Hard and Soft Wheat: What's the Difference?

There are several ways to categorize wheat, including the growing season (winter or spring) and its color (white or red). But one of the variables that has the most impact on your baking is “hardness” – based on this factor, wheat is categorized as hard or soft. But what exactly does this mean? Read.

Please note: The protein percentages and wheat varieties listed for certain types of flour in this post are what we guarantee here at King Arthur. Other brands may vary.

Food photography and styling by Liz Neily

The difference between hard and soft wheat

In the United States, there are two main types of wheat grown: durum and soft. The durum wheat category includes durum red winter wheat, durum red spring wheat, durum and durum white wheat. Durum wheat is high-protein wheat (usually between 10 and 14 percent protein). The higher the amount of protein, the more gluten the flour can form; the more gluten, the stronger the flour. So a flour ground from durum wheat, with its higher protein content, is better for hard doughs like bread, in which you want to develop a strong gluten network.

In contrast, soft wheats, a category that includes soft red winter wheat and soft white wheat, have a higher percentage of carbohydrates and less protein than durum wheat, and thus flour milled from Soft wheat has less ability to form gluten. Although these flours lack the proteins needed to produce a firm dough, they are ideal for baked goods where softness and a finer crumb are desired.

(Learn more: Protein percentage in flour: Why it matters.)

What type of wheat is used in the flour?

Bread flour, all purpose flour, whole wheat flourAND white wheat flour all are milled from durum wheat. Among them, whole wheat flour has the highest protein (13.2%), with bread flour at 12.7%, white wheat behind at 12.2%, and all-purpose flour bringing up the rear at 11.7% protein. Each of these types of flour is suitable for making bread, although the lower protein level of all-purpose flour makes it as versatile as its name suggests. (A note: Although wheat flours have a high protein content, the bran and wheat germ present may have some effect on gluten formation; learn more here.)

Flours milled from soft wheat include ours self rising flour (8.5%), pastry flour (8%) and Italian style flour (8.5%). The lower protein levels of these soft wheat flours mean they have less potential for gluten formation. This would be a negative if you were trying to use them to make a loaf of bread, but it's great for cookies, brownies, and cakes.

Mark Weinberg

Some flours take advantage of the properties of hard and soft wheat by mixing the two. our '00' pizza flour (11.5%), which includes durum wheat (for dough strength) and soft wheat (which makes pizza dough easier to shape), gives you the best of both worlds (and can be one secret ingredient in some desserts too!).

To summarize:

Whether you're looking for a bread flour or one that's best suited for grains, King Arthur flours are milled to rigorous standards, ensuring the flour remains consistent from bag to bag, season to season. All you have to do is choose a recipe, grab a bag of the specified flour and mix.

Dip even deeper into the flour:

Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.