Why should we care about gluten?
While many of us have a love/hate relationship with gluten due to gluten sensitivity or other issues, gluten is vital in bread making. Don’t get me wrong, it is possible to make a good gluten-free bread; however, unless you are unable to digest the gluten protein, you should be able to eat it. The gluten protein in bread creates the stretchy threads with air holes (gas trapped from the yeast) in a finished loaf. Flours contain different levels of gluten. The higher the gluten content, the higher, fluffier the loaf. However, all flours serve specific purposes and are needed for different types of baking. Let’s look at the typical flours in our homes, how they compare, and what bakes are best used with them.
Flour Chart with Highest to Lowest Gluten Percentages
| Flour | Gluten Percentage | When to use it? |
| Bread | 11%-13% | bagels, hearty yeast breads, pasta, pizza, and pretzels |
| All-purpose | 11%-12% (regional brands range 7.5%-9.5%) | biscuits, cookies, cream puffs, less hearty yeast breads, and puff pastry |
| Whole wheat | 11%-12% or a little less than white since heavy wheat kernels take up space | whole-wheat yeast breads and dough but mixed with white flour for a lighter product |
| Pastry | 8%-9% | baked items that aren’t bread, cakes, cookies, pancakes, pastries, pie crusts |
| Cake | 7%-8% | light and dainty cakes, muffins, and pancakes |
Why do the percentages vary so much?
This is due in part to the time of year and location the wheat is grown and harvested. For example, winter wheat (sown during the fall and harvested the next) contains higher gluten levels than flour sown and harvested in the spring. Winter wheat is grown in cold places and meant to withstand harsh winter climates. Spring flour is a softer wheat because it is grown in warmer climates and doesn’t need to withstand harsh temperatures. Often, these softer flours are chemically bleached to weaken the gluten even more to make it porous. Thus, the less gluten in the flour, the more porous the flour, resulting in a light and dainty product such as a cake. In general, low protein wheat contains 5%-10% protein while high protein wheat contains 10%-14% protein.
Why do professional bread bakers prefer bread flour to all-purpose flour in baking?
For making hearty bread loaves, professional bakers prefer to use bread flour. The high percentage of gluten in bread flour results in taller, lighter loaves. When gluten interacts with water (liquid), the gluten expands and stretches to create connecting threads. That’s why it’s so important to knead the dough, to disperse the liquid to reach all of the protein threads. When kneaded and heated, the individual threads expand allowing gas from the yeast to flow through thus producing a tall loaf of bread.
Looking for recipes to make with bread flour?
While the following recipes specifically list bread flour in the ingredients, you can substitute bread flour for any hearty bread loaf where all-purpose is listed.
Pan de Muerto (Mexican)
Pan Micha (Panamanian)
Pan Rustica (Spanish)
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please let me know. I would appreciate a like, a follow, or even a comment. Check out my YouTube Channel as well to see videos of the blog bakes.