
Also, you say 6.5 CUPS = 2 Pounds. And I ended up using 95% of my 1kg packaged flour in my measurement of 6.5 CUP. So, I must have been quite close to 2 Pounds of flour used.(because 1kg = 2.2 Pounds)
Any comment about my measurement cup?
First, go to our FAQs page on Dense crumb: What am I doing wrong? Longer rest (up to 90 min) is 1st thing I’d try.
The confusion stems from this: U.S. fluid ounces are different from U.S. weight ounces (volume versus weight measurement). 1 cup is a volume of 8 fluid ounces, but that will weigh out differently depending on the density of what goes in the cup. So:
1 cup = 8 fluid ounces = 5 U.S. (weight) ounces of all-purpose flour. It weighs five ounces in an 8 fluid-ounce only when it’s all-purpose flour. If it were sand, it would weigh much much more.
No surprise about using up all your flour. 1 kg is equal to 2.2 pounds, as you say, so all you’d have left over is a little more than 1/2 a cup of flour.
i really like the gluten free olive oil bread but do not like using corn starch – can a substitute millet flour and should i use the same amount as the cornstarch
Probably not, the millet is high-fiber and low starch– and it’s starch that’s needed, at least in part, to make these recipes work. You should be able swap the cornstarch for an equal volume of arrowroot (that Bob’s Red Mill product’s on Amazon at https://amzn.to/17e0BkO, they also sell it as a single pack).
One warning– we haven’t tried that substitution in this particular recipe, but we’ve done it in others and it works.
I made a batch of the original recipe from your first book. It rose great but after a night in the fridge it has fallen and the dough is very stiff. Is there a way to fix this and still use the dough?
Thanks
Hi Jackie,
What kind of flour are you using?
It may just be that the dough is very cold. Some refrigerators run cold so it can make the dough seem stiff. Try shaping the dough and letting it rest an extra 20 to 30 minutes.
Thanks, Zoë
I am using Roger’s Unbleached flour. Will let you how it works out. Thanks so much for responding.
Hi, I like that you’ve posted information on hydration, hence my reason for converting to weighing everything long ago. However I see a conflict with the percentages you post and your recipe. Please help me understand!!
I am using 100% King Arthur Bread Flour, which you indicate calls for an 83% hydration rate, however if I follow your recipe I end up with between 67%-69% hydration – 670g water to 1000g Flour. Even if I use 100% AP Flour, your recipe weighs out at 65% hydration vs the 75% your mention here. Can you please clarify??
Thank you so very kindly! Loving your book & the bread!!
I forgot to mention..I am using the Artisan Baguette in 5 minutes and baking baguettes.
I think your numbers are off, here’s why:
In the first example you listed, we call for three cups of water in the standard recipe, which weighs 1#8oz (680 g). I know some authors have claimed that a cup of water weighs 8.2 ounces, not 8.0 as we say, but with the measuring cups we buy locally, we get very close to 8.0 ounces.
Then the FAQs entry tells you to use an additional 1/3 cup of water if you’re using bread flour, which weighs 2 2/3 oz (75g). So now we’re up to 755 g of water, which in the basic recipe, mixes with 910 g of flour– that calculates to an 83% hydration.
I think the problem you’re having is that we start with US volumes and work backward to the nice round metric and weight version– did you realize we weren’t starting with 1000g?
Hi Jeff,
Thank you so verrrry much for your rapid and complete response! I must be heavy handed. When I measured out my 6 cups of flour it was just under 1000g so I rounded up to simplifyt things (perhaps a mistake). I made 2 new batches (before your email). One at 73% and the other at 75% hydration. I baked one bread from the 73% batch – quite an improvement for holes and texture. I will bump it up a bit on my next batch. Overeall, I am super pleased, but I know there’s room for improvement.
If you have converted everything to grams would it be possible to get “your” figures to compare with mine? Thank you for helping me achieve perfection.
By the way – I have turned many of our friends on to your book and they are loving it too!
I’ll try to send some photos next time. Recently made 2 Epi’s and my Italian/ Argentinian husband was very impressed.
Thank you again,
Susie
We do have grams in the new book. And in Healthy Bread, and in the Pizza book too. The only one without it is the 2007 edition of ABin5. Glad it’s working for you!
Hello again Jeff,
Okay, on my latest batch I increased the hydration to 78% in hopes of getting more holes. I did get more holes, but it was much harder to form into a baguette (quite soft) and eventhough it seems cooked thru at 35 minutes, I feel the crumb is a more custardy/gummy than I would like. How can I maximize the holes and get a drier crumb??
Thanks again!
