Expert's Guide to Flour Types
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- Опубліковано 23 жов 2022
- Testing expert Jack Bishop breaks down everything you need to know about the different types of flour.
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Jack always has high enthusiasm for all food topics. Love it!
He does! 😊 I love Jack.
I started weighing flour about 4 years ago. Definitely changed the outcome of my baking items. Love you Jack!
We should all hate Jack, for writing recipes in cups and then calling paying subscribers stupid for not weighing their flour. Hate Jack. He deserves it.
@@dylanbystedt I guess my hearing is bad since I didn't hear him call anyone stupid!
Recipes are generally written in cups because, get this, not everyone has scales.
heck,..I weigh coffee,..every pot. I can taste the difference, in 2grams difference.
I don't shave off the cup when I measure,just finished making the Jamaican Easter bun and it came out fine except I didn't use the amount of sugar they recommended, don't like stuff too sweet
I would love if you had alternative measurements for weight, using grams, in all your baked recipes.
It's not that hard to convert it. My calculator on my phone has a converter. Or you can Google it.
5 oz is 141.747 g
Does your scale not have the option to switch between units? All of mine have, but then again I'm in the US, and that might not be as necessary in the rest of the world.
@@lji_btrfly Did you watch the video? A volumetric measure of flour is going to be slightly weight with each scoop. Not a big deal for a small amount but gets magnified when using several cups.
@@lji_btrfly If it's so easy to convert, then ATK should have no problem providing gram weights for all of their paying subscribers. Commenters on their site, including me, are always asking for it, but it seems like some executive in their organization doesn't want to provide it.
I convert all the weights to grams myself, but it becomes cumbersome in recipes with multiple dry ingredient weights. And really, there is no reason for the conversion to not be built into the website.
I am a King Arthur loyalist flour user. Yes, I have used other flours. I enjoy them. However, King Arthur’s brand is my FAVORITE!!!
Thank you so much for all these years of honest, reliable consumer common sense.
I have been baking for so long that I don't use a scale or measuring cups. Been baking since I was 8 years old. Most of the measuring tools are not going to work when it really matters because the elements around you change and so should your ratios. That is why it is good to know what your dough is supposed to feel like. Happy baking.
It really depends on what you're baking. I make biscuits a lot and just use eye measures for most of it. Similar with bread dough--enough flour to bring the dough together. However, if I'm making a chiffon cake or angel food cake, then everything gets measured very carefully--including the egg whites which are measured by cups rather than by count.
I always measure flour in grams.
@@nancy9478 That's probably the most accurate way to take a measurement. For cakes and other "fussy" baked products, I'd encourage others to follow your example. For thickening gravy or throwing together a biscuit dough, I'd just use an eye measure. It really comes down to how much precision is required for the final product.
@@nancy9478 If you are not familiar with how it should feel when you're kneading it. You should use a measuring tool until you have the feel for it. Once you know the feel, you will start getting consistent results.
I eyeballs the spices sometimes but I couldn't bake a cake or bread without a cup, I have four different measuring cups in different sizes
Beautiful. I love ATK as they actually EXPLAIN the differences among stuff.
This is my favorite cooking resource. They are good a such a wide variety of things, from various food types to tools to use in the kitchen, unlike many of my other favorites who focus on one thing like mexican food or BBQ. They are also entertaining - the shows are put together very well and the various personalities are fun to watch.
Love Jack. Always entertaining and informative. Great delivery!
Oh man, I thought for sure I'd finally get to learn about the protein content of pastry flour
Great video as always but would have loved to here the difference between those flours and 00 pizza flour and what makes it special.
The Test Kitchen folks has changed my kitchen forever! Thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤
Love, love, love learning from you. I will use the scale from now on when measuring flour.
Jack is always great to watch! Informative and well presented.
Love the way he explained the differences. Wow! He is Awesome.........
I love watching Jack Bishop's talks about all-things-food! I don't even care about flour types - I know the difference between "self rising" and "not self rising" and that's all I realistically need - but I watched AND ENJOYED this video because Jack is great and we always learn other things in his vids, too. Thanks!
