WHY WRITING A FLOUR GUIDE FOR SOURDOUGH BEGINNERS?
Are you a newbie baker, trying to figure out which flour to use when baking the perfect sourdough loaf? Perhaps you have roamed the baking forums on the internet where the real sourdough aficionados excel with their knowledge?
They talk about bread flour, unbleached flour, strong flour, Kamut, Spelt, Einkorn, red wheat, and all kinds of stuff you have never heard of.
Perhaps you feel a bit overwhelmed, but try to relax. Remember that you only need ONE type of flour to make great bread.
So which one should you choose? I will give you a suggestion in this flour guide for sourdough beginners. But before I do that, let’s go through the most common flour varieties for sourdough bakers.
WHEAT
Wheat flour is one of the most common varieties of bread. It is rich in gluten which is a protein that gives the dough elasticity and strength, making it easy to bake with.
Wheat flour is usually divided into three categories. All-purpose flour, bread flour, and whole wheat flour. As the name suggests, bread flour with its higher protein content is more suitable for baking bread than all-purpose flour.
When you add water to the flour, the protein starts to transform into gluten. And more gluten means more elasticity and strength which will help the dough to rise during fermentation.
Is it not possible then to bake sourdough bread with all-purpose flour? Of course, it is. But the odds are higher that you will get a better rise with bread flour.
In some countries, so-called bleached flour is also sold, which is a bit misleading because all flour is bleached. What distinguishes bleached and unbleached flour is the process itself. In the unbleached flour, the process takes place naturally, while the bleached flour is treated with chemical preparations to speed up the process.
There is an ongoing debate if a bleached flour is suitable for baking sourdough bread. Some say yes, and some say definitely no.
Here in Sweden, bleached flour doesn’t exist, so I have no experience of it. Therefore I have no opinion. But I have to admit that flour that has been bleached in a chemical process sounds a bit doubtful.
WHOLE WHEAT
When whole wheat flour is milled, the whole grain is taken care of, making it better from a nutritional point of view than regular wheat flour. It works fine to bake with only whole wheat, but the bread becomes slightly more compact than if you use bread flour. Many people, therefore, choose to mix whole wheat with bread flour or all-purpose flour.
Whole wheat flour absorbs quite a lot of water. Keep that in mind if you’re planning to exchange all-purpose flour or bread flour with whole wheat.
DURUM
Durum is a type of wheat flour, usually associated with pasta, with very high protein content. However, it does not develop as much elasticity as bread flour. Because of that, it’s common to combine it with bread flour or all-purpose flour.
It’s a must if you’re planning to bake Foccacia.
RYE
If you are going to bake with rye flour in Sweden, there are only two different varieties for ordinary consumers. Fine rye flour and coarse rye flour. Both are whole grain rye flour. There are other qualities for bakeries, but they are hard to find for ordinary consumers.
In the rest of the world, there seems to be a variety of qualities. Generally, rye flour does not seem to be as standardized as wheat flour, presumably because it is not used as much.
Here are some terms you might encounter.
White rye flour
This flour only contains the endosperm. All bran and germ have been removed.
Medium rye flour
Some but not all of the bran and germ have been removed.
Rye flour
A finely grained whole rye flour. All germ and bran are included in the flour.
Pumpernickel
A coarsely ground whole grain rye flour.
Rye flour contains much less gluten than wheat flour, and the quality is quite poor when it comes to holding together big gas bubbles. Because of that, bread baked with a high amount of rye flour tends to be dense with small gas pockets.
Rye flour is more sensitive to kneading compared to wheat flour, and you have to be a bit careful so you don’t overwork it, especially if you’re using a dough mixer. It also contains more free sugar, which speeds up the fermentation time.
One thing you may notice when baking with rye flour is that it requires more water than all-purpose and bread flour. So be prepared to add more water if necessary.
SPELT
Spelt is an ancient grain that has been cultivated for centuries. It has a high nutrition content and a nice, slightly sweet and nutty flavor. Spelt flour has become very popular among bakers, but it’s not as forgiving as ordinary wheat flour. It has a very high protein content, and it does develop gluten. But the gluten is not as strong as in ordinary wheat flour. The dough tends to spread out on the sides instead of rising upwards. Mixing Spelt with bread flour is one way to solve the problem. Spelt flour absorbs less water than wheat flour, so you may need to reduce the water amount.
KAMUT
Like Spelt, Kamut is an ancient grain with high nutrition content and superior taste. The grain is twice as big as the modern wheat we are used to baking with today. And just like Spelt flour, it has a slightly nutty flavor
It develops gluten, but not with the same elasticity as ordinary wheat. Therefore, bread baked with Kamut flour results in a soft and slightly dense crumb.
It’s common to mix Kamut flour with wheat flour to get a more open crumb.
Keep in mind that Kamut flour requires more water than ordinary wheat flour.
I think that is enough. You don’t need more options if you are a beginner. As I said before, you only need one kind of flour to make fantastic bread. It’s better to learn one flour before you’re trying to mix a whole bunch.
So which one shall you choose?
My suggestion is wheat. I know that sounds boring, but it’s the perfect choice for a beginner because it’s the easiest flour to bake with.
Perhaps you think you already know everything you need to know about wheat flour, but I promise, you don’t.
Baking with a sourdough starter is more complex than most beginners realize. Even with wheat flour.
But it’s not rocket science. Everybody can learn how to bake fantastic sourdough bread with some training.
Just let the learning process take the time it requires. It’s much easier to handle the problems you will encounter with more unusual and tricky flour types when you have learned the basics.
And don’t get discouraged if you fail. Everybody fails now and then, even experienced bakers. But hopefully, you will be a little bit more prepared with this flour guide for sourdough beginners.
Remember what Thomas Edison once said.
“I have not failed. I have just found 10000 ways that won’t work”.
