Granen, koren, meel and bloem. There is an endless variety in stores and produced by traditional windmills. The Dutch world of baking can be confusing… very confusing. Want to know what kind of flour to use for the best baked goodies? Or when baking in general? Read on, my dear friend!
Granen and koren
Granen (grains), also called koren in Dutch, are the seeds of cereal, which is a grass. Examples of grains that you can buy in Dutch stores are gerst, haver, rogge, rijst, mais, tarwe and gierst (barley, oats, rye, rice, corn, wheat and millet). Grains consist of several parts. In the core you will find the endosperm, also called bloem (flour), which serves as reserve nutrition for the plant. Flour contains mostly carbohydrate (starch) and protein (gluten); two important ingredients for baking bread.
Gluten
The protein level of flour determines the elasticity of the dough. During kneading, the gluten form a network which contains the air bubbles that come up during the rising of the dough. The result is a fluffy bread. Gluten is part of the protein in wheat, rye, barley, spelt and kamut. Oats naturally don’t contain gluten, but have often been in contact with wheat during processing and therefore can’t be eaten by people with a gluten intolerance. There are also gluten-free varieties of oats on the market, which are processed separately. You’re most likely to succeed in organic stores.
Germ and bran
The germ is located at the bottom of the grain. This is the part from which a new plant can grow after sowing. It consists mainly of healthy fats. The endosperm and germ are covered by a protective layer, also called the ‘bran’. Most of the good nutrients of the grain are contained in the germ and the bran. Yet many products you will find in stores contain bloem (flour) only.
Difference between meel and bloem
Meel is obtained by grinding the whole grain. It contains the germ and bran, making it very nutritious. The word volkoren (whole grain) is often used to indicate this.
Bloem is the finest grind of meel. The germ and bran have been removed, and only the inner part of the grain, the core flour, remains. It is usually white, but can also be light yellow or pink, depending on the type of grain.
Windmill or factory
Is there a difference between flour from the factory (which is for sale in the supermarket ) and flour produced by a Dutch windmills? Bastiaan, who runs windmill ‘De Ooievaar’ explains: “Flour factories are basically bloem factories. Big steel rolls are used to grind the flour many times. When a factory wants to produce meel, they add back several ingredients that were removed, such as the bran. Often the germ is not added, because the healthy fats effect the shelf life of the end product. In the mill the whole grains are ground at once, therefore all nutrients are included in the meel. If we want to produce bloem, we sift the meel. Exactly the other way around!”
For baking bread and cakes wheat is by far the most commonly used grain in the Netherlands. There are many variaties. Let’s divide them into two groups: hard wheat and soft wheat.
Hard wheat
Hard wheat is made from wheat variaties with a hard grain and a high level of gluten. This makes it very suitable for baking bread. Hard wheat often comes from Germany, France, the United States and Canada. Bloem made from hard flour is called patent bloem.
Soft wheat
In the Netherlands only soft wheat is grown, due to the cool sea climate. Most soft wheat comes from the provinces Groningen, Zeeland, Flevoland and Limburg. This type of wheat has a low level of gluten, making it less suitable for baking bread. Bloem made from soft wheat is also called Zeeuwse bloem and is ideal for baking cookies. Instead of being elastic and fluffy the dough becomes brittle. This is why Dutch cookies (such as speculaas) are so crunchy!
Pasta di mamma!
Are you as big of a home-made-pasta-fan as I am? Then it is useful to know that ‘Tipo 00’ means that the flour is very finely ground, similar to the flower that we know from the supermarket. However, this says nothing about the type of wheat that is used (hard or soft). For pasta, it is important to use wheat with a lot of gluten, so that the dough is flexible and doesn’t tear. If the package says ‘Grano Tenero’ this means it is made from soft wheat and it is not suitable for making pasta. Choose for ‘Grano Duro’, which is Italian for ‘hard wheat’.
O so fluffy
Yeast is added to the dough to make the bread extra fluffy. Yeast is a single-celled micro-organism, which under the right conditions turns sugars into gas (air bubbles) and alcohol. This gas causes the dough to inflate during rising. The alcohol gives the bread its distinct flavor. Yeast works best at a temperature of 20-35 degrees. Keep this in mind when baking your own bread.
Sugar and salt
Yeast needs sugar to work its magic. Use no more than 2 percent sugar (take 2 percent of the amount of flour used). If you add more, it reduces the rising process. Professional bakers use mostly basterdsuiker, which is finely ground. Finally, always use a bit of salt to season. Use about 1.5 to 2 percent.
