This is a list of the ten best bread flour products this 2021. We managed to complete this list by doing plenty of extensive research across our offline networks and also through online methods. We scoured cooking blogs, shopping platforms, several online baking communities, forums, and social media groups. Our primary purpose in creating this list is to determine the best flour brands for making delicious, freshly baked bread.
Some research materials include other sites that provide lists of their versions of the best bread flour brands. We collected data along with our testers’ opinions and narrowed the choices down to the top 10. We also decided to read through reviews and look at ratings and comments from people. Our goal was to reduce our list of bread flour brands to a more manageable size.
During the creation of this list, we wanted to remain as impartial as possible, especially when it came time to perform the tests on each product on our list. These evaluations allow us to choose the type of bread flour that deserves a spot in our selection. That’s exactly what we attempted to do here!
After conducting plenty of assessments and asking the opinions of our testers and experts, we produced our very own collection of the top 10 bread flour brands of the year. And here they are:
Best Bread Flour Reviews
| Image | Bread Flour | Rating |
|---|---|---|
 | #1 - Great River Whole Wheat Bread Flour | 99% |
 | #2 - Bob’s Red Mill Organic Dark Rye Flour | 97% |
 | #3 - King Arthur Flour Unbleached Bread Flour | 96% |
 | #4 - King Arthur Flour Unbleached All-Purpose Flour | 93% |
 | #5 - White Lily Unbleached Bread Flour | 92% |
 | #6 - Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour | 90% |
 | #7 - Gold Medal Better For Bread Flour | 90% |
 | #8 - Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour | 87% |
 | #9 - Molino Grassi Organic Italian Soft Wheat Flour | 85% |
 | #10 - King Arthur Flour Bread Mix | 84% |
We meticulously selected each of these ten best brands of bread flour. We determined our final list through comprehensive testing, detail-oriented assessments, and neutral evaluation methods. We utilized only the most pertinent data available based on extensive research, detailed reviews, and impartial testing methods to deliver the top 10 best bread flour this 2021. By perusing the easy-to-follow format, you are sure to find the best brand of bread flour to suit your needs. Let’s get started:
1. Great River Whole Wheat Bread Flour
Great River Organic Whole Wheat Bread Flour is a brand whose primary goal is to promote healthy dieting and living a fit lifestyle amongst bread consumers. Their organic whole wheat bread flour is finely ground, producing pleasant and flavorful bread when baked.
This flour is the best option if you have a baking machine that makes whole grain bread or if you enjoy baking wholegrain bread the traditional way. It comes from the Northern Plains, which is where the company grows its wheat. The high quality of that wheat can also be seen in this product. Great River Organic Whole Wheat Bread Flour is milled from hard Red Spring Wheat. It is also a type of organic flour, as its name suggests. Also, it is purely Kosher and has been approved by the QAI.
This flour is also gluten-free, so your health won’t be at risk if you suffer from specific allergies. It is also GMO-free and works as the best kind of flour for baking bread.
What We Like About It:
The person who tested this product works as a baker with over 50 years of experience. She wanted to compare this particular flour to another flour that served as her go-to brand. She made two similar baguettes from each flour with a standard, simple dough that handled and looked pretty much the same with both types of flour. Ultimately, she picked Great River’s organic flour, as it produced a more robust crust and a more complex flavor.
2. Bob’s Red Mill Organic Dark Rye Flour
This is yet another top-notch bread flour brand. It doesn’t disappoint and makes the most flavorful and delicious bread. This brand is suitable for those who are into European bread, especially German bread, as German bread is known for having larger-sized bread packed with seeds, nuts, and loads of flavor. It is often said that just one slice of European bread is enough to fill you up.
The flour contains over 4 grams of protein. It’s a good source of fiber and iron and is comprised purely of whole grains. Each pack of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Dark Rye Flour comes with four smaller bags inside it, with every bag carrying a weight of 22 ounces. It is also a type of organic flour that has met the approval of QAI. However, it is also a gluten-carb flour, so beware if you have gluten sensitivities.
What We Like About It:
Our tester has been baking good sourdough bread using this bread flour. He has to have this specific brand as it also happens to be rye flour, producing the best taste in sourdough products. Sometimes our tester will even use an entire bag of flour in just a week. His family also happens to be fans of German rye bread, so he enjoys using this flour for baking of all sorts.
