Shop ALL products

Wholesale Buyers

Free Shipping on retail orders over $100, use code FREESHIPPING100

(Excludes AK, HI, and Wholesale)

Which Janie's Mill Flour is Best for my Baking?

Which Janie's Mill Flour is Best for my Baking?

By: Cecilia Gunther (Read Bio)

Which Janie's Mill Flour is Best for my Baking?

At Janie's Mill, we are proud to provide you with a comprehensive collection of stone-milled, certified organic flours.

Of course, when you are new to Janie's Mill flours, all the choices can be a little daunting! But choosing the right flour for your baking is really not that difficult, and makes all the difference to your final product. 

We created this visual so you can see at a glance which flours are best for what you want to make. 


Scroll down for more details and suggested substitutions or flour blends for each category.

AT A GLANCE, if you are making . . .

  • Yeast or Sourdough BREADS, we have five great bread flours for you:
    • High-Protein Bread Flour
    • Whole-Kernel Bread Flour
    • Artisan Blend Bread Flour
    • Sifted Artisan Bread Flour
    • Italian-Style Pizza Flour
      See details and suggestions about bread flours below. 

 

  • European-style, Hearty BREADS are delicious when made with these whole-kernel flours, many of which are ancient grains or heirloom varieties of wheat, full of flavor and nutrition. 
    • Whole-Kernel Bread Flour
    • Red Fife Flour
    • Turkey Red Flour
    • Durum Flour
    • Black Emmer Flour
    • Spelt Flour
      See details and suggestions about these flours below. 

 

  • DESSERTS -- Most Cakes and Cookies and other Sweet Treats are excellent when made with Janie’s Mill All-Purpose flour, but we also have great pastry, cake, and other flours you can substitute for All-Purpose in most recipes. See details below. 
  • PANCAKES & WAFFLES are hearty and delicious when made with Buckwheat or Einkorn, but you may also substitute and blend with other flours — details below.

 

  • PASTA -- All of the flours that we stone-mill from Durum Wheat make excellent pasta. These include:
    • Durum Flour
    • Sifted Durum Flour
    • Semolina Flour
       Italian style Pizza Flour may also be used — see details below.
  • PIE CRUST & PASTRY DOUGH -- Our Silky Smooth Pasty flour is the preferred flour, but you may also used Sifted Durum, and/or blend with All-Purpose — details below.
  • PIZZA -- Our Pizza Italian Pizza Flour is milled from a blend of the Hard Red Spring Wheat and Turkey Red berries. Then sifted as close to 00 as a stone ground flour will get. It is a very popular flour with our bakers - add a touch of Spelt or Einkorn for the taste of Rome!

 

FLOUR DETAILS

For BREADS

We have five bread flours that make great loaves of sourdough or yeasted breads, from ciabatta to a country loaf. 

1. High Protein Bread Flour. If your recipe calls for All Purpose or Bread Flour then you need the High Protein Bread Flour.  This will make you a super loaf with a strong open crumb.  This is the first flour I recommend to bread bakers both at home,  in commercial kitchens and for beginner bread bakers. It is reliable and very popular.
2. Whole Kernel Bread Flour is milled from the same high protein wheat as the High Protein Bread Flour but is unsifted. It is finely ground but unsifted so all the bran and germ is still in the flour.  This flour will give you a hearty tight dark crumb. I often blend this with the High Protein for a sourdough boule. 
3. Artisan Blend Bread Flour is a blend of a high protein flour and a low protein flour and will give you a hearty medium crumb boule or sandwich loaf. Artisan Blend Bread Flour is only lightly sifted so it is very close to a whole wheat flour.  If you prefer a long ferment then the Artisan Blend will hold its structure really well across a long retard. This is also the perfect flour to start and maintain a sourdough starter. 
4. Sifted Artisan Bread Flour is a lovely sifted flour.  It is also a blend of the high protein and a low protein flour. This is one of the flours I always have in my fridge. It is perfect for a sandwich loaf and makes great toast. This flour has also been used in croissants, rolls, pastry,  etc. I believe that the Sifted Artisan is the closest flour we have to a commercial All Purpose. It makes marvellous tortillas and flat breads, too. 
5. Italian Style Pizza Flour makes an excellent pizza crust but also bread, focaccia and pita breads. It is a blend of a High Protein Bread Flour and Turkey Red but sifted finer than any of our other flours which is why it makes a gorgeous loaf of bread.

NOTE: Janie's Mill All Purpose is NOT a bread flour.  It is an incredibly versatile flour and I always have a bag in my refrigerator, but it does not have the gluten development for bread. See below for more things to bake with our All Purpose Flour. 

For Hearty European-Style Whole-Kernel BREADS

If you prefer a dense hearty winter bread, or if your recipe calls for whole wheat flour (usually at a lower percentage), choose one of our whole kernel flours. My favorites are:  Whole Kernel Bread Flour, Red Fife Flour, Turkey Red Flour, Durum Flour, Black Emmer Flour and Spelt Flour.   These are 100% extraction flours with all the goodness of the whole kernel of wheat finely ground into flour.

Although they are high in protein, these flours have only medium to low gluten development. If you love those tight crumb heavy European breads, these are the flours for you. Or blend them with High Protein Bread Flour for lightness, and additional taste and health benefits. 

For DESSERTS -- Cakes, Cookies, and other Sweet Treats

For cakes and cookies use the All Purpose flour or the Frederick Cake Flour.  Blend in Dark Rye, Einkorn or Buckwheat to add to the taste profile and goodness. 
Dark Rye, Turkey Red and Red Fife are also great for making cookies (by themselves or blended with the All Purpose).
The Silky Smooth Pastry flour makes divine cakes.
Dark Rye, Buckwheat and Red Fife make great cookies. Have you tried the Dark Rye Brownies yet?
Einkorn is wonderful for shortbread - the recipe is in Mother Grains by Roxana Jullapat (you should try her Trouble Cookies too - we make them all the time). 
Sifted Durum makes wonderful cookies too. 

 

For PANCAKES & WAFFLES

Einkorn is my favorite flour for pancakes. Our Einkorn is a whole kernel flour (not an All Purpose grade) so I do not call it a bread flour (though a loaf with 15% Einkorn blended in with the bread flours is really good).

All Purpose, Red Fife, Black Emmer, and Buckwheat also make great pancakes and waffles, on their own or blended.

For PASTA

I generally use Sifted Durum Flour for my spaghetti, ravioli, and noodles. But sometimes I use Italian-Style Pizza Flour, or a blend of the Durum and Italian Pizza Flour, which make great light pastas. 

 Semolina makes superior hearty whole grain pasta to serve with a heavy sauce, and Durum is the holy grail of pasta-making, giving you a superior whole wheat pasta perfect for a strong lasagna. 

For PIE CRUST or Country Pastry

I use a blend of All Purpose and Silky Smooth Pastry Flour for a pie crust.  Silky Smooth Pastry Flour alone will give you a light flaky pastry great for apple turnovers, etc. I love Sifted Durum for my steak pies and tartins. Below is a pie crust made with Sifted Durum. 

 

For PIZZA!

Our Italian Pizza Flour is milled from a blend of the Hard Red Spring Wheat and Turkey Red berries. Then sifted as close to 00 as a stone ground flour will get. It is a very popular flour with our bakers - add a touch of Spelt or Einkorn for the taste of Rome. 

... 

Posted on September 16 2020