Ja daar komt “Het kaf van het koren scheiden.” vandaan!
Wat een leuk ‘meelig’ stukje.
De foto’s zijn prachtig en wat een leuke molenaar!
Leuk, dank!
This will save me lots of frustration when visiting the Netherlands next time since I always get confused… I have a feeling that the Dutch themselves don’t always know the difference between meel and bloem. Thanks!
So true! Glad to help :)
Thanks a lot ms Anne. I would like to know which flour type to use for sourdough starter. Tried with volkoren tarwemeel from the supermarket. But it did not rise
Thanks in advance
Hi,
I happened upon your blog by accident and so glad I did!
I’m looking for French T 65 flour, an equivalent or the actual thing.
We live near alkmaar and use the molen there for our flour usually, unfortunately no one seems to have heard of this, maybe it’s my bad Dutch .
Hope you can help!
Have a great weekend.
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for your question!
As you said, this is a typical French flour, which might explain why they haven’t heard of it at the windmill I guess. I have looked around on the internet and found this webshop where you can buy this type of flour online: http://www.debakwinkel.nl/bloemsoorten/franse_bloem_T65.html
I have never tried it before, so please let me know if it was any good.
Good luck with all your baking adventures!
Love, Anne-Lieke
Thanks this is of great help!
Hi Anne-Lieke,
Thanks for this article, I think it’s starting to make sense. I still have a question though, is it possible to find Bread Flour in the Netherlands? I find it very hard to stumble upon Tarwemeel without it being prepended with Volkoren, making it Whole-Wheat right?
Anyways, perhaps you know I should be looking for. I’m looking through this list of prices at my local mill, but I’m not sure what I should I get.
http://www.molendevlijt.nl/prijslijst_biologisch%202016.pdf
Hi Fritz,
Did you ever find the answer to this? I have just moved to Holland and desperate to find what the equivalent of bread flour is! Thanks for your help!
Hi Anne,
( or anyone who can help)
On past trips to Holland we ate Eidikook type of a bread ( do not know the correct spelling). It was available at a bakery in Breda. We brought packages of the flour home and loved it. The flour had an ammonia type smell to it.
Do you know where I can get this or a recipe to make this myself????
Would really appreciate any information.
Regards,
Garry
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Dear Garry, I visited Alberta several times, beautiful landscapes! I am not quite sure what bread you are speaking of. The closest word that comes to mind is ‘eierkoek’, which is a sweet fluffy cake type of bread. Maybe you can sent me a picture of the bread you are revering to? My mother lives in Breda, do you remember which bakery you visited? Greets, Anne-Lieke
Hi Anne which of the flour has the lowest level of protein?
thx
Hello Anne-Lieke!
Thank you for this. I’m afriad I’m still struggling to find the correct flours!
What would be the dutch equivalent for:
1) Bread flour (wanting to make ciabatta, plain white bread etc) I tried patent tarwebloem from Albert Hein and it did not give very good results unfortunately, I’m thinking this is the wrong flour to use.
2) Cake flour (for cakes and baked goods)
Thank you so much – would really appreciate the help!
Hi Anne-lieke,
Misschien een gekke vraag, maar doe het toch maar. Heb hier in Australia Hollandse recepten met patent bloem. Is dat “plain flower” kan er geen touw aan vast knopen met al die verschillende soorten bloem. Je legde uit wat het was, maar niet hoe het hete! Bijvoorbaad dank. Let alstublieft niet op mijn Hollandse spelling, want wij zijn al 48 jaar weg uit Nederland
i am looking for strong flour what do they call that in holland/netherlands for bread baking
Hi Anne-Lieke!
I am wanting to make mince pies for Christmas … but the pastry needs the equivalent of the English plain flour. What should I look for in the Netherlands? Many thanks, Elizabeth
Hi.. just curious if you know how I can buy bloem flour from the US? Do you have any sources that you know of perhaps? Thank you!
Yes it is very important to know since we have different kinds of flour//i can still remember i must throw away, why the consistant is not correct due i use wrong kind of flour..there is this hard blour and flour that is only for cakes etc…only this year i discover that via this site via Google…thanks to internet..now my wishes come true to be abler to bake my own fresh out the oven bread..im not good in baking but pratice patient you can do it too.thank you so much,, yes i still need to read this but just jump here in your comments section..once again thanks.
Hoi JIll jij moet google via Amazon daar heb ze Americaan bloem// as jij dat per ze willen
groetjes Flo B