Each Bob’s Red Mill flour is of excellent quality. Some of them might have placed a dent in our wallets, but it’s definitely worth the extra money. The bread always tastes unique and fresh, which is essential for baking good bread. The flour itself smells like the bread that comes from it. We were also surprised to find out that the resulting bread doesn’t look dark, despite the flour’s name.
3. King Arthur Flour Unbleached Bread Flour
If you want the best baking experience around, then you can’t go wrong with this flour. King Arthur flour takes plenty of inspiration from being health-consciousness, detailed, and offering pure consistency regarding milling. Their flour allows you to bake what is perhaps the best yeast-rising bread. It is also a type of unbleached flour. There is a reason why King Arthur flour has consistently acquired the top rating of America’s best flour since the company started in 1790.
You can use this flour to create whole-grain bread or white bread for sandwiches. King Arthur Flour Unbleached Bread Flour results in that delicious, chewy crust that will make you beg for more. This is the secret to mastering baking the best loaves around. Believe it or not, choosing the suitable flour can directly impact the result of the bread you’re baking, where flour that contains a high amount of protein ends up creating a bread with a loftier texture. This bread flour contains over 12.7% of protein. The protein strengthens the bread as it rises, so your bread looks and tastes finely textured.
What We Like About It:
If you enjoy baking bread as a hobby or profession, then this is recommended. Our tester gave us a helpful tip regarding this flour: you can actually freeze your flour and some yeast for weeks on end and still make delicious bread from them. He has also been using King Arthur flour for many years, producing excellent results every time. It’s a brand that creates the best and most consistent flour quality. The flour contains plenty of gluten that helps the dough rise, and he also loved that it doesn’t have bromate or any GMO.
4. King Arthur Flour Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Another entry from King Arthur Flour – this flour makes a huge difference in your baking experience, even though it’s not standard bread flour. It’s all-purpose flour that is an excellent reflection of the essence of the company’s attention to detail, consistent milling process, and the flour’s all-natural ingredients. The flour comes from 100% pure American wheat. Arguably, the best part is that it doesn’t contain any nasty ingredients, such as bromate or bleach, unlike other cheaper flour brands.
This flour is good for cookies, brownies, muffins, pies, and bread. It is strong enough for all sorts of baking but gentle to be used for more delicate foods. You can utilize this in any recipe for all-purpose or generic flour. Flour is an essential ingredient in every pantry, and King Arthur’s all-purpose flour has continuously been tested and perfected using nothing but the strictest specifications. This flour is excellent for many of your cooking and baking needs.
What We Like About It:
Our tester has utilized this flour for various purposes, including French bread, white bread, pancakes, and pizza. She works in a restaurant that specializes in making sandwiches and desserts, so she knows her stuff. One of her observations was that the flour was finely ground and had an excellent consistency, not to mention loads of gluten to work with. It eventually became her go-to flour both at her workplace and even at home. Her customers are fully committed to eating healthy, and she was glad that King Arthur flour never uses bromate or carcinogens. At the same time, she was delighted that the flour has a relatively fine consistency and creates amazing bread dough.
5. White Lily Unbleached Bread Flour
This flour helps you create the best and most unique recipes, including bread rolls, pizza crusts, and other breads. The product allows you to enjoy some great bread combinations inside your home. Due to the high amount of protein and gluten found inside the product, the flour is excellent for top-rising bread. It also works nicely with any bread machine. White Lily is a company that has been making flour since 1883 and has long been a staple of Southern-style cooking.
What We Like About It:
The tester for this product liked using bread flour to create his homemade bread and pizza dough. He always has the best results when using this product, and he saves plenty of cash, too, as White Lily flour is cheaper than other flour brands. According to him, it’s the best bread flour he has ever tried. The texture was silky and refined, similar to all-purpose flour, containing plenty of gluten to produce a nice, fluffy bread. A bonus was that it had that lovely “pull” effect that pastries and bread can have when fresh out of the oven.
Another tester, meanwhile, thought it was a bit clumpier compared to other brands, but it could have just been a bad batch, too. A good recommendation from this tester was to sift the flour before using it. This flour contains tons of protein compared to the other flour, so it requires more mixing. However, her bread still looked, felt, and tasted great.
6. Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour
Pizzeria flour is one of the most popular products from this Italian company. It is comprised of soft, white wheat flour that the company initially created. The flour has been specially patented for making the best pizza crust when cooking in a wood-fired or gas oven at over 900°F. The flour has a protein content of around 12.5%, but if you happen to own a traditional pizza oven at home, then the company recommends that you use their Chef’s Flour instead. That flour is more suitable for lower temperatures.
This flour is perfect for baking, especially if the dough needs to ferment for hours. The result is elastic due to the high content of gluten in it. This will undoubtedly result in chewy pizza dough, so the flour is excellent for a pizza crust sure to please. It’s also ideal if you want to bake your bread at very high heat, such as in a brick fire oven. However, this flour is not limited to just pizza – Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour also works great in bread and cake. It is made from 100% natural wheat without any other additives, and if you prefer a softer pizza crust to a crispier one, this is an excellent option.
What We Like About It:
This product made the most fantastic pizza dough. Our tester used a recipe of only three ingredients (flour, water, yeast) that he found on a popular recipe website, and the dough developed a complex, rich flavor and a beautiful texture. He thinks Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour is leagues beyond the other brands. He served this pizza to his friends, and they all seemed to enjoy it, too. He has made other recipes using the same flour, including French bread and garlic knots, which all came out wonderfully.
7. Gold Medal Better For Bread Flour
Flours that contain different levels of gluten and protein are excellent for all sorts of bread. For example, all-purpose unbleached flour is recommended if you want to make white sandwich bread, while bread flour is perfect for artisan or rustic loaves.
Bread flour is an unbleached flour made from a great mixture of protein-rich wheat, which features a lot more protein than you would find in all-purpose flour. Protein, in turn, creates gluten, giving bread the same softness and chewiness you would find in a pizza crust.
Gold Medal Better for Bread Flour is created from the same protein-rich wheat. It is also unbleached, making the best results each time you bake. The greater protein content – roughly 12-14% – helps build up the gluten, giving the bread a distinct chewiness.
What We Like About It:
This flour works fantastically for bread and pizza dough. Our tester has tried all sorts of bread flour from various brands, but she had the best results with Gold Medal’s flour, largely thanks to the additional gluten in this product. The dough she makes for her homemade dumpling wrappers and ramen noodles is stretchy and delicious.
8. Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour
This flour is the top choice for bakers everywhere. It’s the best all-purpose flour that pairs well with your bread recipes. These recipes range from plain homemade bread to rye and sourdough bread. The flour is taken from US-based homegrown wheat and is combined with barley flour, which is why yeast bread rises. This product is a staple for every baker’s pantry – whether baked for business or as a hobby. Apart from creating artisan and rustic loaves, Bob’s Red Mill Bread Flour is also great for flatbreads, bagels, pretzels, loaves, pizza crusts, and dinner rolls.
The secret ingredient in this flour – barley flour – gives it a rich, intense flavor that will suit anyone’s palate. Protein is essential for gluten development, vital if you want chewy pizza crusts and loaves of bread. It does not include any foreign chemicals or carcinogens, such as bromate. This company is sworn to produce nothing but the best quality foods for its clients.
What We Like About It:
The result of this flour is bread with crackling, feathery texture, and a crunchy crust, but unfortunately, it seemed to have failed our tester’s standards. However, one of the things that he liked about this flour is that the price and the quantity were excellent. The bread he baked looked quite different than what he was used to. He still recommends this for those who want to bake while running on a tight budget.
9. Molino Grassi Organic Italian Soft Wheat Flour
Molino Grassi’s bread flour is what you call a “strong” flour. That is, it is flour with high gluten content. Flour with “softer” wheat does have a lower amount of gluten, which is also found in self-raising and plain flour. This Molino flour is the best for baking cakes, pastries, and Southern-style buttermilk biscuits.
Molino Grassi is a family business run by three generations. They started in 1934 and produced semolina flour during the 1960s, then organic flour during the 90s. They have since become the benchmark for food safety throughout Italy and much of Europe.
The company’s flour is excellent for all of your baking needs. There are no pesticides, harmful chemicals, or GMOs included. This means that the bread you end up baking is safe for your and your family’s enjoyment.
