Recipe for self-rising flour (UK version if geography matters)

March 17, 2016 2:26 PM

Help me make a precise substitute for self-rising flour, using weight measures for the flour(s) or all of the components. I already have various flours with the gamut of protein levels: cake, pastry, AP, bread, semolina, and I don't want to buy and store yet another variation (with lousy shelf-life, to boot). I am looking to precisely match what a random person in the UK would buy off the shelf. Help?

I also have baking powder, baking soda, salt. From what I can tell online and in various cookbooks, self-rising flour is softer (lower protein) than AP, but no one is quoting any values. I do not know if I should expect a difference in protein content between US and UK self-rising flour, either.

Most resources I've found have one or more of these problems:
- They want to teach me how to substitute self-rising flour for another flour (the reverse of my problem)
- They use all-AP flour without addressing the protein-level piece
- They use cup measures without specifying how they fill their cup (or what their cup of AP weighs), introducing a laughable amount of variation

My ideal solution:
- matches the protein range of store-bought self-rising flour
- uses grams for the flour measurement(s)
- uses grams for the salt
- uses either grams or teaspoons for the baking powder

Failing that, an authoritative citation for the ratios would be swell; I can do freshman chemistry stoichiometry problems.

Thanks, baker Mefites!

posted by janell to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

Best answer: If you are IN the UK then just buy baking powder, and it will tell you on the side the correct ratio for reproducing self raising flour. The jar in my cupboard says 3 level tsp to 225g plain flour. I don't know if different jars of baking powder have the same proportion of active ingredients, so I don't want to generalise this to your jar of baking powder.

I never heard of salt being in self raising flour.
posted by emilyw at 2:40 PM on March 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

U.S. self-rising flour has salt in it - e.g. White Lily Self-Rising Flour.
posted by research monkey at 3:12 PM on March 17, 2016

Best answer: this link seems pretty knowledgeable and claims protein in self-rising flour is 8.5%. it also gives a recipe for making your own from AP (and notes it will be higher protein; it does include salt, but since "rising" and not "raising" i assume it's amercan) (scroll down).
posted by andrewcooke at 3:27 PM on March 17, 2016

Oh, the UK plain flour in my cupboard has 9.4% protein - and that's what I'd expect self raising flour to be made with. I regularly make SR flour up myself from plain flour and baking powder, and use it in UK recipes, and it works fine.
posted by emilyw at 3:39 PM on March 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: You people are fantastic, thanks! I'm glad I asked about the difference between UK and US - salt (Y/N) seems like a big change.
posted by janell at 4:31 PM on March 17, 2016

Honestly don't stress too much about protein, except at the most extreme ends of the scale and delicate dishes, careful handling will render the difference if not undetectable, definitely no worse. I'm an experienced bread baker who regularly makes cakes, biscuits using bread flour with baking powder.
posted by smoke at 8:47 PM on March 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Or alternatively you could order the equivalent. I have used this before in recipes I've brought back from the UK with no noticeable difference.
posted by koolkat at 4:31 AM on March 18, 2016