Interesting...they left the logo on Golf Medal and King Arthur...but only the all-purpose for King Arthur, but blocked the logo on the bread flour.
maybe since they gave two alternatives on all-purpose, but would look like promoting if they had the logo for the wheat and bread variety
@@sccrdngo That's a fair point, but those that know, already know the brand based on packaging haha.
Also on the Swans Down cake flour box.
@@sxd-215 it's pretty obvious from people who know it, but because the trademarked logo isn't showing, they have some deniability. Same with car insurance companies that blank out the logo, but yet the car features are very hard to miss.
@@sccrdngo and that's why I'm not involved with legality stuff. it's blatant, but won't stick in court or whatever.
Another tip: always store your flour in the freezer or in an airtight container. Trust me, you don't want to open the flour bag in your cabinet up only to find little weird mites in there having a field day. (Has happened to me even in a spotless, 35th floor apt in NYC.)
Righf
They are all there (weevils) regardless, but with freezing, they don’t hatch.
@@pamelaspooner7183 Exactly--that's why the advice to never eat raw flour. And if they do happen to hatch (even if it seems gross), you can just sift them out.
Thanks for telling people to use a scale, Jack I always use a scale when baking!!
Hello Rebecca
In the American South, we also have low-protein flour for biscuits and soft rolls. Cake flour is close but not quite right. "My brand" is White Lily, and I even have a little round aluminum biscuit pan with their lily logo on it. It was my Grandmother's and though I don't use it near as much as she or my mother did it still gets used!
You might be able to mix all-purpose with cake flour. Another factor is that if you measure via weight from White Lily, it might come closer. You can get the conversion often from the side of the flour bag (ex: 1/4 c. is 30g, so 120g is 1 c. or around 4.25 oz)
@@JoeStuffzAlt That's a lot of faffery just to get around buying a brand you know will work.
@@cisium1184 Except that White Lily might not be available everywhere
I love the sass at the end! This guy’s great!
That is the most serious and direct we have EVER seen Jack Bishop weigh in on a topic.
You teach us so much!
His videos are always really good, thanks for teaching us so much about food and cooking.
Find it funny how they covered the branding on 2 of the 3 king Arthur flours. Then the specifically mentioned the brand. The cake flour in the video is swans down. I personally use king Arthur. Their unbleached and unenriched cake flour is absolutely amazing. I keep all 3 types of flour in my kitchen. I always use a scale too.
I generally avoid bleached flour (or bleached anything) when possible, so, like you, I turn to King Arthur's unbleached cake flour. My cakes are probably not quite as tall or light as someone's with bleached cake flour, but I'll sacrifice those couple of millimeters to avoid eating bleach.
I bought a good scale years ago and use it when baking. I researched the weights of all ingredients (flour, sugar, etc.) it makes a difference.
This was nicely informative…thank you…
…cups till death…
Beyond the accuracy, using a scale to bake is so much less messy!
You ARE the best! Thank you for sharing.👍
Yes, ATK, I would love to see your recipes include gram weights. I generally jot down ingredients and convert everything to grams before I start, but how nice it would be to skip that step!
I actually used to use 1 cup of flour = 120 g (pretty standard, actually what King Arthur's uses), but apparently ATK uses a 5 oz standard, which is closer to 141g... eek. 125g and 128g also have been said. Gold Medal also says 120g (source: serving size on their USDA label says 1/4 c = 30). Apparently many people use the 4 1/4 (four and a quarter) standard...
I did use oz whenever I use an ATK recipe though. Still, I agree, I would prefer grams because it's a more accurate measurement. I'm thinking if you use an ATK recipe, you should measure by weight
@@JoeStuffzAlt Wow, TY. Just starting my research into baking. Haven't baked ANY bread as of yet, but have all the gear. Baking is ENORMOUSLY complexed and exact!
@@optionout A lot of the better bread recipes have weighted measurements. When in doubt, I would say use the flour manufacturer's measurements. The USDA label can be a good source
I feel it depends on the ingredient. If the ingredient can smoosh or fluff like flour or brown sugar, by weight makes more of a difference. If it's 1 tbsp / 1 tsp, maybe 1/4 cup or lower, maybe not as much difference
What about bleached vs unbleached ap flour? Is it worth it to have both?
