Flour Fundamentals - What goes into producing amazing flour.
We get asked a lot about flour, so I figure we could dedicate a little time to chat about this widely used but often misunderstood ingredient. You may look at our online selection, and get a bit overwhelmed with what to choose for what style of baking, so let’s try to clear that up.
There is so much I could talk about in this article, like genetics, and all the different grains, but for the sake of brevity, we are just going to focus on wheats, as that is the most common. We’ll have a chat about specialty flours at a later date
A bit of history
Most modern wheat stems from emmer wheat, which was domesticated around the same time as einkhorn wheat and found in the Jordan valley and the Damascus basin from around 10 thousand years ago. Jared Diamond, in his book “Guns Germs and Steel”, traces the spread of cultivated emmer to the “Fertile Crescent” around 8500 BC, reaching Greece, Cyprus and India by 6500 BC, Egypt shortly thereafter. By 5000 BC wheat had made it to Germany and Spain. By 3000 BC, wheat had reached England and Scandinavia, from there it spread further, finally reaching China 1000 years later. Using flour for bread making can be traced to the early Egyptians with their use of oven technology, developing baking into one of the first large-scale food production industries.
The different wheats can essentially be broken down into 3 main categories: ancient, heritage and modern. Ancient wheat is loosely defined as wheat that was used by ancient civilizations, including einkorn, emmer, khorasan and spelt. Heritage wheats are those that haven’t undergone any hybridisation since the 60s. From the 60s on, we get to the modern wheats, which account for more than 90% of the wheat under commercial cultivation. The pivotal moment in the creation of modern wheat was the introduction of the dwarf gene in the 50s. Beyond making the plant shorter, the dwarf gene also increased the thickness of the stem allowing modern wheats to withstand their increased seed mass, which came as a result of cultivars continually being selected for yield as well as the proliferation of nitrogen-based fertilisers.
Anatomy of a Kernel
Bran
The bran forms the kernel’s outer protective shell. It’s rich in dietary fibre, B-vitamins, and minerals, and gives wholemeal flour its distinctive colour and slightly nutty flavour. Because the bran layers are coarse and absorbent, they interrupt gluten formation and can make doughs heavier or less elastic. That’s why wholegrain breads often need extra hydration or longer fermentation to achieve good volume. In most white flours, the bran is sifted out to create a finer texture and lighter crumb.
Endosperm
Beneath the bran lies the endosperm, the largest part of the kernel, making up around 80 percent of its mass. It’s mostly starch and protein, including the gluten-forming proteins that give dough structure. The endosperm provides the energy the seed would use to grow, and it’s the portion most often milled into white flour. The quality and composition of this layer, especially its balance of starch and protein, strongly influence how the flour absorbs water, forms gluten, and behaves in baking.
Germ
At the base of the kernel sits the germ, the living embryo of the seed. It’s nutrient-dense, containing oils, vitamins, antioxidants, and enzymes. Those oils contribute to the richer flavour and aroma of freshly milled wholegrain flour, but they also make it more perishable — the natural fats can oxidise over time. This is why wholegrain flours are best stored in airtight containers in a cool, dry place or even refrigerated once opened.
Hull
Surrounding the kernel is the hull, sometimes called the husk. It’s a tough, inedible outer casing that protects the grain from pests and moisture while it grows in the field. During milling, the hull is removed and not used in flour production. Its thickness and texture vary between grain species — for example, spelt and barley have more tightly adhering hulls than modern bread wheat — which is why some grains require additional mechanical steps to de-hull before milling.
Once you know what’s inside a grain, it’s easier to see why not all flours act the same way. The bran and germ shape flavour, colour, and nutrition, but it’s the proteins within the endosperm that do most of the structural work in baking. They’re the reason some doughs stretch and rise while others crumble — and understanding them is the first step to choosing the right flour for the job.