Susie
did you try longer resting time with the old hydration? Other than that, try longer-aged dough. Larger holes at 7 to 14 days than at 1 to 7 days.
Hi Jeff,
Wow, now that’s customer service! I really appreciate the fast response as I am gearing up for several breads for Thanksgiving day. This most recent batch was about 1 week old. I will go back to less hydration and more rest time, although I was previously letting it rest a long time – approx 45-60 minutes after cloaking plus add’l 30-45 after shaping baguette.
BTW – I just ordered your latest book – so looking forward to reading the updates.
See if 90 minutes is better (though sometimes the tradeoff is that you get sideways spreading. Hopefully I’ve already pointed you to the FAQ tab above, and choose “Dense crumb…”?
I’ve been baking bread with King Arthur bread flour and Bob’s Red Mill unbleached flour. Do both of those weigh the same for your six-1/2 cup measure? (E.g., 6×5[oz]=30oz + 2.5oz=32oz total)
Thanks,
John Gram
Yes, they should. Is that what you’re finding? Even though the weight is comparable, you may (and I do say may) want to increase the water slightly with the KAF; see our post on adjusting water with higher-protein flours at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/02/10/qa-flour-and-water
So I was planning on using this recipe then I found I am gluten intolerant. Can I use a gluten free flour? What type of flour would you recommend?
Hi Briana,
Our books all have chapters for g-f breads. Here is a sample of some of our stuff, I think you will be pleased! https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/01/05/gluten-free-crusty-boule
Cheers, Zoë
Ok… you use store flour… What if U grind your wheat???
Hi Darryl,
If you are griding your own wheat, it may be coarser than commercial flour, so it doesn’t absorb as much water or create as much gluten. I suggest you add a bit of vital wheat gluten to the dough. https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/11/11/using-fresh-ground-whole-wheat-flour-and-some-highlights-from-our-book-tour
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you for your reply… I’ll try what U suggest… although I fine grind…
Can you use the king Arthur gluten free flour mix to make the gluten free artisan bread or do you have to mix all the flours in the recipe yourself?
Hi Nancy,
I have tried a KAF blend and it worked well, but it may take a little adjusting of the water. Maybe start with a half batch and see what you think.
Thanks, Zoë
Just an FYI for anyone else living in the southeast. The all-purpose flour I bought in the 25# bag at Sam’s Club in central NC seems to be more like a biscuit flour. I find that I need 2-3 oz of extra flour to make a boule that will hold its shape nicely rather than flatten out.
I have read that large chains often alter their products for regional distribution based on regional preferences so I would not necessarily expect this need for extra flour to hold for flour purchased in Sam’s Club in other regions.
Other store-brand, bleached, all-purpose flours have worked fine in the Master Recipe as is. Only this one has required extra flour for me. Considering the savings in the 25# bags its worth the extra 1/2 cup per batch.
An update on this:
After using the 50# I originally purchasesd and getting less-stretchy dough and loaves that spread sideways instead of upward, I bought a bag of all-purpose and a bag of bread flour this time. A 50-50 mix of the two has brought my results back to what I was getting from the Gold Medal and Aldi store brand all-purpose flours.
Considering that I can get 50# of flour from Sam’s club for about $12-15 I wanted to make it work.
Wow that’s a great solution.
Hi. My food coop has a flour in bulk called “Organic All Purpose (with germ)”. This is the only all-purpose in the bulk bin. Have so far been buying the bags of King Arthur, which I like, but the bulk is a little less expensive. Will the All Purpose with germ work? Thanks.
It will, but like KAF AP, I bet it’ll take a little more water to create doughs of our usual consistency. Depending on how much bran is left in, it might take more. See our FAQs tab above, and click on “Flour varieties: Do I need to adjust the liquids when I use different kinds of white flour?”
Hi! I just made this bread for the first time 2 weeks ago. I only made half the batch. First time I made it, it turned out perfect!
The second time, the dough seems to be a lot dryer for some reason? The dough also doesn’t rise as well as it did the first time I made it. What could I be doing wrong?
Im using normal white all-purpose flour.
Thanks!
Hi Vendar,
When you say the first and second time you made it, does that mean you made two separate batches of dough or two loaves from one batch? Are you measuring with cups or a scale?
Let me know and I will help you figure this out, Zoë
Hi,
I made 2 separate batches. But both the batches were just “half” of the original recipe( so 1.5 cups water, 3 1/4 cups flour etc)
Im measuring with cups.
Thanks for helping!
Hi Vendar,
It is possible that you measured slightly differently the second time. The flour may have been more packed in the container or cup, so it would make a tighter dough. If the dough ever feels too tight, you can always work more water into it. If the dough is too dry it will effect the rise as well.
