Comparing (German) Flours

by Constanze
Roggenmehl 1150 (rye flour to make rye sourdough starter)

Flours are differerent in different countries. Whenever people ask me what kind of flour works best with my recipes, I find that there is a lot of conflicting or even false information on flours to be found online. For example there are a couple of comparisons between German and American flours that are very misleading. (In this article I compare German flours to British and US-flours. Most of the questions concerning flours I get from people who live in these two countries.)

German Type Numbers

German flours are categorised by type numbers. Wheat flours have the following type numbers: 405, 550, 630, 812, 1050, (1600). Rye flours have the type numbers: 815, 997, 1150, 1370, 1740, 1800. Spelt flours have the type numbers: 630, 812, 1050. Now hat do these numbers mean? They let you know the mineral content of the flour. To measure the mineral content 100 g of flour are burnt. If you have type 405 wheat flour, there are 405 mg of minerals (ash) left. If you burn 1050 flour, there are 1050 mg of minerals left. This means: the higher the number the more nutritious your flour.

Some people think that German flours with lower type numbers are finer than those with high numbers. That is not true. All flours are fine flours. There are a few exceptions though. For example, we have spätzlemehl. (Used for spaetzle but also for yeast doughs.) This is a type 550 flour which has a bit of dunst mixed in. Dunst is a kind of very fine semolina that helps the dough absorb more water. Another name for this kind of flour is griffiges Mehl. We also have something called Instantmehl or doppelgriffiges Mehl (instant flour). This type 405 flour has lots of fine particles that you can see and feel. It can be used to thicken soups but also as a pasta or pancake flour. Here’s a comparison between both type 405 flours:

regular (fine) flour (type 405) vs instant flour (type 405)

There is no such thing as bread flour and high protein flour in Germany

You cannot compare all British or US bread flour to any German flour. What I mean by that is, American or British flours are categorised by protein and gluten content. German flours are categorised by ash content. Comparing them by protein is not helpful and still many pages do this, for example here or here. But it’s misleading. We have different flour traditions that value different things. One reason probably is that in Germany, we use flour with a lower gluten content right from the start. We use different wheat berries. In the US, as far as I know, hard wheat is used to make bread flour and high gluten flour. Soft wheat is used for cake flour and pastry flour. Great Britain is very similar. In Germany we use soft wheat for all flours. Hard wheat has more protein than soft wheat and it can also absorb more water. These properties make a big difference when baking bread. You should keep them in mind.

On many comparison sites you can find online, German type 812 flour is compared o bread flour. ThaBut these flours are different. The German type 812 may have the same protein content, but it’s made from soft wheat instead of hard wheat. (Plus, 812 flour is rare. You can only buy it online.) And German Type 1050 wheat flour can most definitely not be compared to high gluten flour, as it is often done online. (It has the same protein content as type 812 flour by the way.) First of all, it is made from soft wheat (so it will absorb less water!) , secondly, it has less gluten, and thirdly, it is much less refined than high gluten flour. If you compare German type 812 wheat flour and type 1050 flour to bread flour or high gluten flour that is misleading.

I lied. There is bread flour. But it’s hard to get. (You can also make your own.)

Okay, you can find something very similar to US or UK bread flour here. It is called Manitoba flour. Manitoba flour came to Germany via Italy, where it seems to be quite popular. If you buy Manitoba flour from a German mill it is graded like all German flour. They sell it as type 550. Which is another reason why it is misleading to call type 1050 flour a high protein flour. Like type 812 you won’t find Manitoba flour at a grocery store. You can buy it online. But personally I cannot be bothered to buy my flour online, especially if it’s for bread. Manitoba flour is expensive and I am quite satisfied with the flours I use. You can also make your own bread flour. (By adding gluten.) Here’s a handy chart.

What flour should I use?

In most of my recipes, I use German type 550 flour. I usually translate it as all-purpose flour even though I know it’s not the same. But in this case I’d say it’s close. The flour I use is not bleached (bleaching flour is banned in Germany) and does not have any added vitamins. I use type 550 flour both for white breads and cakes. For cakes, you could also use type 405 flour. In my experience both have the same gluten content and it doesn’t make much of a difference. Type 550 flour just has some more nutrients. If I make wholemeal breads, I usually mill my own flour. In general I try to experiment with all kinds of flours. I encourage you to do the same. It’s fun and you can learn a lot about flour properties just by kneading the dough. If I do make recipes from other countries and they call for bread flour, I will add gluten to my flour. This usually gives me results I am looking for. This is optional and if you don’t have a bag of gluten lying around, don’t bother.

21 comments

Louis March 9, 2024 - 07:15

So what brand you want to recommend on England brand,German.,& and Italian. Will like to try for southdoug bread.,

Babe January 12, 2024 - 23:21

Thank you so very much for this article ! I have been residing in SW Germany for over 25 years and this is the first time that I have really delved into the numbering system of flours here in Germany (Auseinandersetzung) and believe it or not, I was just surfing for high protein flours because I am starting on a sourdough journey, even though we are not bread consumers … we actually do not use a lot of flour in our household. Asian household, rice is the main way to go LOL ! But I love learning so I am embarking on working with sourdough, a little bit of bread baking amongst other wheat ingredient recipes just for fun.

