Bread Flour Blend Calculator
Out of bread flour? Blend all-purpose flour with vital wheat gluten, or mix any two flours, to hit the protein level your recipe needs. Then check the protein of any multi-flour blend.
Blend two flours to a target protein
What protein is my blend?
| Flour | Protein (%) | Weight (g) |
|---|
Read the protein off your bag
Why protein decides the flour
Most of the protein in wheat flour forms gluten when it meets water and gets worked. More protein gives a stronger, stretchier dough that traps more gas, so you get taller loaves, a chewier crumb and better structure in high-hydration doughs. Less protein gives tender cakes and flaky pastry. The names on the bags mostly describe a protein range:
| Flour | Typical protein | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Cake flour | 7–9% | Sponges, chiffon, tender layer cakes |
| Pastry flour | 8–10% | Pie crust, biscuits, scones, cookies |
| All-purpose flour | 10–12% | Most home baking, softer breads |
| Bread flour | 12–13.5% | Sourdough, sandwich loaves, pizza |
| High-gluten flour | 13.5–15% | Bagels, New York pizza, very chewy breads |
| Vital wheat gluten | about 75% | Not a flour to bake with alone: a booster for weaker flour |
The calculator's starting values are typical figures. Brands differ by a point or more, so type in the protein from your own bag when you know it.
How to make bread flour from all-purpose flour
Bread flour is mostly all-purpose flour with more protein. Swap a small part of the all-purpose flour for vital wheat gluten, which is nearly pure wheat protein, and you raise the blend's protein to bread-flour level. The share of gluten comes from a simple balance:
gluten share = (target protein − flour protein) ÷ (gluten protein − flour protein)
Worked example: 500 g of bread flour at 12.7% from all-purpose at 10.5% and gluten at 75%: (12.7 − 10.5) ÷ (75 − 10.5) = 3.4%, so 17 g vital wheat gluten plus 483 g all-purpose flour. That's about 4 g of gluten per 120 g cup of all-purpose.
Whisk the gluten evenly through the flour before adding any water, or it forms rubbery lumps. Gluten-boosted dough also absorbs a little more water, so if it feels stiff, add water a spoonful at a time.
Blending any two flours
The same balance works for any pair of flours, as long as the target sits between their two protein levels. Mixing bread flour with cake flour gives a stand-in for all-purpose, and cutting all-purpose with cake flour gets you close to pastry flour. You can't make a blend stronger than its strongest flour, so the calculator tells you when a target is out of reach.
Whole grains and rye change the picture
Protein percentage tells you how much gluten could form, not how much will. The bran in whole wheat flour cuts gluten strands, so a 13% whole wheat flour makes a weaker dough than a 13% white bread flour. Rye has protein but forms very little gluten at all. When a blend includes whole grains or rye, the protein figure is an upper bound, which is why many whole wheat recipes add bread flour or a little vital wheat gluten. Whole grains also drink more water, so check your dough with the hydration calculator and write the blend down as a formula with the baker's percentage calculator.
Reading protein from the nutrition label
Outside the US, labels list nutrition per 100 g, so the protein figure is the percentage. US labels list it per serving, usually 30 g (¼ cup), rounded to a whole gram: 3 g works out to 10% and 4 g to 13.3%. That rounding makes US labels a rough guide only. A flour labelled 4 g could be anywhere from about 11.7% to 15%, so the manufacturer's website is a better source when they publish an exact figure.