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Bakers Percentage::Wheat Germ - Inlude in flour??

SwimmingTom's picture
SwimmingTom

Bakers Percentage::Wheat Germ - Inlude in flour??

Hi all,

I'm converting the ATK yeasted wheat sandwich bread into baker's percentage.  I've converted all the ounces and cups and spoon measure into grams...   So, the 1/2 cup wheat germ in the soaker is 57.5 grams. 

The biga has 312g bread flour.  The soaker also has 468g whole wheat flour.

Should I include the wheat germ in the total flour mass?  I'm thinking not.

How do you handle wheat germ in a formula, do you include it in the flour total or is it a % type ingredient?

So....   Option 1) included in flour total:  312+468+57.5 = 837g flour in this recipe

or

Option 2) flour = 312+468 = 780g

wheat germ = 57.5/780 -> 7.4%

Thanks,

Tom

emmsf's picture
emmsf

While others might disagree (and I’ve seen a lot of discussions like this in the past), I believe it needs to be included in the flour. In particular, I think it’s important with wheat germ because wheat germ will absorb a great deal of water, and if you don’t include it  in the flour, your hydration numbers will be inaccurate.  I think it’s much more important, and more helpful, to have accurate hydration percentages than to be overly meticulous about what constitutes flour and what does not. That’s how I always approach this in any case.