Absorption of liquid by various types of flour, cereals, flakes

[Interaction of various types of flour with liquid, water absorption capacity of flour]

Interaction of various types of flour with liquid, water absorption capacity of flour

Moisture content of flour - one of its most important properties in baking. To determine the water absorption capacity of the flour, measure 25 cm'6 of water into a mortar with a pipette or burette and gradually add flour from a pre-weighed 100 g sample until a normal dough consistency is formed, which is determined by touch: the dough should be neither sticky nor thick ... By weighing the rest of the flour, they find out how much flour was used for kneading. The amount of water is calculated per 100 g of flour, which will characterize the water absorption capacity of the flour.

The water absorption capacity of flour primarily depends on the quantity and quality of gluten, starch, fiber and moisture.

Strong flour, which has hard-to-expand gluten, absorbs more water and its gluten remains elastic.

Weak flour absorbs less water and is characterized by less elastic gluten. Dr. Moos argues that the gluten particles of strong flour, by absorbing moisture on their surface, are not impregnated with it. In weak flour, the gluten particles are soaked in water and the gluten becomes easily stretchable.

In addition, the more or less fine structure of gluten is of great importance, which depends on external conditions during and after grain ripening.

On average, 100 g of gluten can absorb about 200 g of water, and 100 g of starch only about 30 g of water. Fiber also absorbs a lot of water, but it easily gives it away when heated.

Hence, it is clear that flour containing better gluten and more shells will have a greater water absorption capacity.

The water absorption capacity is usually 12.5% ​​moisture for flour, since an increased percentage of moisture in the flour will reduce the water absorption capacity.

According to the water absorption capacity, the calculation is made on the amount of water that must be added to the flour for kneading the dough.

It is very important and grind size.
Larger starchy particles swell gradually, and the dough, swelling, becomes drier and more elastic.
Smaller flour particles are more likely to be saturated with moisture and the dough remains runny.

However, large bran particles worsen the baking quality of flour, as they prevent the particles of starch and gluten from forming a viscous mass: being located between them, they make the dough non-viscous.
The high fiber content makes the dough less cohesive and worsens the porosity of the bread.

Flour with high humidity will give less dough yield. Increased moisture in flour enhances the action of digesting enzymes, as a result of which the water absorption capacity of starch proteins decreases.

Maltiness of flour... Malted flour is flour made from sprouted grains, or a significant impurity in flour from sprouted grains.
She has little gluten, she is weak and little elastic and is not able to hold the gases formed during fermentation. The dough from such flour spreads, and the bread is obtained with low elastic sticky crumb, with poor porosity, etc.
For the experiment, I chose 6 types of flour (which was available), - wheat, rye (took peeled), buckwheat, corn, chestnut, barley.

I measured exactly 30 grams of flour each.
Instead of water, curd whey was added with a measuring tablespoon, equal in volume to 15 ml. liquids.

For 30 grams of flour, I poured 3 tbsp into each flour sample. l. measured serum, that is, 45 ml. liquids.
It was based on the texture of wheat flour "liquid sour cream".

Here's what happened, you can see in the photos:
Top row: wheat, peeled rye, buckwheat flour.
Bottom row: corn, chestnut, barley flour.



And now, to each sample of flour (except for wheat), I added so much whey to get the same texture as wheat "liquid sour cream".

Here's how much liquid had to be added in quantity to each sample:

TO rye peeled flour - + 3 tbsp. l. or 45 ml. liquid, which is 100% in relation to wheat flour.
TO buckwheat flour - + 4 tbsp. l. or 60 ml. liquid, which is 133% in relation to wheat flour.
TO corn flour - +3 tbsp. l. or 45 ml. liquid, which is 100% in relation to wheat flour.
TO chestnut flour - 3.7 tbsp. l. or 55.5 ml. liquid, which is 123% in relation to wheat flour.
TO barley flour - + 3 tbsp. l. or 45 ml. liquid, which is 100% in relation to wheat flour.

Result:

To achieve the consistency of wheat flour (liquid sour cream), add the following amount of water in milliliters to 30 grams of flour:
to rye flour - 45 + 45 = 90 ml.
to buckwheat flour - 45 + 60 = 105 ml.
to corn flour - 45 + 45 = 90 ml.
to chestnut flour - 45 + 55 = 100 ml.
to barley flour - 45 + 45 = 90 ml.
The most water-absorbing flour is buckwheat

Then I proofed the samples for 40 minutes:

Wheat flour - thickened well
Rye flour - thickened well
Buckwheat flour - thickened well
Corn flour - slightly thickened
Chestnut flour - not thickened at all
Barley flour - slightly thickened



Problems arose with buckwheat flour, when, after pouring with whey, it turned into lumps of cement, and it was necessary to urgently add more liquid and break these lumps and rub it with a spoon for several minutes until the desired result was achieved.