Perfect explanation.thanks😊
Very good Jack, TY.
Wow that was good advice at the end of the video! 👍🏼
Well, looks like I will now be using my scale. Great information!
Grams makes it so much easier to scale recipes. Recently I scaled a recipe for an 8" round to work in a 9" round, finding that percentage increase was a snap using grams as opposed imperial volume or weight measures. I don't use a scale for most cakes & cookies I make unless the recipe specifies grams, I just don't find it generally necessary when making a single batch recipe at a time at home. But weighing has made a huge difference in my bread baking, which I do weekly. But when I was working professionally in volume everything was weighed.
Agreed. ATK has some of my favorite recipes to where I got magazine subscriptions to both Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country. I wish they had the numbers in grams because it's a more accurate measure.
However, some numbers aren't hard for me to remember, like 120g flour = 1 cup. 200g sugar = 1 cup. Butter is tougher... and it's better to measure in... oz unfortunately
Thanks so much for these educational videos! Personally, I too would love for recipes to include measurement quantities available in grams whenever possible. However, I AM grateful for any weight specifications provided.
Ludo for your comment on cups !! Always cooked in weight and always frustrated with the approximation of cup especially with some more rough ingredient. So many thanks to voice your professional opinion on cup, cups are gone , weight it is
That was good. And quick.
Telling people to use a scale is the best advice you can give, especially with an insane number of recipes calling for cups. And what's worse, people use liquid measuring cups to measure flour, which is even worse than the dry measuring cup he was demonstrating with.
Yet all the recipes on the site and in their videos use cups instead of grams, and they have no way of converting on the site, or have it provided, so you have to do it yourself. I think it's preposterous that he's telling us to use metric, yet they don't practice what they preach.
@@vittoriabakes The video had nothing to do with metric -- you might've noticed he weighed the flour in ounces. It's about measuring by weight instead of measuring by volume.
@@Ice_Karma Measuring by weight, whether it be in ounces or grams, is metric. Measuring by volume is Imperial.
@@vittoriabakes I think ounces are considered an imperial measurement, be it weight or volume. The metric system doesn't have anything called ounces in either category.
Why are the King Arthur labels digitally blanked out (but partially visible on a few shots) on the whole wheat and bread flours, but shown on the all-purpose flour? Is it an ATK recommendation thing? Seems very odd...oh well, I use KA for all my flours and have no complaints.
And for Canadian viewers, our general purpose flour has around 13% protein. So please be careful when following American recipes as they will not come out the same if you make them here in Canada with our GP flour.
Wow! Good to know. I had no idea that Canadian flour is so much stronger than its American cousin. Thanks for the tip!
Thank you so much - I am a new to the game baker and I have been baking like a twirling dervish!!! I have a very small kitchen and the information in this video is invaluable. I will keep my scale front and center when baking now, especially when making breads....
Yes, using grams is more accurate than oz. Also, its ok to use that measuring cup...to dip the flour into the bowl that's on the scale.
More 'precise', not more 'accurate'.
Hello Sharon
@@CorwynGC He meant "accurate" and not "precise". Accuracy means how close the taken measurement is to the real measurement. Precision refers to how close diferent measurements of the same real measurement are between them. This person clearly meant the first thing.
Hello, new subscriber here. This video was very informative. I was taught to tap the top of my cup with a flat edged knife to make sure there are no air pockets but I'm going to try measuring next time. Thank you for the education!
Great information! I used Fleishman's Bake - it - easy Yeast Book for info on grains etc. It may be found some places but it is pretty old now. Definitely old fashioned cooking.
Thanks!
Thank YOU
Love Jack. He says it how it should be done. He’s thinking…that’s it, enough said!
You said the problem that your show creates. Your recipes list CUPS not OUNCES of anything including flour. So can't "do you a favor" when it's not listed to do. That's like asking somebody to build something 10ft long but leave out the measuring tape & only giving a 12 inch ruler.