What We Like About It:
Our tester’s wife has Celiac disease, so she cannot eat anything with gluten. Molino Grassi flour was the answer to all of her bread cravings. The tester was able to bake delicious sourdough bread and pizza using their flour, and to his relief, there were no allergic reactions. The pizza looked amazing too. The crust was nice and chewy, and it was delicious. He was happy that they could find a substitute for gluten-rich flour.
Check Price on Amazon10. King Arthur Flour Bread Mix
This flour is excellent for making bread for sandwiches, either baked in the oven or with the help of a bread-maker. Its main ingredients include potato starch, rice flour, tapioca flour, and yeast, meaning it is also safe for people who suffer from nut allergies, as it is nut- and soy-free. To make bread using this flour, you must add milk, eggs, butter, and oil. King Arthur flour is often considered one of the best gluten-free flour today. They have even won an award at the Gluten-Free Readers’ Choice Awards, and their products have all been certified as gluten-free by the GFCO.
The flour is kosher, and its ingredients do not contain any preservatives, additives, chemicals, harmful carcinogens, or artificial flavors. You can be sure that the results that come with this flour are always impressive.
What We Like About It:
Our tester followed the basic recipe to create bread: adding the eggs mentioned above, milk, oil, and butter. However, she had to change the recipe slightly as she lives a vegan lifestyle. It came out looking and tasting very delicious, even better than she had expected. The dough formed nicely, even though one spot didn’t crease up. In the end, this didn’t affect the texture or taste of the final product.
You have read through your kitchen’s top 10 best bread flours this 2021. Keep in mind that if you suffer from specific allergies, such as allergies to gluten, you might only be able to try out a handful of flours on this list. However, it’s almost time to get baking if that’s not a concern!
Now that you’re acquainted with the ten best bread flour this 2021, you are better equipped to decide on which bread flour to bring home. Yet, it may be a little unsettling to choose a bread flour even after reading through the top 10 roundups of the best bread flour. You may be feeling a little wary still because we have not yet discussed the most relevant factors to consider when determining which bread flour is best. Luckily, we are here to help you out, so take a look below for a list of crucial factors to think about when considering the top 10 list of best bread flours:
Factors to Consider When Buying the Best Bread Flour
Protein and Gluten Content
You are nearly an expert in bread flour, so you likely already understand that bread flours have high protein content. It is through this high protein content that the high levels of gluten come from. A high protein and gluten content creates a particular flavor and texture in a loaf of bread, so you need to be specific about what type of bread you want to make. If you’re looking for the best pizza crust in town, the higher the protein and gluten, the better! Although, if you are on the hunt for a more well-rounded flour that can be used in anything from hardy pizza crusts down to delicate pastries and cakes, you may need to look at lower content levels. The same goes for those with gluten sensitivities. Be on the lookout for low-gluten or gluten-free options if you have these sensitivities;
Cost
While we all wish it weren’t the case, most of us need to consider the cost of the bread flour options when it comes time to decide. Fortunately, most bread flours are reasonably priced, so we have a decent selection. Just be cautious about premium flours, as the cost can skyrocket quickly! On the other hand, perhaps you are looking for the best of the best. If that’s the case, don’t let the price stop you from creating the most superior bread known to humankind; and
Type of Bread
Again, much of the versatility of the flour you choose will depend on the protein and gluten content, and the hardness of the wheat the flour originates from. Higher protein and gluten content will allow you to produce some out-of-this-world pizza crusts with a chewy texture and a rich flavor. Conversely, if you are looking for a more middle-of-the-road flour with many applications, like creating dainty tarts, you may want to look at an all-purpose flour on the list.
Do You Need Bread Flour?
Flour comes in many different forms. There’s our central star, the bread flour, all-purpose flour, white flour, whole-wheat flour, cake flour, and even organic options, such as gluten-free flour and almond flour. It seems as though, as the years go by, we are discovering more possibilities when choosing the suitable flour for baking.
Bread flour is known for having a high gluten content, especially in comparison to other types of flour. More gluten results in a chewier crust, making this flour perfect for any kind of bread that needs some structure. Loaves of bread with structure can include pretzels and all kinds of loafed bread (bagels, sourdough, rye bread, etc.). On the other hand, bread flour is not advisable for delicate pastries and tender cakes.
Bread flour also has high protein content. It is developed from hard wheat, unlike all-purpose flour, which comes from softer wheat. When you hand-knead dough made from bread flour or mix it in a stand mixer, the gluten is further developed, and the bread becomes even chewier. This chewy texture is often welcomed in many types of bread, particularly artisan loaves of bread that you can frequently find in delis and cafés.
