The Classification of Flour

Diverse flour classification systems exist in North America and Europe.  Table III is adapted from a text by Schunemann and Treu (6).  The original German edition of this textbook was published in 1986 to meet the technical requirements of the West German educational program for apprentice bakers.   The English edition was published in 1988.   Where appropriate, the techniques and terminology were adapted to North American standards. Table III depicts the types of wheat flour.   Please note that Rye and Other Flours, while depicted in Table III, are not part of this discussion.

Table III

Flour Types

Hard Wheat Flours
Top Patent	0.35 - 0.40% ash content: 11.0-12.0% protein Uses: -  Danishes, sweet doughs, yeast doughnuts and smaller volume breads and buns.
First Baker's	0.50 - 0.55%. ash content: 13.0-13.8% protein Uses: All purpose strong baker's flour, breads, buns, soft rolls and puff pastry
First Clears	0.70-0.80% ash content: 15.5-17% protein Uses: A dark very high protein flour used as a base for rye bread production; poor color not a factor in finished product.
Second Clears	Low grade flour, not used in food production. Constitutes less than 5% of flour produced by a mill.
Soft Wheat Flours
Cake Flour	0.36-0.40% ash content: 7.8 - 8.5% protein, chlorinated to 4.5- 5.0 pH. Uses: High-ratio cakes (cakes with a high amount of sugar and liquid in proportion to flour), angel food cakes and jelly rolls.
Pastry Flour	0.40-0.45% ash content/8.0-8.8% protein, chlorinated to 5.0-5.5 pH, (also available unchlorinated). Uses: Cake, pastries and pies.
Cookie Flour	0.45-0.50% ash content: 9.0 - 10.5% protein Uses: Cookies and blended flours. For large-scale manufacturers, flour can be chlorinated to the user's specifications.
Whole Wheat Flour	Various bran coat granulations produce coarse to fine whole-wheat
Rye Flours
Light Rye	(75% extraction) 0.55-0.65% ash content [See Note below] Uses: Can be blended up to 40% with white flour without a major loss of loaf volume.
Medium Rye	(87% extraction) 0.65 - 1.00% ash content. Uses: Up to 30% blend with white flour
Dark Rye	(100% extraction) Limited to 20% flour blend before significant volume reduction occurs in the product.
Rye Meals	Fine/medium/coarse/pumpernickel and flaked.  Consist of a variety of  broken or cracked rye grains after being classified in a series of sieves.
Other Flours
Stone-Ground Flour	(100% extraction) Usually untreated and, because of germ content, is subject to limited shelf life.
Cracked Wheat/Rye	Available in coarse, medium or fine granulations
Semolina	Semolina A fine meal consisting of particles of coarsely-ground durum.
NOTE:	Extraction Rate is defined as the percentage of flour obtained from a given amount of grain.

The data in Table IV was obtained from Boriani, Guido, Fabrizio Ostani (7).   Italian law 4.7. 1967. n. 580 establishes that common wheat flours destined for commercial use can only be produced in the following types and with the following characteristics:

Table IV

	Per 100 Parts of Dry Substance
Type & Denomination	Maximum Moisture %	Maximum Ash	Maximum Cellulose	Minimum Gluten
Flour Type 00	14.50	.50	NA	7
Flour Type 0	14.50	.65	.20	9
Flour Type 1	14.50	.80	.30	10
Flour Type 2	14.50	.95	.50	10
Flour -Wheat	14.50	1.40 - 1.60	1.6	10

Flour Classifications in France

The table below is adapted from Calvel, Raymond, James MacGuire, and Ronald Wirtz, "The Taste of Bread", Gaithersburg, MD; Aspen Publishers, 2001.

Table V

Likewise the information below is also from Calvel et al.  This chart compares North American flour grades and offers comments relative to French flour.