What Is Strong Flour? (What It Is, Uses, Substitutes + More)

If you have had a look at recipes that involve flour, you will likely be surprised about how many types of flour there are. For instance, strong flour is a flour variant that is found in many recipes.

If you have never heard of strong flour before, you may be wondering what strong flour is and how to use it. I looked up the facts, and here is what I learned!

What Is Strong Flour?

Strong flour is flour made from hard wheat grains and strong flour contains a lot of gluten, typically having 13-14% gluten. Typically, strong flour is used to create recipes like bread, pasta, etc. because they require high-gluten flour. Strong flour may also be called bread flour, high-protein flour, and high-gluten flour.

Do you want to find out how strong flour differs from plain flour, if strong flour is the same as bread flour, and more? Keep reading!

What Is Considered Strong Flour?

Flour can be considered strong flour when the flour has a very high gluten content, which is normally 13-14% gluten. However, some manufacturers may create strong flour with higher gluten content, such as 15% gluten.

What Is Strong Flour Made Of?

Strong flour is often made from a mixture of ground-up hard wheat grains. Normally, the type of hard wheat used for most strong flour is hard red wheat.

What Is Strong Flour Used For?

Generally, strong flour is used for recipes that require a lot of chew and structure. This is because strong flour contains a lot of gluten, which will offer a lot of elasticity and denser textures in many recipes.

Normally, you will find strong flour used in baked goods. Some examples of baked goods that use strong flour are bagels, pasta, bread, pretzels, and more.

Usually, strong flour is ideal for these recipes because strong flour tastes like plain flour. Moreover, strong flour will offer a dense and coarse texture with a slightly off-white color.

Is Strong Flour The Same As Bread Flour?

In most cases, strong flour and bread flour are the same, so many bakers, recipes, and manufacturers will use the names interchangeably. Bread flour in most recipes usually refers to high gluten flour, which is strong flour.

Is Strong Flour The Same As Plain Flour?

Strong flour and plain flour are not the same for various. Firstly, plain flour is normally made from a mixture of soft and hard wheat while strong flour is made only from hard wheat.

Plus, strong flour and plain flour do not have the same gluten content. Most types of plain flour have around 10% gluten whereas strong flour has at least 12% gluten.

Therefore, people cannot usually use these two flour variants interchangeably. Since they have different gluten levels, you will get very different results in your recipes.

For instance, using bread flour to make a cake instead of plain flour will give you a very heavy, dense cake. On the other hand, using plain flour to make a bread loaf recipe will give you a very soft bread loaf.

Is Strong Flour The Same As Whole Wheat Flour?

Is Strong Flour The Same As Whole Wheat Flour?

Generally, most types of whole wheat flour that you see in the stores are not the same as strong flour. Easily accessible whole wheat flour usually only contains 10% gluten while strong flour has 12-15% gluten.

Is Strong Flour The Same As Self-Rising Flour?

Strong flour is not the same as self-rising flour for various reasons. First, strong flour is simply flour made from hard wheat while self-rising flour is made from a mixture of baking powder, salt, and all-purpose flour.

Strong flour and self-rising flour can both offer rise and structure in your recipes. However, they do not provide the exact same results because strong flour contains a lot of gluten to leaven recipes while self-rising flour contains leavening agents.

For instance, self-rising flour creates a gas that makes pockets in the dough, making your recipes rise. However, the texture of your dish will likely be very soft.

On the other hand, strong flour already contains a lot of gluten, so mixing the dough made with strong flour will further develop gluten, helping the dish rise and have structure. This will often result in a very chewy and dense dish.

What Is Strong Flour In Australia?

Generally, strong flour in Australia is flour that contains 11-12% protein. Moreover, Australian strong flour will often be called “bread flour.”

Does Strong Flour Have Gluten?

Strong flour does contain gluten because strong flour is made from wheat. Moreover, strong flour contains more gluten than most types of flour because strong flour is high in protein, which is a type of gluten.

What Can I Substitute For Strong Flour?

Normally, one of the best ways to substitute strong flour is to try creating your strong flour with all-purpose flour and vital wheat gluten. While this is not the perfect replacement, it can work in a pinch.

Vital wheat gluten is a type of flour that contains a lot of gluten. Normally, you can mix some vital wheat gluten with all-purpose flour to mimic strong flour.

Another good alternative for strong flour is semolina flour. Semolina flour is flour made from a specific variant of wheat called semolina, and semolina flour is very high in gluten, which creates very dense and chewy textures.

If you want to find out what spelt flour is, what self-rising flour is, and what dumpling flour is, check out our other articles.

Conclusion

Strong flour is a type of flour that contains 12-15% gluten, and strong flour is usually made from hard wheat. Normally, strong flour can go by other names, such as bread flour.

Typically, strong flour is used for any recipe that requires a chewy and dense texture with a good structure. Some common recipes that use strong flour are bread, pizza crust, pasta, etc.

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