Analyzing the bread recipes on the site, we see the following:

When kneading a dough from only one wheat flour per 500 grams of flour, approximately 260 ml is required. water.
When kneading a dough from 400 grams of wheat flour and 100 grams of buckwheat flour, about 350 ml is already required. water.
The difference is 90 ml. additional water.

You can try to approximate this amount of additional water.

260: 500 = 0.52 x 400 = 208 ml. water is required for 400 grams of flour according to the bread recipe with the addition of buckwheat flour.
How much will the amount of water increase when replacing 100 grams of wheat flour with 100 grams of buckwheat flour.
100 grams x 0.52 = 52 ml. x 133% = 69 ml. 52 + 69 = 121 ml.
Total required amount of water for the entire dough batch.
208 + 121 = 329 ml.
It turns out that you can calculate in advance the additional amount of water for buckwheat (or other) flour, in this example it is approximately 69 ml of water to obtain a normal bun. Although it may happen that you need to add or add 1 tbsp. l. (15 ml) of water, or vice versa, reduce.

Such a control calculation of the ratio of various types of flour and water will help to correctly calculate the required amount of water and at the same time not be afraid that you need to add excess water against recipes with only one wheat flour.

I hope my observations and experiments with flour and liquid will help you understand their interaction with each other and determine the amount of liquid when kneading dough with the addition of flour of these types. And, of course, it is necessary to increase the liquid in proportion to the amount of added flour, and not to the amount of basic wheat flour.

I continue my experiments with flour and cereals.

Today I have the following types of flour and cereals:

1. Wheat germ flakes,
2. Diet wheat bran,
3. Long-boiled herculean flakes,
4. Mashed potato flakes,
5. Semolina,
6. Purchased rice flour.

All samples are distributed in outlets in the amount of 30 grams for each type of product. Thus, I comply with the conditions of my experiment described in message # 1 (see above).



I add 45 ml to each sample. water at room temperature (from the filter), to achieve the state of "pancake dough".

To achieve this state of the samples, it was necessary to add to each sample in addition to 45 ml.water additionally the following amount of water:

1. Wheat germ flakes, 45 ml. + 60 ml. water or 133% in relation to wheat flour.
2. Diet wheat bran, 45 ml. + 75 ml. water or 167% in relation to wheat flour.
3. Long-boiled herculean flakes, 45 ml. + 60 ml. water or 133% in relation to wheat flour.
4. Mashed potato flakes, 45 ml. + 225 ml. water or 500% in relation to wheat flour.
5. Semolina, 45 ml. + 15 ml. water or 30% in relation to wheat flour.
6. Purchased rice flour, 45 ml. + 30 ml. water or 67% in relation to wheat flour.



Then the samples were proofed for 1.5 hours to swell. I added additional water only to semolina, in an amount of only 15 ml. water.



The photo shows the state of the samples after saturation with water.
As a result, it turned out that:

1. Wheat germ flakes, received only 105 ml. water for swelling, remained in this state further, saturation with water is rapid.

2. Diet wheat bran, received only 120 ml. water for swelling, but due to the structure of the bran (shell of wheat grain), very dry, water absorbs and swells poorly. During the swelling time of 1.5 hours, they did not absorb water, which can be seen in the photo.

3. Long-boiled herculean flakes, received only 105 ml. water for swelling, water is absorbed slowly, it takes a longer time for full saturation.

4. Mashed Potato Flakes, received only 270 ml. water for swelling, water is absorbed very well and quickly, saturation is very high.

5. Semolina, received only 60 ml. water for swelling. Swelling took place in cold water at room temperature, saturation and swelling were slow, in contrast to swelling in hot water or milk.

6. Purchased rice flour, received only 75 ml. water for swelling, it absorbs water well and immediately, there is no large swelling (like wheat flour).

I hope that my observations will help you better navigate in flour, cereals and their interaction with water, and that will have a beneficial effect on the baking of your bread.

Admin.I have always admired people who are purposeful, seekers who need everything "to the very core." Thank you for your research work, it is very interesting, informative, and most importantly, it is simply necessary in practical application. I look forward to further developments.
I really like your motto; "Until the gray hair, I'm in life ...". When I first got to the site, I immediately "got" these wonderful words of Omar Khayyam into my notes.

Admin.I have always admired people who are purposeful, seekers who need everything "to the very core." Thank you for your research work, it is very interesting, informative, and most importantly, it is simply necessary in practical application. I look forward to further developments.
I really like your motto; "Until the gray hair, I'm in life ...". When I first got to the site, I immediately "got" these wonderful words of Omar Khayyam into my notes.

Thank you Everything is written so seriously ...

