Modern wheat
Soft White Wheat
Triticum aestivum
Modern pastry wheat
In the atlas
The Palouse looks like a green ocean in June. Soft white wheat built that landscape and still ships from Portland to noodle makers across the Pacific. At home it is the berry you grind when you want scones that crumble and pasta dough that stays pale.
Origin. Pacific Northwest — Palouse hills of Washington & Idaho
Flavor. Milky, sweet, almost floral.
Worth knowing
- Washington and Idaho grow most U.S. soft white.
- Club wheat (a compact-headed relative) is often blended into the same class.
- Low ash, low protein, beloved for cakes and some Asian noodles.
- Makes a gentle 50/50 blend with hard white for 'all-purpose' at home.
Flours you can make
| Flour | Extraction | Protein | Gluten | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-grain flour | 100% | 9.2% | 6.8% | Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze. |
| High-extraction (85%) | 85% | 9% | 7% | Sift once through a #30–#40 sieve. Keeps most flavor and minerals, slightly stronger dough than 100%. |
| Bolted bread-flour style | 75% | 8.8% | 7.2% | Second sifting (#50–#60). Lighter crumb, longer shelf life, less fiber. Bran left behind is gold in porridge. |
Nutrition / 100 g
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 9.2 g
- Carbs
- 75 g
- Fiber
- 10.6 g
- Fat
- 1.9 g
- Iron
- 3.1 mg
- Magnesium
- 108 mg
- Zinc
- 2.1 mg
- Thiamin
- 0.33 mg
- Selenium
- 48 µg
Typical whole-grain flour / 100 g.
Sources & USDA linksBuy it retail
- Palouse Brand
- Azure Standard
- Pleasant Hill Grain
- Breadtopia
- Northwest farm stores
Availability rotates by harvest. Search the berry name plus “food grade.”
Mill Soft White Wheat now
Miller’s desk
Grain to flour
Vital wheat gluten booster
Most bags of vital wheat gluten are 75–80% protein. The booster is added on top of the flour, not swapped in.
Whole-grain flour · Weak gluten
- Whole grain needed
- 505 g
- Flour you’ll get
- 500 g
- Bran left behind
- 0 g
- Protein in that flour
- 46 g · 9.2%
- Natural gluten
- 6.8%
- Add VWG
- 30.6 g
- After VWG
- 13% protein · 10.6% gluten
About 2.8 cups of berries → 4.5 cups of whole-grain flour. Whole-grain milling is essentially 1:1 by weight; sifting is where you lose bran.
How to mill it
A 50/50 hard-white + soft-white blend is a homemade all-purpose.
Very fine is easy — don't over-tighten or you'll pack the stones.
Tempering: Not needed.
Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.
Milling 101 →Next: bake it
Pick a loaf for this flour
13% protein after VWG · Soft White Wheat whole-grain flour. Sandwich loaf, focaccia, sourdough — the kitchen will scale dough, hydration, and times to this mix.
