I’ve been baking bagels successfully for years. But lately I can not find Hi-Gluten flour due to the current health crisis. My question is:
How much Vital Wheat Gluten (Bob’s Red Mill) should I add to my King Arthur bread flour to raise it to approximately 14%?
Is there a formula or is ‘experimentation’ the only course of action?
Thanks in advance for any help provided.
Gordon Powell
http://flourmath.bradfordrobertson.com/
Both bread flours from KA come to 12.7%. There is an artisanal bread flour that’s lower coming in at 11.7%. So assuming yours is 12.7% and you want 500g of 14% protein bread flour (enough for one 2lb loaf) then here’s the result…
In the paragraph labeled High Gluten Flour, you’ll find instructions and a link to an online calculator made by @djd418 for figuring out how much VWG to add to your flour.
Bread-baking minds must think alike! Minutes before receiving you response I stumbled onto the Flour Math calculator site. I am now a very happy baker.
Thanks again for your thoughtful response.
Gordon
Thanks so much for the link.
Abe also pointed me to a different calculator. It will interesting if they agree.
and
Its difficult to get perfect so I adjusted it a tad for more accuracy.
KA gives their protein as 12.7% which should be 12.7g out of 100g. But type that into the calculator it rounded it to 12%. Not the end of the world but in the name of accuracy I used whole numbers in the boxes so it calculated it at 12.7%
Once I had that I then just asked it to calculate what one needs for 500g flour at 14% protein.
Let me know if its the same as the other calculator.
Hi,
I created the InstaCalc Gluten Enrichment Calculator that Melissa referred to in her reply. Both calculators appear to use the same underlying formulas but differ slightly in the way you enter the data. My calculator asks you to enter the protein percentage for the original flour Instead of asking for the protein per serving and the serving size. This allows you to enter a more accurate number, if you know it. If you don’t know the accurate protein % number, then you need to calculate it yourself from the protein per serving and serving size numbers and enter that number as a percentage. (Sorry for the extra work!) One other difference is that my calculator rounds the calculated flour and wheat gluten quantities to the nearest gram, since that was the accuracy of my original scale.
Note that if you set the wheat gluten protein percentage to 75% in my calculator, you should get the same answer as the other calculator gives (though the amounts will be rounded to the nearest gram). I have noticed that different brands of Vital Wheat Gluten have slightly different protein percentage numbers. Hodgson Mills was 66.7% and Bob’s Red Mill was 70%, if memory serves me. That is why my calculator asks you to enter the wheat gluten protein content.
Hope this helps!
Dan,
I am working with a recipe calling for 826 grams of All Purpose (KA) flour with a protein percentage of 11.7%.
I want to elevate the gluten (protein) level to 14.5%
The recipe calls for 826 grams of flour.
My question is:
How much Vital Wheat Gluten (70% protein) should I add to 826 grams of All Purpose flour to reach an overall 14.5% protein level.?
When I ran the calculation in both formulas I came up with dramatically different results.
Thanks in advance for your insight.
Gordon
P.S. How much VWG should I add to my AP flour?
Are you missing an adjustment for the types of proteins involved. For example, only 75-85% of proteins in bread flour are involved in gluten formation. So, for purposes of matching “protein” for gluten development in bread flours (i.e., as specified by KA and everyone else on their labels), one would really be trying to match 75-85% of the amount stated on the label.
The more difficult question, which I can’t hope to answer, is whether “Vital Wheat Gluten” really means all proteins found in wheat or whether it only means proteins in wheat related to gluten development. Your formula, I believe, assumes that it is all proteins found in wheat and at the same 75-85% as the flour being used. The labels on Vital Wheat Gluten generally sold describe it solely as gluten.
Hi Gordon,
The “Flour Math” calculator assumes that all vital wheat gluten (VWG) contains 75% protein. If you enter a 70% VWG protein content in my calculator with all other numbers being the same, you will definitely get a different answer than with the other calculator. So if you want to enter a VWG protein content other than 75%, use my InstaCalc calculator. In this case, if you wanted to get 826g of enriched flour with a protein content of 14.5%, my calculator would tell you to use 786g flour (11.7% protein) and 40g VWG (70% protein).