[Different flours take different amounts of liquid by their properties !!!]

I pulled this topic out of the depths of the section, hid behind years ago ...

But, the problem is still relevant today, since it gives an explanation "How much to take flour and how to pour water?" And how interconnected is the consistency of the dough depending on the liquid!

Different flours take different amounts of liquid by their properties !!!

For 100 grams of flour, different amounts of water (liquid) are required if we use different types of flour!

This also applies to grains, grains, flakes - they also absorb liquid in different ways!

I hope this topic will help newcomers of bread white, and not only, to understand what a "balance of flour and liquid" is, a bun!

Admin! Here's what kind of bread we got from different flours. The size of the bread is different depending on how much water is absorbed by each type of flour (30 grams).
No. Type of flour Amount of water, tablespoons
1 Whole wheat wheat 3
2 Rice 3.5
3 Wheat premium 3.7
4 Sprouted wheat flakes 4.5
5 Oatmeal 5
6 Rye 5.5
7 Buckwheat 9
8 Linen 21

Kati, thanks!

An interesting and revealing experiment turned out!

Hello! Please tell me if sifting flour before kneading can negatively affect the quality of the bread. I used to make bread in a bread maker without sifting flour, it turned out to be excellent bread. Now I began to sift the same flour - it is worse suited. What could this be?

Sifting flour has a very positive effect on kneading dough and baking, since when sifting the flour is saturated with air, the lumps are broken.

You should know that you first need to measure the flour in the right amount, and only then sift it into the mixing bowl.
If you pour sifted and wholemeal flour into the same container, then a different amount of flour by weight will fit into one container - and there will be more wholemeal flour.

Let's give a complete bread recipe, what was measured and how, let's try to figure it out

Dear Admin,

I must admit that I specially registered on the site to express my gratitude for your articles. Everything that you write is worthy, interesting, thought out, accessible and you do it with such kindness and attention to people. Reading your reviews and comments, I am not afraid that I will stumble upon irritability, rudeness, verbiage or arrogance. That is why it gives me such pleasure to read everything you write. All this cannot but inspire respect and delight in me. And besides, thank you that your advice helped me easily and simply deal with all the questions that I had and, I hope, or rather, I'm sure, will help in the future. Thank you!

[panadera]

panadera, so, I can't even say anything, I touched with my attention

Thank you for such a review for my work on the forum, for the kind words I worked for you, for forum users

Tell the Lord. I am not a pastry chef, but I ran into this problem. I have an extruder that squeezes out 10mm diameter sausages from the dough (mixture), after which the sausage is placed on the shafts that roll the balls, these balls are loaded into a deep fryer.
The composition is based on corn flour. I just can't get the balls rolling with an even structure and not falling apart.
The better to hold the cornmeal together tried the options - linseed flour works best.
I am ready to pay for assistance in technology.
89104265734 vladimir moscow More details: https://mcooker-enm.tomathouse.com/in...on=com_smf&topic=386025.0

Hello, thank you for your research, but I have a small suggestion, can you combine all this information into a table to make it easier for novice bakers to figure it out? The simplest version of the table of bilateral "relations" of flour and water: columns - types of flour, flakes and bran, and two lines - how many grams of this flour is needed per 100 grams of water, and the second - how many grams (milliliters) of water is needed per 100 grams of this flour ... With the help of such a table, it will be very easy and quick to compose your recipes without lengthy calculations. I think everyone will thank you for such a sign, and I will be the first))) I can even say in advance)))

[at the moment of kneading, the liquid will take as much flour as is required for high-quality kneading of the dough]

It is inappropriate to make such a table, since absolutely all relationships between flour and water are based on flour moisture. Wet flour - less liquid. Dry flour will take more liquid. Therefore, the principle of "flour into water" is optimal when at the moment of kneading, the liquid will take as much flour as is required for high-quality kneading of the dough at this point in time.
Therefore, try to understand the principle of kneading the dough, and learn to regulate the dough with the balance of flour-liquid during kneading.

This is understandable, but at least the average numbers would make life much easier and help draw up the primary recipe. And so, I do the proven recipes from the forum by eye, guided by the kolobok. It's just that, if, for example, you want to make bread from several types of flour, looking at such a plate it would be easier to decide which initial numbers to insert into the recipe, from what to dance ...

I will not do such "empty" work
For yourself, you can display the average data and use it.
Learn to work with dough, flour-liquid balance - nothing will be scary

And use the theoretical basis of the forum, and also see our recipes for guidance, there are many and good

[I completely agree with Oksana]

thanks for your articles.Everything that you write is worthy, interesting, thoughtful, accessible and you do it with such kindness and attention to people. As I read your reviews and comments, I am not afraid that I will stumble upon irritability, rudeness, idle talk or arrogance. That is why it gives me such pleasure to read everything you write. All this cannot but inspire respect and delight in me. More details: https://mcooker-enm.tomathouse.com/in...tion=com_smf&topic=4234.0

I completely agree with Oksana

Uuuuuu, from where I pulled the text out from afar ... I don't go there anymore - the archive!

