Flour
Manitoba flour: what it is, what it is for, and the recipe that justifies it
It is the strongest flour on the shelf and the most misused. It is made for doughs that ferment a long time and carry a lot of fat. For everyday bread, it gets in the way.
At a glance
- Strength (W)
- 350 to 400
- Protein
- 13% to 15% *
- Water absorption
- 70% to 80%
- Stability
- 18 min to 20 min
- Ash
- not measured
- Origin
- Manitoba, Canadá
- Grain
- trigo mole de primavera (hard red spring)
Sources disagree. Most sources put protein between 13% and 15%, but some publications quote up to 18%. They are probably describing different products sold under the same name, precisely because Manitoba became a commercial term. Buy by the W printed on the bag, not by the name on the front.
What it is called in each country
| Country | Called |
|---|---|
| English | high-gluten flour |
| Português | farinha especial para panetone (W alto) |
| Italiano | Manitoba / farina di forza (W 350+) |
| Français | farine de gruau / T45 de force |
| Español | harina de gran fuerza |
The recipe
Ingredients
| Amount | baker's % | |
|---|---|---|
| Manitoba flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Whole milk | 200 g | 40% |
| Eggs | 100 g | 20% |
| Sugar | 75 g | 15% |
| Butter, soft | 100 g | 20% |
| Instant dry yeast | 7 g | 1.4% |
| Salt | 9 g | 1.8% |
Method
- Mix the flour, milk, eggs, sugar and yeast. Knead 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough comes away from the bowl.
- Add the salt and knead 2 minutes more.
- Add the butter a little at a time, in small pieces, waiting for each to disappear before the next. The dough will fall apart and come back: that is normal and takes about 10 minutes.
- Knead to the windowpane: a piece stretched between your fingers should go translucent without tearing. This is where Manitoba earns its keep, because a weak flour never gets there with 20% butter.
- Bulk ferment 1.5 to 2 hours at 24 °C, until doubled.
- Divide into 4 balls, sit them side by side in a greased 25 cm tin and let them rise 1.5 hours, until close to the rim.
- Brush with beaten egg and bake at 170 °C for 30 to 35 minutes, until the centre reads 88 to 90 °C.
- Turn out hot and cool on a rack.
What it is for
Panettone, colomba, brioche, croissants and any dough that has to survive 12 hours or more of fermentation without collapsing. It also goes into blends, typically 20% to 30%, to lift the strength of a weak flour without changing its character.
The rule of thumb: if the recipe carries more than 10% fat on the flour, or ferments longer than a night, Manitoba pays for itself.
When not to use it
Everyday bread, Neapolitan pizza and any dough you want to open by hand. Too much strength makes the dough elastic, fighting back and springing shut when you stretch it, and the crumb comes out rubbery rather than soft.
For ordinary bread a W 220 to 280 flour gives a better crumb and far less trouble.
How to use it
In a blend, start at 20% Manitoba on total flour and go up if the dough still slumps. In a 100% Manitoba dough, count on more water: it absorbs 70% to 80% of its own weight, so a recipe that worked with ordinary flour will want another 5 to 10 points of hydration.
And give it time. A flour with 18 to 20 minutes of stability survives long mixing, but it also needs it: with a short knead the gluten never arrives, and you lose exactly what you paid extra for.
The story
Manitoba is a Canadian province, and the name comes from Manitou, the spiritual force of the Algonquian peoples. The wheat that grows there is hard red spring, a spring wheat that faces brutal winters and has adapted its way into a protein content almost no other soft wheat reaches.
The flour arrived in Italy after the war, alongside the Marshall Plan, and spread through the 1960s with a very specific job: reinforcing weak flours. Italy has never grown enough wheat for its own consumption, and Manitoba came in as a strength corrector.
Here is the part almost nobody mentions: today Manitoba is a commercial name, not a denomination of origin. There is flour sold as Manitoba made from 100% Italian wheat. The name describes behaviour, not a passport.
Frequently asked
- Are Manitoba and strong flour the same thing?
- Not quite. All Manitoba is strong flour, but not all strong flour is Manitoba. In commercial practice Manitoba tends to mean W above 350, while strong flour starts nearer 300.
- Can I use Manitoba for pizza?
- In a very long ferment, 48 to 72 hours, it stops the dough slumping. In a classic 24 hour Neapolitan it works against you: the dough turns too elastic and fights back when you open the disc.
- What is the equivalent where I live?
- There is no official equivalence, because most countries do not print W on the bag. In practice, look for flours sold for panettone or enriched doughs, or check the nutrition panel: above 13 g protein per 100 g puts you in the right territory.
- Can I fake it with ordinary flour plus vital wheat gluten?
- You can get close by adding vital wheat gluten, but it is not the same. You raise the quantity of protein without improving its quality, and the dough ends up strong but less extensible.