Flour in and of itself is very complex, and it would require an expert to distinguish between different types of flours. No one type of flour is the best or the worst; it all depends on the result you want to see in the bread. Another critical factor when considering bread flour is that it delivers a distinct taste to bread produced from it. Adding too little or too much into your dough will affect not only the texture and quality of the bread but the flavor, as well.
If you want to create the best type of bread – either to sell or enjoy for yourself – then you can always try mixing different brands to see the similarities and differences. All bread flour brands contain varying amounts of gluten and protein content, making them much more suitable when baking.
To answer your question in a single word, yes! You need bread flour in your kitchen. Whether you love having freshly baked bread available for your family to snack on, or you are an aspiring professional baker on the hunt for the most delicious bread ever to be made, bread flour is a must-have in your kitchen. However, as we mentioned earlier, there can be significant differences among different brands of bread flour, so you want to be sure you choose the brand that best suits your needs. As a result, you will bake tasty loaves of bread up to your standards every time.
To help you make this somewhat tricky decision, we created this list of the top 10 bread flours this year. To help make a choice quick and effortless, we designed this list based on the critical factors to consider when choosing your go-to brand of bread flour. We included this list of essential elements at the end of our roundup, and we recommend that you consider these factors as you look more closely at our top 10 selections. When you keep these factors in mind, you can identify the perfect brand of bread flour for you faster and easier.
Although we know you’re excited to start reading about our top 10 best brands of bread flour, we wanted to prepare you even better to make the right choice. Below we gathered both the pros and cons of using different bread flours. Yes, we even included the disadvantages because we know that being realistic about your options is crucial to making the most informed decision. Keeping these pros and cons in mind as you read through our collection will get you started in the right direction. Take a look:
Bread Flour Pros
Structure
As discussed earlier, the high gluten and protein content in bread flour provides the stiffness and structure needed for many types of baking. For example, what would a soft pretzel be without its firm, chewy texture that we all know and love? Bagels have a similar structure that many of us rely on for a tasty breakfast, and all types of loafed bread also need this structure. Choosing bread flour for your bread-baking needs is sure never to disappoint;
Flavor
Again, bread flour is unique in this sense because it produces the most delectable tastes in your favorite types of bread. Because each of the brands of bread flour contains slightly different gluten and protein contents, likely from slightly other sources, you are bound to get variance in the flavors produced among other brands. This is something to keep in mind when selecting your choice of bread flour; and
Cost
One benefit of being an ancient technology like bread flour is that humans have had centuries to develop inexpensive ways to produce it. Therefore, most bread flours are going to err on the affordable side. Of course, there may be a few fancy outliers here and there, but for the most part, you can find a level of structure and flavor in bread flour that will also suit your budget.
Bread Flour Cons
High Gluten Content
In recent years, gluten has become a challenge in many people’s diets. It can cause sensitivity in the intestines, leading to severe discomfort. As a result, more and more people are turning to low-gluten or gluten-free options in their bread. Unfortunately, bread flour usually has a pretty high gluten content, which is critical for producing the expected texture of particular bread. For those of us who can get away with lowering the gluten in our diets, the bread flours with less gluten content will be the ideal choice; and
Limited Versatility
Many different types of flour play an essential role in creating all the bread-type products we enjoy today. Bread flour is no exception – meaning it has its place in creating the carbs we know and love. Specifically, it will make chewy, structured bread with a distinct flavor. Unfortunately, if that is not what you’re looking to do, bread flour will not serve you well. For example, baking a cake-style doughnut will require a very different type of flour, so you will need to go into our selection of the top 10 best bread flours with the intent of baking some delicious bread recipes!
Now that you understand the most crucial factors when considering your bread flour brand and are familiar with your top 10 best bread flour of 2021, you’re officially ready to make that personal decision. Whether you are prepared to produce an incredible pizza, a loaf of super sourdough, or a delectable chocolate cake — You’re sure to find the perfect brand of bread flour somewhere in our roundup. Remember to consider the pros and cons of different bread flour and the factors we just reviewed when considering which bread flour to bring home. We know you’ll make the best choice to suit your needs if you select from our collection of the ten best bread flour brands this 2021!