Thanks for the kind words to the author of the post!
Irinka, and THANK YOU for going to the archive!

[at the moment of kneading, the liquid will take as much flour as is required for high-quality kneading of the dough]

Hello, thank you for your research, but I have a small suggestion, can you combine all this information into a table to make it easier for novice bakers to figure it out? The simplest version of the table of bilateral "relations" of flour and water: columns - types of flour, flakes and bran, and two lines - how many grams of this flour is needed per 100 grams of water, and the second - how many grams (milliliters) of water is needed per 100 grams of this flour ... With the help of such a table, it will be very easy and quick to compose your recipes without lengthy calculations. I think everyone will thank you for such a sign, and I will be the first))) I can even say in advance)))

I have not used recipes for a long time, but I use the following algorithm:
for wheat flour factor 7
for mixed bread (most of wheat) - 8
rye, whole grain - 9

but I definitely follow the bun, because:

It is impractical to make such a table, since absolutely all relationships between flour and water are based on flour moisture. Wet flour - less liquid. Dry flour will take more liquid. Therefore, the principle of "flour into water" is optimal when at the moment of kneading, the liquid will take as much flour as is required for high-quality kneading of the dough at this point in time.
Therefore, try to understand how the dough is kneaded, and learn to regulate the dough with the flour-liquid balance during kneading.

I have not used recipes for a long time, but I use the following algorithm:
for wheat flour factor 7
for mixed bread (most of wheat) - 8
rye, whole grain - 9

I may be the only one here so stupid, but I did not understand what coefficients we are talking about ...

I may be the only one here so stupid, but I did not understand what the coefficients are ...

Nevermind. Take flour-liquid balance as a basis, read about the correct consistency of the dough and the correct kneading of the dough

[Newbie]

Nevermind. Take flour-liquid balance as a basis, read about the correct consistency of the dough and the correct kneading of the dough

Yes, this is understandable, someone else's real experience interests. Newbie I wrote something, but what he meant I think no one understood. Than a person thinks when such messages write ...

I have a bread maker recently, I am just mastering it. While I'm guided by these proportions 🔗
I count for every 100 grams of wheat flour 58 grams of water, for 100 grams of rye 78 water. Especially for this purpose, I bought an electronic scale and a couple of tall plastic glasses because the platform at the scales is tiny at all.

For wheat flour of the highest grade, the proportion is correct in my opinion. For flour with bran (1st, 2nd grade or whole grain), more water is probably needed. Even judging by my experience, sour dough (sourdough) needs less water, the acid seems to thin the dough.

Shl. For some reason, the link could not be placed, apparently I have few messages or it is impossible to other thematic resources ...

I wish I could also check the water absorption of different varieties of wheat flour (highest, 1st, 2nd, etc.)!

No problem!
The principle of how to do this is clear, it remains to carry out our plans and show us all your analysis

You can try to approximate this amount of additional water.

260: 500 = 0.52 x 400 = 208 ml. water is required for 400 grams of flour according to the recipe for bread with the addition of buckwheat flour.
How much will the amount of water increase when replacing 100 grams of wheat flour with 100 grams of buckwheat flour.
100 grams x 0.52 = 52 ml. x 133% = 69 ml. 52 + 69 = 121 ml.
Total required amount of water for the entire dough batch.
208 + 121 = 329 ml.

Tell me, please, I understood correctly that for a proportion of 240 gr. wheat flour, 80 gr. rye and 100 gr. buckwheat is necessary:
260: 500 = 0.52 x 240 = 125 ml. water is required for 240 grams of flour
80 grams x 0.52 = 42 ml. x 100% = 42 ml. 52 + 42 = 94 ml. 80 grams of rye
100 grams x 0.52 = 52 ml. x 133% = 69 ml. 52 + 69 = 121 ml. for 100 grams of buckwheat?
And yet, where does the number 52 come from?

You can do it easier: take the table as the basis The amount of flour and other ingredients for making bread of various sizes where for 420 grams of flour (240 = 80 + 100), you need approximately 300 ml. water (liquid), this is "Wheat bread - BIG BULK".
And track the flour-liquid balance after kneading, or add a drop of flour or liquid, until a high-quality bread dough is obtained.
It should be borne in mind that the presence of rye and buckwheat flour in the dough will require a little more liquid.

About bread dough here: Contents of the section "Basics of kneading and baking" we watch MASTER CLASSES on KNITTING THE Dough (BOLS)