Millet family

Sorghum

Sorghum bicolor

9.5–12.5% protein (typ. 10.6%)0% dry gluten · 0% wetNo gluten

Ancient African staple; now also U.S. Plains

In the atlas

Sorghum is Africa's gift to dryland farming — a tall cane-like grass that makes grain when maize gives up. In India it is jowar roti. In the American South it was once a syrup crop. White food-grade sorghum mills into the most wheat-like of the gluten-free flours, which is why it anchors so many GF bread mixes.

Origin. Northeast Africa (Sudan / Ethiopia region)

Flavor. Mild wheat impression, faint sweetness, clean.

Worth knowing

Naturally gluten-free.
Tannin (brown/red) sorghums are bitter — buy white/food-grade for flour.
Jowar roti is a 100% sorghum flatbread slapped on a griddle.
U.S. milo is often feed-grade; look for 'food grade' or 'white sorghum'.

Flours you can make

Flour	Extraction	Protein	Gluten	Notes
Whole-grain flour	100%	10.6%	0%	Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.
High-extraction (85%)	85%	10.5%	0%	Sift once through a #30–#40 sieve. Keeps most flavor and minerals, slightly stronger dough than 100%.
Sifted / bolted flour	75%	10.4%	0%	Second sifting (#50–#60). Lighter crumb, longer shelf life, less fiber. Bran left behind is gold in porridge.

Nutrition / 100 g

Calories: 339 kcal
Protein: 10.6 g
Carbs: 75 g
Fiber: 6.7 g
Fat: 3.3 g
Iron: 4.4 mg
Magnesium: 165 mg
Zinc: 1.6 mg
Thiamin: 0.33 mg
Selenium: 12 µg

Typical whole-grain flour / 100 g.

Sources & USDA links

Buy it retail

Bob's Red Mill
Azure Standard
Pleasant Hill Grain
Indian grocers (jowar)
Nu Life Market (white sorghum)

Availability rotates by harvest. Search the berry name plus “food grade.”

Bakes well as

GF bread blendsJowar rotiPancakesCookies

Mill Sorghum now

Miller’s desk

Grain to flour

Whole grainFlour type

Flour you want (g)Blend a second grain

Vital wheat gluten booster

Target protein %Target gluten %VWG protein %

Most bags of vital wheat gluten are 75–80% protein. The booster is added on top of the flour, not swapped in.

Sorghum

Whole-grain flour · No gluten

Whole grain needed: 505 g
Flour you’ll get: 500 g
Bran left behind: 0 g
Protein in that flour: 53 g · 10.6%
Natural gluten: 0%
Add VWG: 19.4 g
After VWG: 13% protein · 2.7% gluten

About 2.6 cups of berries → 4.1 cups of whole-grain flour. Whole-grain milling is essentially 1:1 by weight; sifting is where you lose bran.

How to mill it

Red/brown sorghum can be astringent. Taste a chewed kernel first.

Hard-wheat setting. White food-grade only.

Tempering: Optional.

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 · Sorghum whole-grain flour. Sandwich loaf, focaccia, sourdough — the kitchen will scale dough, hydration, and times to this mix.