You just taught me something about the cup measurement method I will get out the scale next time
Because I do not want to make 100 loaves of bread to test types of flour’s effect per loaf and merely wish to make and bake, I find the TEST KITCHEN provides helpful hints. I have been watching them for years and use many of their methods which have been perfected for us. ❤I do however wish they would have a few episodes with information for adjustments for high altitude baking and cooking. 😊I live at 5000 ft and believe me when I say there are adjustments to cooking and baking that can help. Thanks
Always the best ❤❤❤❤
Kitchen balance/ scale is as important as a good knife in the kitchen
I hope to make bread some day so thanks!
Great advice Jack, you’re singing to the choir as I live in Northern Europe where everything is measured in grams and millilitres.
I agree, when I do pancakes, I weigh out my flour part and I get consistent fluffy pancakes all the time.
Scales are game changers
Can you give more details about whole wheat flour ? When to use and when not to use. How does it change the texture of the end product [say bread] to use 1/4 or 1/2 whole wheat ? Thanks
Good video. 5 oz. = 1 cup Great info! Thanks “👍🏻” 😉
Just be aware, different recipe creators have different conversions for the weight of a cup of flour, so follow the guidance of whichever source you're using. ATK will be 5oz, but other sites like King Arthur use a different weight for their own recipes.
Why did you put your thumbs-up emoji in quotes? Are you quoting someone who said that?
@@trickvro Because today in news it was reported that that emoji is offensive to some. Personally, I like the thumbs up, so I used it anyway. That is why.
I love ATK, Cooks Country, & cooking with Kimble
Useful
I would love for y’all to test einkorn flour
I used measuring cups for the longest time until when I started using a scale. It simply makes baking easier and consistent, plus less dishes.
I just measure by cups. Never had a problem.
I really wish in the videos you guys would mention the metric measurements, or put them up on the screen (The measurements aren't even in the written recipes on the site). If you are going to tell us not to use Imperial, and that ATK doesn't use them, please mention the gram amounts. It would be super helpful
Most digital scales I've seen have an option for imperial as well as metric. Or you can Google the measurement in imperial and get the metric. This isn't hard.
Great video! I would love to see a quick guide to gluten free flours as a celiac since there are SO many options and they are not all great that I have found.
Hello Ann
could you please do a video of this but with gluten-free f l o u r are so confusing as all heck
They did.🔎🔎
I love how you don’t want to “over endorse” a particular brand. You’ve hidden the King Arthur logo on three of the flours. It is my preferred brand of flour.
According to King Arthur Flour Company - one cup of All Purpose or Bread Flour weighs 4.25 oz.
Frankly, I find the viewer criticism of how the flour is measured (by volume rather than weight) rather peculiar. I have been cooking since I was 12 years old and learned on a wood stove, everything from cakes to bread and have always used measuring cups and have had incredibly good results.
Personally, I think if you bother to follow the recipe - and don't "force" quantities - you are going to have success either way.
If you want that extra in your baked goods, buy the grain (store in a freezer) and mill it as you need it - THAT is where the different is. VitaMix has a grain bowl specifically for that which works extremely well.
Honestly, your quality is going to depend more on measuredly accurately!
I believe whole wheat flour is not just ground wheat. Stoneground wheat is the entire wheat kernel ground into flour. Commercial flour is ALL ground the same way, the germ, bran and endosperm (the white part) are all separated from each other. “Whole wheat” flour has some of the germ and bran mixed back into the endosperm. Buy stoneground wheat if you can find it. Another way is to buy a grinder & grind yourself. I have a KoMo grinder and I love the breads I make with it.
I gave-up with weighing flour and just use a slightly heaping cup of measured flour. I then separately prepare liquid and dry ingredients, mixing the wet ingredients until I obtain the desired mixture thickness, subsequently either tossing or freezing the remaining liquid ingredients.
Weighing flour is wasted time, while time better spent focused on sifting all the dry ingredients and/or whisking the egg whites into stiff peaks, providing good texture.
When I have plenty of time and rather than just using my preferred King Author flour, tend to get far more excellent results milling my own flour!
