A Word On Flour Types

Ok, so the recipe says I need all-purpose flour - and I’m in Germany. How on Earth am I supposed to know which of those different flour bags to choose? Or I want to bake a bread in Finland and the recipe calls for German type 1050 wheat flour. Now is there any way to knowing for sure about the flour type equivalences in different countries?

Wikipedia gives you information about French, Italian, German, American, Czech, and Argentinian wheat flour types, but I couldn’t find anything about the Finnish ones anywhere, so I decided to ask Myllyn Paras, one of the most famous Finnish mills. They answered quickly, and I’m proud to present the results - and sad to say, there is no one-to-one equivalence between the Finnish flour types and all the other ones.

The numbers in both German and French flour types indicate the amount of ash (the German in 100 mg, French in 10 mg, hence the difference in scale). Next to the Finnish flour types, I’ve written the ash content of Myllyn Paras flour types, as they reported them in their answer. So, if you want to get wheat flour 1050 in Finland, you’d better bring your own - or make your own mix of the ones available.

Finland	Germany	France	Italy	America
karkea vehnäjauho (450-550)	405	T45	00	pastry-flour
erikoisvehnäjauho (500-600)	550	T55	0	all-purpose flour
puolikarkea vehnäjauho (600-700)	812	T80	1	high-gluten flour
hiivaleipävehnäjauho (1350-1480)	1050	T105	2	first-clear flour
grahamjauho (up to 2000)	Vollkornmehl	farine intégrale	farina integrale	whole wheat flour

A further note to this table is about flour type 812: I've never seen such flour in any of the shops I normally go to,  including a specialized store. Maybe it’s available in other parts of Germany.. or I haven't paid enough attention ;)

P.S. The flour in the picture above is whole oatmeal flour - delicious in bread and above all cookies!

P.P.S. Information on Portuguese wheat flour types can be found here.