# Whole wheat flour versus white?



## laura_nikolica (Oct 22, 2008)

Hi all, I'm trying to eat better and in doing so, I'd like to try baking some of my favourites with whole wheat flour as opposed to the usual white!  Does anyone now if they measure cup for cup the same or will I have to do a little calculation or changes when going from white to whole wheat?  Any help advice would be GREATLY appreciated!  Thanks, Laura


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## miniman (Oct 22, 2008)

I usually do a direct substitution. You may find you need a little more liquid to get the same consistency.


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## jessicacarr (Nov 2, 2008)

I don't know, but you make a batch of muffins and find out!


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## Michael in FtW (Nov 3, 2008)

As for measuring - yes, they measure the same cup for cup - weight will be a little different. 

As miniman noted - the higher the protein content of the flour the more moisture you will need to achieve the same consistency - so you will either need to adjust the total amount of flour down a little, or increase the liquid a little.

Like with anything else in baking ... what you are trying to bake depends on the answer - and what adjustments you need to make. Sometimes a low protein flour is needed ... sometimes moving up to a higher protein flour is little or no problem. Sometimes it takes reworking of the recipe.

So, what things were you wanting to bake?


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## Lytle (Nov 5, 2008)

Like Michael said the weight will be a little different, and like miniman said you may need to add a little extra liquid to get the proper consistency (I'm guessing he's using volume). To properly bake you should ALWAYS go by weight, and that would mean the same weight of whole what flour would be less volume than bread or all purpose flour. So if you go by weight, it's the same. If volume, a little less, though I don't know if there's any conversion factor. I've been taught baking in school by weight, remember asking a question similar to this and that's the answer I remember getting.


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## Michael in FtW (Nov 7, 2008)

Laura - sorry I had a "senior" moment ... (aka: I forgot this) - Lytle helped jog the cobwebs ...

There are also differences between standard US and Canadian bags of wheat flour. Shirley Corriher in her book _Cookwise_ talks about these differences and how to make adjustments when using Canadian wheat and US recipes. You might be able to find a copy of her book in your local library.


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## Sparkly77 (Nov 22, 2008)

If it helps, I have an Australian cookbook that lists the weights of a cup of various ingredients (a cup in Australia is 250ml by the way).

It states that a cup of white flour is 150g, whereas a cup of wholemeal/wholewheat is 145g.


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