Flour types used in this blog
English flour terminology differs between English speaking countries: all purpose vs plain flour, bread flour vs strong white flour, dark rye in US is not the same as dark rye in UK, etc. I decided to completely switch to German and Austrian flour gradings in this blog to avoid confusion.
This move will also make it easier to find correct flour in other European countries like France and Latvia which are using similar ash content based grading approach with only minor numbering differences.
I will be updating existing posts over time to reflect the changes and all new recipes will follow German and Austrian grading. This post will be linked to all recipes so that everyone can find correct flour easily.
Flour grading prefixes
Germany and France are using T prefix for all types of flour (for example, T55 and T1740). Austria on the other hand is using different prefixes depending on a flour type: W for wheat, R for rye and D for spelt.
I will be using German grading most of the time, but I will also prefix flour types with different letters as Austrians do to avoid confusion.
Baltic States are using German grades for rye flour and Russian naming for wheat flour. English speaking countries don’t have any flour standards and regulations so flour with the same name might be completely different between producers. Some UK and US producers also enrich their flour with enzymes or add all kinds of additives, please check ingredient list before buying flour in these countries.
Wheat flour
Wheat flour grades will be prefixed with letter W in this blog.
It is important to note that there are many varieties of wheat across the world and in many cases wheat from different continents can not be matched perfectly or even closely. For example, US and Canada are known for wheat flours with exceptionally strong gluten which are uncommon in Europe. The table below is a rough approximation based on sources I’ve found, but it shouldn’t be used as a scientific matchmaking tool.
All the breads in this blog are using European flour. In most cases W550 and W700 are used. Since the breads I bake are mostly rye breads, wheat flour type is less relevant and can be substituted with most of flours you have access to with the exception of super strong varieties. Super strong flours might noticeably change crumb structure of rye breads.
| Blog | UK | US | Germany | Austria | France | Russia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W405 | — | Pastry | T405 | W480 | T45 | Extra |
| W550 | Plain | All purpose | T550 | — | T55 | Highest grade |
| W700 | Strong white | Bread | T700 | W700 | T65 | 1st grade |
| W812 | — | — | T812 | — | T80 | — |
| W1050 | — | — | T1050 | — | — | 2nd grade |
| W1200 | — | — | T1200 | — | T110 | — |
| W1600 | — | — | T1600 | W1600 | T150 | — |
| W1800 | Wholemeal | Wholegrain | Weizen-Vollkornmehl | W1800 | — | Oboynaya |
Rye flour
Rye flour grades will be prefixed with letter R in this blog.
R610 is rarely used in bread baking and is more tailored towards rye pastries.
R815 and R997 can be used interchangeably in home baking, difference between the two is minimal.
R2500 and R1740 can be used interchangeably in home baking to some extent, but they are different. Proper freshly milled wholegrain flour will contain germ, R2500 does not, but germ should not affect bread quality that much.
Rye bread quality heavily depends on how fine and homogeneous the flour is. British flour usually has very uneven particles with large bran flakes. This leads to a denser crumb and lower rise. The bread is still tasty, but if you want to improve crumb structure, I’d advise searching for a properly milled flour.
Check Rye flour types and where to buy them post with my personal suggestions on where to buy rye flour.
| Blog | UK | US | Germany | Austria | France | Russia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R610 | — | — | T610 | R500 | — | — |
| R815 | White | White | T815 | — | T70 | Seyanaya |
| R997 | Light | — | T997 | R960 Light | T85 | — |
| R1150 | — | Light | T1150 | R960 | T130 | — |
| R1370 | Medium | Medium | T1370 | — | T130 | Obdirnaya |
| R1740 | Dark | — | T1740 | — | T170 | — |
| R2500 | Wholegrain | Dark | Roggen-Vollkornmehl | R2500 | — | Oboynaya |