For an authentic French loaf whether it is a baguette, pain de campagne or indeed a sweet treat such as a croissant, using French flour makes all the difference. The wheat is different and needs handling differently too.
French Flour Types
When baking bread using French flour, you’ll need to know what type to use. Each bag of French flour is labelled with a number. It’s important to understand these numbers. Typically, French flour for breadmaking is Type 55 or T55. The higher the number, the more of the whole grain it contains.
The type number refers to the amount mineral content. When the flour is tested, a precise amount of flour is baked at a very high temperature and the resulting “ash” or mineral content is measured (marked cendres above). For example a Type 55 flour will have between 0.5 and 0.6% of minerals for each 100 gr of flour. The lower the number, the whiter the flour. The higher the number the more complete or ‘wholemeal’ the flour.
It is relatively easy these days to buy flour milled from grain grown in the UK. However, traditionally much of our flour has been imported from countries Canada and the United States. These wheats are strong in protein. Gluten allows the gas generated by the yeast to be trapped in bubbles. The stronger the wheat the smaller the bubble and more water can be added. French flour is ‘softer’ and contains less gluten. It will contains grains only grown in France.
What part of the grain does the flour come from?
A grain of wheat is made of up three main components:
Outer casing (13%). Mostly made of cellulose and minerals. The outer casing is removed during milling and becomes the bran
Endosperm (84%) This is 70 to 75% starch and 10 to 12% proteins and a small amount of vitamins.
Germ (3%) Rich in lipids, proteins, vitamins and essential minerals. Removed during milling to ensure longer life
Wholemeal flour uses all the grain, white flour just the endosperm. However, depending on the mill, the bran and germ might be removed and then added back in.
Why use French flour?
If you want to make really great baguettes and croissant, try French flour. You will notice the difference. It’s much easier to achieve those large ‘holes’ you love. The dough is will softer to work with, so require a little practice! It’s always best to autolyse first – pre-soaking.
What type of flour should I use?
Type 45 – The whitest of flours. You’ll discover there are two types, one created specifically for croissants and brioches (sometimes called Gruau). The second is similar to sponge flour you might find in the supermarket. I use this flour for making scones and cakes with excellent results.
Type 55 and Type 65 – These are typically used for bread making. I like to use Type 65 which has a slightly rougher feel and is my flour of choice for baguettes
Type 80 – This is a lovely flour, not white, not wholemeal but in between the two.
Type 110 This is the designation for spelt flour just to confuse things!
Type 150 – This is the wholemeal flour and ideal for rustic breads.
Where to buy French flour?
Some companies buy in French flour and rebrand it or sell it under the original brand name. Others buy in the wheat and mill it in the UK.
Shipton Mill sell both Type 45 and Type 55 flour in small and large bags. Shipton Mill mill a mix of flours to create French Flour.
Bakery Bits sell flour milled by Foricher in France. Types T45, T55, T65 , T110 and T150 are available. I’ve had the opportunity to visit the mill in France and can highly recommend the flour.
Ratton Pantry also sell Foricher Flour and flour from Moulin St Martin – a wider selection than Bakery Bits now has.
Discover the other posts in my Bake Better Bread Series including, importance of heat and steam; baker’s percentages, autolysing, fresh yeast and more.
Learn to Bake Bread
Learn how to make bread the French way in one of my breadmaking courses, there’s plenty to choose from including online classes which are bespoke.
Bake Better Bread – Autolyse – Why pre-soaking your dough will make all the difference
For those of you who are abroad, you may notice that a lot of my recipes calls for T45 flour. If you don't have this on hand, you can mix some all-purpose flour with corn starch to have a quick alternative to cake flour at home. Cake Flour – 1 cup minus 2 tbsp (100g) all purpose flour + 2 tbsp cornstarch.
French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries. This means that the flour has more of the grain and less of the residual minerals that might come from the milling process.
“In order to produce a great loaf of bread, one needs to have the proper structure that comes from the high quantity of protein that is found in what we consider bread flour or high-gluten flour,” says Stephen Chavez, Chef-Instructor at ICE LA.
In France, there are different types of flour, the higher the type number the more minerals your flour contains. T45 : This is a white flour generally used for pastries, cakes, etc., but also for pizza dough.T55 : This is a white flour used for "white" or "ordinary" bread, pastry doughs and pizzas.
Premium French patisserie flour grown and milled in France from soft wheats. T45 refers to the low ash content, this flour is equivalent to a 00 flour. Use this flour for desserts, cakes, profiteroles, puff pastry, pastries, pan au chocolat, croissants and brioche.
While bread flour is more than adequate for everyday breads, some professional bakers use high-gluten flour with a 14% protein content to provide extra strength to dense, chewy doughs like bagels and pizza dough. High-gluten bread flour gives milk bread it's taut structure and compact (but tender) crumb.
The healthiest bread flour is 100% whole grain flour. Whole grain flour could be rye, barley, spelt, oat, or wheat flour - the key is that the flour is made from 100% whole grains. Whole grain breads provide essential nutrients that are lacking in bread made from white flour.
If you make a bread dough with all-purpose flour, the gluten network won't be as strong because of the lower protein content; this means the dough won't be able to stretch as much to accommodate those bubbles, resulting in smaller bubbles and bread with a tighter crumb.
Strong French style White Bread Flour; type T55 is ideal for making bread, puff pastries, croissants and baguettes. This type of flour is best known for making croissants. This Flour gives a light open textured loaf with a crisp crust.
For use in traditional bread making. T65 is the standard bread flour in France, the one used for baking baguettes. A careful blending process at the mill produces a flour that is tailor made to suit the traditional French bread making process, with a long fermentation time.
We can make desserts, toast, and brio and other heavy cream bread with T45, When we using T45 to make the Brioche, the water needs to be reduced compared with the Japanese wheat flour. Because of the powder of T45, in the making of bread, it will retain the aroma of the wheat, not to be taken away by the cream.
The brand of flour that the chef recommends is Gruau Rouge viennoiserie from France, it is a T45 Wheat flour, ground specifically for the production of pastries; such as croissants, brioche, danish rolls, empanadas. T45 Wheat Flour is essential for making well-leavened and soft cakes.
Under French flour categorisation, the lower the number the whiter the flour, with the number (Type) 45 being used as an indication of the amount of ash present – this is where our flour gets its name from. Perfect for puff pastry. Our Head Baker Chris recommends this flour for viennoiseries and croissants.
The French typically use Type 55 flour for their baguettes, which has a lower protein content than All-Purpose flour (usually 11.5% protein). I know that's not found in your standard supermarket, but you can buy it online from King Arthur Flour.
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Introduction: My name is Msgr. Benton Quitzon, I am a comfortable, charming, thankful, happy, adventurous, handsome, precious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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