The MOST important message from this video is to go metric. Flour types are definitely important, but, more important than that is actual volume/weight.
Well, I've got a scale but have never used it for weighing my flour. Guess I'll have to give it a try.
I weigh everything except Tbsp. and tsp. But I have a problem with opposing weight charts. King Arthur's weight chart says 1 cup of AP flour weighs 4 1/4 oz. or 120 grams. ATK's Bread Illustrated says 1 cup of AP flour weighs 5 oz. or 142 grams. That is a huge difference and I have to change things up when ever I make an ATK recipe. Bread flour is worse, 4 1/4 oz. to 5 1/2 oz. When I use a measuring cup it is closer to the King Arthur weight.
Ok...what is the conversion from cup to ounce? My bread recipes are in grams and ounces...so I use my scale. What about cookie recipes that only call for cups? Love your info...it's a great help.
Jack is deadly serious here. Now if they would just put grams in addition to ounces on their recipes, the world would be much better.
I received some farina in a food relief box; where does this fall in the lineup? I know it is meant for a hot cereal, but CAN it be used in baking as a portion of the flour called for (I suppose like wheat flour)?
So that’s why my breads come out so lousy! I’ve been using all-purpose instead of bread flour, mainly because I’m lazy.
I like using cups instead of my scale when I am lectured on why I shouldn't.
Bobs, always Bobs! Best ap out there.
Now I want home made fresh bread
Have been baking for over 60 years and have never owned a scale. My family has never complained once.
I guess your family loves you too much to complain, or they simply don't know what properly prepared food tastes like! 😁
@@barcham 🙄
@@barcham I guess the billions of families, for centuries, who never used a scale, also "love their cook too much to complain and simply don't know what properly prepared food tastes like" either? Hmmm 🤔
@@frankhughes001 Oh, by the way... I think it is safe to say that, after a lifetime of eating fast food, most Americans haven't the slightest idea what properly prepared food tastes like. 😎
@@barcham Oh, Is that really the excuse you're going use to berate and belittle someone. Or are you just being trolly? 🙏 Happy(ier) trails 👋
Use the scale! I absolutely agree! But, write recipes also not in cups etc. 😉👍
Could you give a table like: cup-oz.- gram etc also for tbs and other the other ball park measurements?
These are actually my favorite, more Jack please!
Lol scale ⚖️ I have 2! I scoop and put in a bowl and weigh it and you might have more than you think it never fails! So I agree take you scale out or purchase one!
Interesting for bread, any particular flour type for pie crust. My wife has always been famous for her pies but recently the crust has been shrinking during a blind bake. She is very frustrated. I’m ignorant but suspect she needs to use a lower protein flour such as White Lily All Purpose. Any thoughts?
Can you tell me please which flowers is good for baklava it should be high protein or low protein
Does the measurement error from using volumes rather than weights affect the final baked good more than the variation in protein percentages in flours? Like, if I had to choose just one change to make: measuring weight vs using cake flour in a bread, which would make more of a difference?
The type of flour you use would definitely make a larger difference in smaller batches. But in large batches, it's both.
You left out other flours like OO flour which most use for pizza crust it's what pizza places use
I have to leave out flour when measuring by volume in all your recipes. Might be a thing with Canadian flour but it’s been consistent.
Maybe because at over 13%, Robin Hood AP flour has more protein than KA bread flour? 🤷🏼♀
Cooking is a art baking is a science
My mom weighs flour by hand and always gets it right. Mothers always know
I do wonder why they blanked out the logos of King Arthur's Whole Wheat flour, King Arthur's Bread flour, and Swan's Down cake flour???
I have been experimenting with flour for several years. There are so many great flours besides these.
I feel like I’ve been scolded for not weighing my ingredients. Okay Jack, fine, I’ll do it from now on!
😅
How about pointers on How to use a scal
Please make a recommendation for a scale. Or maybe even test different scales and let us know the best one
OXO is their favourite. There's probably even a video or two around talking about their equipment testing that says that.
Jack, you call that a dip and sweep?! 😂
What is the best flour for takoyaki.. all purpose flour or wheat flour