The Importance of Protein
When we talk about “protein” in flour what we really mean is the structural gluten proteins that make dough behave the way it does. (If you’d like a deeper dive on gluten’s behaviour, structure and how it’s influenced by grain, processing and digestion, see our post: Gluten: What is it…). But basically, Gluten builds the structure of bread allowing your loaf to hold air and give your loaf a chewy and elastic texture. There are two proteins in wheat flour, glutenin and gliadin. The glutenin contributes to the strength and elasticity of your dough and the gliadin contributes to the extensibility (stretch).
Before you knead your flour and water into a dough, the proteins are randomly arranged. Once you start to knead the dough, the wet gluten interlink with each other and form a web. The longer you knead the more links are formed and the tighter your dough will get. This web (or matrix) is also formed when the wet dough is left alone (the autolysing) as well as during bulk fermentation. This matrix helps to trap the carbon dioxide exhaled by the yeast, trapping it within the gluten matrix, a bit like air in balloons; this is what makes your dough rise. Next to kneading and time, gluten development is influenced by the amount of water (both amount and quality), temperature and the addition of other ingredients (salt, milk, oil) as well as other chemicals and additives (enzymes, conditioners).
Different flours have different levels of protein (called protein count in the biz) and are measured in percentage (%). As a general rule, the higher the protein percentage (or stronger the flour), the more elasticity you will get out of your dough, which is fantastic for things like bread, pastry, and pasta; but not so good with cakes and biscuits. Higher protein also means you can add more water to your dough (hydration) and still maintain dough integrity. Hydration level affects:
• Texture – The higher the hydration level of your bread, the softer the texture will be, and the more open the crumb will be (i.e. bigger holes inside).
• Crust – Sourdough bread crust tends to be quite thick and hard, but a higher hydration sourdough has a thinner crust that stays crispy for longer.
• Flavour – Higher hydration loaves tend to have a more developed flavour of mild sourness, whereas lower hydration gives a more acidic ‘vinegary’ sourness.
• Appearance – The higher the hydration of your loaf, the less amount it is likely to rise because the dough is a lot more slack. (You can choose to bake it in a loaf tin if you wish for a taller loaf that still has the benefits of a high hydration bread).
You might be tempted to think that when it comes to bread baking, the more gluten the better. But as with everything in life, nothing is that simple; there is an optimal level of protein. What you choose will depend on the type of baking.
If bread dough contains too much gluten, it can spring back, making it difficult to work with and resulting in a bread that is tough and has lower volume and a compact crumb. This can be adjusted by altering your hydration and increasing your resting time between needing and/or folding.
Lack of gluten can result in a dough that will have trouble maintaing its shape and will need the help of a tin; so no more batards, panés or baguettes.
Basically, look at your protein count on your flour and adjust your baking to suit.
Why the “quality” of protein also matters
Good gluten behaviour isn’t just about what percentage protein your flour is, it’s also about how the gluten proteins were formed (variety of wheat, growing conditions, milling, fermentation). For example:
- As discussed in our gluten post, the environment (soil nutrients, season, yield) influences which types of gluten proteins dominate; and that in turn can change how dough handles or how digestible the result is.
- So when you see a flour with 13–14 % protein, it might behave quite differently based on whether the wheat was modern/hybrid, intensive‐grown, or a heritage/ancient variety and consequently which protein is more prevelant.
Practical tips for the baker
- Match your flour to your bake: If you’re making an artisan sourdough or pizza crust with high hydration (say 70 %+), aim for a flour with ~12-14 % protein (or labelled “bread flour”/”strong flour”). Then you’ll get a good stretch, good rise, open crumb.
- If you’re making cakes, muffins, tender loaves: use a flour around ~8-10 % protein (commonly labelled “all-purpose/plain flour” in your range). Your blog notes your plain flour is ~9 %– exactly this.
- Adjust hydration and handling: Higher‐protein flours can absorb more water and handle higher hydration without collapsing; lower‐protein ones will struggle if you push too much water or try to treat them like a strong bread flour.
- Consider blending: As you mention, mixing a strong roller-milled flour (~13%) with some stoneground or fibre-rich flour gives you flavour, texture and still the infrastructure for good bake.
- Be aware of seasonal variation: As our gluten post explains, even within one flour brand, protein behaviour may vary year to year depending on growing season, nitrogen/sulphur availability. So if you notice “same flour” acting differently, that might be why.
