Measure

Extraction rate and ash

You might say: how wholemeal the flour is, flour type number, ash content

The share of the wheat kernel recovered as flour, described by extraction rate or by the ash left from a flour sample.

What it does
Higher extraction leaves more bran in the flour; bran can weaken dough properties and reduce gas retention.
Ask
Is this a white flour or a high-extraction one, and what is its ash?
Typical
Efficient mills normally obtain 72–76% extraction; whole-wheat flour is listed at 100%.

What to look for

  1. Bran specks in the flour and crumb
  2. Type numbers such as T65 or 550 on European bags

Sources

  1. American Society of Baking, Extraction Rate, Extraction RateExtraction rate (ER) is the amount of white flour that is extracted from a given weight of clean and conditioned wheat. … In practice, extraction rate values of 72–76% are normally obtained in efficient mills.
  2. American Society of Baking, Extraction Rate, Extraction RateThe presence of bran disrupts the gluten-protein matrix (causing less mixing tolerance and stability of dough), weakening dough properties and reducing gas retention capacity of dough during fermentation.
  3. American Society of Baking, Extraction Rate, Extraction RateWhole wheat flour 100.0 9.0–14.0 1.5–2.0 Highest Lowest No separation of kernel components is done; only size reduction of grain is carried out.

Use it on your project

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