However, if you actually want to start with 826g of flour (11.7% protein) and then add VWG (70% protein) until the resulting flour reaches 14.5% protein, then neither of these calculators is set up to provide that answer. To get that answer, I had to do a bit of algebra. In this case, I calculate you would use 826g flour (11.7% protein) and 42g VWG (70% protein) for a total of 868g of flour with 14.5% protein content.
Hope I answered your question!
Dan
I agree we have been a bit cavalier about interchanging references to protein and gluten in this thread. In my calculator I tried to be clear that the numbers you enter are protein content rather than gluten content. And since, like you, I have read that the glutenin and gliadin proteins (which make up the gluten) only account for 75% - 85% of the listed protein content, I have assumed that number to be similar across all wheat flours. That being the case, if you pick a number in the middle, say 80% and apply that factor to all the protein content percentages, then the 80% factor cancels out of the equation and you get the same answer. Since I have not seen any flour specification sheets that provide detailed information on actual gluten content, this is probably the best we can do.
Note, however, that I do tend to pay attention to the 80% factor if I am trying to calculate/estimate how much additional water to add to a dough if I am adding gluten to an existing recipe. I have read that in order to fully hydrate gluten, it needs to absorb twice its weight in water. Therefore I try to calculate the original gluten amount and the new gluten amount and scale up the water accordingly. Of course, this is just my engineering brain wanting a numerical answer. 
Ultimately, it just gives you a starting point and the feel of the dough will help you decide if the hydration level is right.
I also agree that the Vital Wheat Gluten (VWG) name leads one to believe it would be 100% gluten, but the protein content numbers seem to indicate otherwise. I assume that since the gliadin and glutenin are both proteins, the fact that protein content is less than 100% would tend to say VWG contains mostly-but-not-all gluten. (I could be wrong?) My biggest question then is whether the gluten in VWG still makes up 75% - 85% of the proteins or if that number is significantly different. Since I don’t know, I continue to make the “engineering assumption” that it is roughly the same number and drive on.
Dan
Here’s the way I see it. When you buy some strong bread flour most bakers are not scientists nor mathematicians. They know that a high percentage of protein = strong and a low percentage = weak. Whatever the percentage of the total protein is actually gluten.
So if I pick up some flour and it says 14-15% protein I know I’m getting a good flour for bread baking.
11-12% protein then its an all round flour that will be good for cakes and/or bread
10% and lower - only good for cakes and cookies etc.
So if one can only get hold of some 10% protein flour and wishes to add enough VWG to get to 14% then one doesn’t have to take into account just how much of that 14% is actually gluten. They now know they’ve got a strong 14% protein flour good for bread baking.
The formula has mistake. Instead of “p” you have to put “g”
Years ago I remember reading something about the amount of vital wheat gluten to add to flour. If memory serves me correctly, simply remove 1 tablespoon of flour for every cup of flour and replace that with the vital wheat gluten. For example, if you’re using 2 cups of flour remove 2 tablespoons of flour. Then measure 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and add it to the remaining flour and mix it in. That should work.
Baking blessings,
Leah
For “p” I am guessing that you mean protein and for “g”, gluten. My calculator and several others that I have discovered on Internet use protein content as an estimate for gluten content. (Gluten makes up around 80% of the protein content in flour.) I went back through the derivation of the formulas in the calculator and they seem to be correct, given the assumption that protein content is a good gluten estimator. I also checked the results of my calculator against 3 or 4 others that I have discovered on Internet (Food Geek site, etc.) and they all give the same answers for the same inputs. Note that some of these assume a fixed Vital Wheat Gluten protein content of 75% and if you change that number to be the same in my calculator, you will again get the same answers.
I would be happy to review my calculations again if you could provide more specific feedback on the formula issue that you see.
Would you please put the numbers in the formula and show us. Do an example with calculator then put numbers in formula and show us how the formula works the same with calculator.
Thanks in advance
Here goes.