Protein gives flour its strength, but it’s milling that decides how that strength shows up in the dough. The process of breaking and sifting the grain determines how much of the bran, germ, and endosperm make it into the bag — and with them, the flavour, colour, and texture that define a flour’s personality.
The milling process
Once grain leaves the paddock, milling is where it truly becomes flour. At its simplest, milling is the controlled breaking of the wheat kernel to separate its three main parts — bran, germ, and endosperm — and then deciding how much of each to include in the final product. Every miller makes choices about how finely to grind, how many passes to run, and how much of the original grain to keep. Those decisions affect everything from the flour’s colour and flavour to its nutritional value, shelf life, and the way its proteins develop in dough. In short, milling determines not just what flour looks like, but how it behaves — and no two millers approach it quite the same way, but at it's heart there are two main ways in which the flour can be milled
Stone Milling
Stone-milled flour is produced by grinding the whole wheat kernel — bran, endosperm, and germ — between two stones, traditionally granite. Because the entire grain is milled together, the flour retains all of its natural oils, fibre, and nutrients, giving it a richer flavour and coarser texture. However, the inclusion of the germ also makes stone-ground flour more perishable, as the oils can oxidise over time. Heat generated by the stones can further affect stability, especially compared with the cooler action of stainless-steel rollers.
After grinding, most commercial stone mills sieve the flour to remove some of the larger bran particles. This creates a more consistent product that behaves predictably in bakeries without requiring changes to hydration or kneading times. Even so, some variation is inevitable. Because bran and endosperm have different densities — the lighter bran flows more freely through the hoppers — flour bagged at the start of a batch often contains slightly less bran than that filled at the end.
For this reason, if consistency is your priority, we recommend using roller-milled flour as your primary flour and incorporating stone-milled flour as a secondary or blending flour to add flavour, aroma, and complexity.
Roller Milling
Roller milling takes a more segmented approach. Rather than grinding the whole grain together, the process first separates the kernel into its individual components — bran, germ, and endosperm — before grinding. The miller can then recombine these parts in different ratios depending on the desired flour type: white flour typically includes only the endosperm, while wholegrain flour brings the bran and germ back in.
Some roller mills include additional post-milling steps such as bleaching (not permitted in organic flours) or enrichment, where nutrients like niacin, riboflavin, and folic acid removed during milling are added back in (again not in organic). The absence of the germ’s natural oils and fats means roller milled flours are far more consistent, have a longer shelf life, and are less prone to spoilage.
Because the flour is composed mainly of the dense, starchy endosperm, it also tends to have a slightly higher protein percentage by weight — provided the bran and germ aren’t reintroduced. This makes roller-milled flour well suited to commercial bakeries and large-scale production, where reliability and predictability are essential.
So, which flour should I choose?
For people that dabble in a bit of everything – Plain flour (commonly referred to as All-Purpose) will do everything reasonably well. The plain flour we stock is on the lower side of protein (around 9%), which means it will do cakes really well, and bread ok. If you want to make a soft sandwich loaf or perhaps a fluffy naan, then it actually does quite well. If you want to use it in sourdough or a pizza base, you will need to keep your hydration below 65%, or it will struggle to keep up.
Another flour that surprised me as an allrounder is our roller milled spelt flour. It has a high protein count at 14%. This is most likely due to spelt having higher gliadin: glutenin ratio than wheat and therefore doesn’t form as strong gluten matrix and isn’t as strong.
The rest of the flours we stock tend towards the bread-making end of the spectrum with protein counts of 12% and above. So, your choice will come down to flavour, fibre content and taste. I am a big fan of having a bulk amount of roller milled wheat flour (either heritage or baker’s), as it stores better and has a nice high gluten content (around 13%). Then I mix in a small amount of other types of whole stoneground flours that I want to add some fibre and flavour. I usually mix at 60-70% roller milled to 30-40% whole flour to get my desired result. Doing it this way means I don’t have to store too much of the volatile stoneground flours but I always have some flour on hand.