This articles helps me to understand the hydration properties of the soft versus hard wheat and this alone already helps me to adjust recipes with high hydration appropriately ! Perhaps also one of the reason why my sourdough starter is taking so long to take off ! Wunderbar ! Lieben lieben Dank !

Jade October 24, 2023 - 11:02

Hi. great article. I wish I had stumbled upon it earlier. I bought several packs of typ 1050 weizenmehl thinking it was the equivalent of bread flour which is empirically not true – I’ve tried a bread recipe with it multiple times and all of my products end up being like dense cake. I also get a negative window pane test no matter what.

With all of the typ 1050 that I have, how can I best use it?

` June 23, 2023 - 21:21

Thank you for the information on your blog. I live in the United States and am looking to mill Soft Wheat that is grown here. In milling my own flour, do you have any suggestions on how to mill a grain to come close to a Type 550?
Thank you
Julie

Eleni Roumelioti March 24, 2022 - 11:35

Hello, i am coming from Greece to Munich for our Easter and i want to make Easter Cookies and brioche. I checked the flours and i think that the most suitable flour for my Easter cookies is 405 while for my brioche is 812, while for my home-made bread is 1050. do you agree?

bernard collin November 28, 2021 - 14:50

hi bakers…
i have been trying unsuccessfully to make sourdough bread using german wheat flour 1050, because it has the highest protein content. i can not get it successfull, first the level of hydration that is supposed to work with this flour is around 85% but my dough is unmanageable at even 70%. it becomes so sticky that i can even shape the bread… sticks so badly to the table i can not make it a ball or anything.
I research and found out that german flour is made of soft wheat and this could be the problem.
what is your recommendation for a sourdough bread in terms of hydration?
also making the dough by hand or in a stand up mixer, does it make a difference? I use a stand up mixer
cheers

Constanze November 28, 2021 - 18:10

1050 flour doesn’t have the most protein. It has the same protein content as 550 flour etc. (As I explain in the article.)
You can make sourdough bread with 1050 type flour, just not the kind you might be used to. I can usually work with 70% hydration although that is the upper end, but 60% should definitely work.

Thomas Cappiello August 6, 2022 - 23:59

So what do the numbers actually mean? How much ash is in a 997 rye for example?

Tony Gowland September 15, 2021 - 14:30

Eric,
This also may be an alternative https://scotlandthebread.org/product/balcaskie-landrace-organic-flour/
It’s a wholemeal soft flour, but it’s very finely milled so there are no large bits of bran. I’ve just bought some and going to give it a try.
Tony

Erik Meyer September 11, 2021 - 22:30

Our German 1050 wheat flour just ran out. Presumably ordering online from Germany won’t work anymore. Hence I am wondering what the equivalent is in the UK – or is somebody milling German style flours ?

Constanze September 12, 2021 - 09:55

Hi Erik, I did a bit of research and it seems that maybe brown flour might be a be a substitute for type 1050. Like this one: https://gilchesters.com/product/farmhouse-brown-strong-wheat-flour/
What do you think?

Jun September 11, 2021 - 13:42

Good, helpful article. Thank you. Where do you buy vital wheat gluten in Germany? I live in Bavaria. Found 812 flour in Feneberg supermarket.

Constanze September 11, 2021 - 14:49

Hey Jun,

great you found the flour! Vital wheat gluten can be found in Rewe supermarkets, at least in cities. It is often called Seitanfix or Seitan-Basis and they sell it next to other vegan products. You can also order it online for example from vantastic foods or from veganz.

Jen Pekarek May 6, 2021 - 19:49

I’m doing research on the best flours across the globe for washing to make seitan and I came across your site and this post. Very insightful! Have you washed flour to make seitan? If so, do you have a recommended flour for that? I’m specifically looking for brand/type and protein content if you know it.

Constanze May 6, 2021 - 19:54

Nope, sorry Jen! I am way too lazy for that. I buy gluten powder. (Or vital wheat gluten as it’s often called.)

Terri Ann Fox May 3, 2021 - 07:54

This article is very insightful. I am a baker in Ireland looking to move away from high gluten refined flours for my sourdoughs. I was wondering if you could recommend some German bread books that speak to these processes and traditional German bread baking (preferably in English).
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

Terri An

Constanze May 6, 2021 - 12:13

Hey Terri Ann, thank you! I can recommend everything by Lutz Geißler (letter ß=ss). Unfortunately his books are only available in German so far but maybe his blog (and Google translate) is helpful for you. The site is called ploetzblog It is a really great ressource with lots of amazing recipes.

Tony Gowland September 15, 2021 - 13:56

Constanze,
What a great website you have, and what a great suggestion for plötzblog. I came across seitanismymotor looking for information about German flours and found what else I was looking for, information about German artisan bread baking.
Mach’s gut!
Tony

Constanze September 15, 2021 - 14:02

Hi Tony, thanks a lot! Great to have you here. Cheers

Tommy February 23, 2021 - 22:54

Great article. Thanks. So confusing! There are so many articles I’ve read that make none of this clear. What then in your opinion is the best German flour for pizza dough. I’ve been using 812 as I want to use flour from Germany and not abroad.

Constanze March 4, 2021 - 12:20

Hi Tommy, sorry for the late reply! Yes, it is quite confusing. So many articles are weird! To answer your question, I love to use type 550 flour for pizza. Never worked with 812, as I cannot find it.

Comments are closed.