Thanks, Zoë
I didn’t see the FAQ’s I needed about gluten free breads, so my question is, can I use something else besides the potato flour in your recipes that call for it? I find that commercial GF breads almost always have this, and I’m allergic to nightshades. I’m using the “New Artisan Bin5” and I’d like to make the Challah, as it is versatile in what one can make with it. Any thoughts about subs?
First off, make sure you look at our Corrections page for that book, at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2013/10/01/corrections-to-first-printing-of-the-new-artisan-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day-2013. There are some typos in the book that especially affect the GF recipes, including the GF Challah on page 275, which accidentally omitted 1 1/4 cups of sorghum flour (5 1/2 oz, 155 grams).
Then, about swapping out the potato flour– it’ll take some experimentation. First thing I’d do is proportionally increase the remaining three flours just a little, to add up to the 2/3 cup you’re leaving out. I bet you’ll find something that works for you. Warning though– potato flour captures water and prevents that soggy feeling you get with some GF breads, so you may have to decrease the liquids a bit– not certain about that though.
Hi there,
I’m from Germany and German flours contain a lot less gluten than American flours as our wheat is a different kind. That’s why my dough comes out too wet. ( I compared mine with the dough from your videos) I don’t know how much flour I can add and at what consistency I’m aiming. Maybe you could help me?
Hi Rabenmaedchen.
Do you happen to know the protein content of the flour you are using? Which recipe are you making?
Thanks, Zoë
I am using flour type 550, which contains around 10.9 % of protein measured in the dry matter. I tried the peasant loaf recipe, which came out too wet, the bran enriched white bread, which was a bit on the wet side, but worked as it was (both from New Artisan Bread in 5) and the 1/3 whole wheat 2/3 AP flour approach without added gluten from this webside which was too wet as well.
Hi Rabenmaedchen,
That is a very similar protein content to the all-purpose flour we are using. For whatever reason your dough may just require a bit more flour to get the right consistency. Are you using the grams to measure the flour or cups? Weights are always more accurate.
I know you said you’d watched our videos, but I wonder if you’ve seen this one on shaping wet dough? https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/03/08/new-video-shaping-the-ball-from-a-very-wet-dough
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you for your reply. Ithink I found the culpret. It was the yeast. If the yeast does not rise properly, the dough may seem too wet and will not keep it’s shape. Since yesterday I made two fresh batches exactly like the book, but with newly bought yeast. The dough was fine and the bread turned out great.
Hi. I am so glad you found the answer. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Enjoy the bread! Zoë
Hi I am just about to try making your Artisan 5-minute bread, but I want to use Whole Wheat Flour as I am Type 2 diabetic, is there anything I should do different.
We now have four different books with Artisan 5-min bread. Which book are you using, which recipe/which page number?
Hi Five Minute Bread The revolutionary new baking method. I also want to use Buckwheat flour will that be ok.
Well– only in relatively small amounts mixed with wheat-based flours. It’s a heavy flour with no gluten and a strong flavor. Are you trying to bake gluten-free? Tell me which of the books and which page number you’re looking at and I’ll help you adapt a recipe. Or do you mean “Five Minute Bread”– our British edition published in the U.K. in 2010 by Ebury Press?
Hi Jeff. My book has finally arrived. Yes I have the ” FIVE MINUTE BREAD ” book. I am Type 2 Diabetic and I just want a bread I can use for my lunchtime sandwich and with a boiled egg in the morning. I can’t use white bread but I have just bought some WHOLEWHEAT flour, can I use this.
Well, most of that book is written for white flour. That said, yes, you can substitute whole wheat, but you need more water, and it’s going to take some experimentation– about a half-cup more water per full recipe. The goal is a very moist dough, unlike any you may have worked with before. And you’ll get a denser result than with white flour, but I like it just as well– it’s just different.
Thank you I’ll let you know how I get on. I was also thinking of trying pastry flour and chapati flour. What do you think?
Hi Jennie,
Pastry flour is lower in gluten, which means the dough will lack the structure it needs to rise properly in breads. It is typically used in pastries and cakes. To use pastry flour you’d need to add vital wheat gluten to the dough.
The chapati or atta flour is stronger and has a higher gluten content, so this may be a better choice. It may require slightly more or less liquid in the dough, depending on the recipe.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Zoe So for a basic loaf of bread would you put more or less Thanks Jennie
Hi Jennie,
Are you asking about pastry or chapati flour? The answers are different.
Thanks, Zoë
Thanks so much Zoe, you have been so patient. Best Regards Jennie
You are welcome Jennie,
Let me know how it turns out!
Zoë