Let’s say that I need 500g high gluten flour at 14% protein content, but all I have on hand is bread flour that has 12.7% protein. I also happen to have some Vital Wheat Gluten that has 70% protein content. (Remember, gluten is a protein, but despite being called “Vital Wheat Gluten”, when you look at the Nutrition Facts info on its label, you will see that the Protein per Serving number is only about 70% of the Serving Size number so it is not actually “pure” protein or gluten.)
Now, enter the following numbers into my calculator:
500 in the Enriched Flour box.
14% into the Enriched Flour Protein box.
12.7% into the Flour Protein box.
70% into the Gluten Protein box.
The calculator will then say to use 489g of bread flour plus 11g of Vital Wheat Gluten, for a total of 500g of enriched flour at 14% protein.
Now we can check the answers. We already can see that 489g + 11g = 500g. That 500g of 14% protein flour should contain 500g * 14% = 70g of protein. The 489g of bread flour should contribute 489g * 12.7% = 62.1g of the protein. The 11g of Vital Wheat Gluten should contribute 11g * 70% = 7.7g of the protein. The combined protein is then 62.1g + 7.7g = 69.8g of protein. My calculator rounds to the nearest whole number, so 69.8g becomes 70g and that is the amount of protein we would expect from 500g of 14% protein flour.
Now, let’s compare this to the results from the Food Geek Vital Wheat Gluten Calculator.
Since we already know the % protein of our flour and Vital Wheat Gluten we would enter:
12.7 g per 100 g for Protein in your current flour.
70 g per 100 g for Protein in vital wheat gluten.
14 % for Target protein (percent).
500 g for Amount of flour needed (in grams).
Hit the Calculate button, and the calculator says to use 489g of your current flour with 11g of Vital Wheat Gluten, the same numbers you get from my calculator.
Note that the Food Geek calculator will calculate the % protein for your flour and for your Vital Wheat Gluten if you don’t already know those numbers. While you can usually find those numbers using a quick Internet search, you can just enter the Protein per Serving number and the Serving Size number for your flour and for the Vital Wheat Gluten and his calculator will do the rest. My calculator requires you to calculate the protein percentage yourself from those same 2 numbers if you don’t already know it. (% Protein = Protein per Serving / Serving size).
Note that the Protein per Serving numbers on nutrition labels are also rounded to the nearest whole number. For instance, my King Arthur Bread Flour label says the protein content is 4g per 30g serving which equals 13.3%, but right on the front of the package it says the Protein content is 12.7%. This is a consequence of them also rounding to the nearest whole number. With rounding, the actual protein content per serving could be anywhere between 3.5g and 4.5g, which could give a value anywhere between 11.7% and 15% protein. Some flour companies just commit to a range of values, but others like King Arthur commit to holding tighter tolerances on their protein content. Hopefully that can lead to more consistent results from bake to bake.
Make sense? All that being said, it is pretty difficult to get a precise answer for exactly how much gluten is in any given flour, but these calculators get you a ballpark figure that you can use as a starting point. Then after some trial bakes with possible adjustments of your % protein content up or down, you can use the calculator to hit your optimal protein level for all future bakes.
Hope this helps!
Your answer was great.I am really thankful. But my question is a bit difference. I mentioned that there is a mistake in your formula. Its better that we have voice call. Can you use WhatsApp ? Or telegram voice call? Best regards.
Hi @naji, since our discussion centers around my formulas, I though I would just send you my derivation via a private message (so as not to bore other folks with the nitty-gritty details). Take a look, let me know which part is wrong (and hopefully provide the right answer) and then I will update my calculator as needed.
Hello, Dan. Excellent calculator you wrote.
For KAF fans, they are very good at posting their ingredient labels. For their “vital wheat gluten”, they list serving size 9g, with “protein” 7g, or 7g/9g = 77.7% protein content. If gluten is 80% of protein, then the gluten component of protein is .8 * 7 = 5.6g, and gluten percentage is 5.6g/9g, or 62.2% (the percentage of the product that is gluten).
Would you then agree that 75% is too high an estimate for gluten? I suppose we could stipulate %gluten = %protein, say 77.7 is close enough to 75%, and call it a day.
But, then again, math is fun!
