🍞 Tangzhong Calculator for Bread
Calculate the exact amount of tangzhong (water roux) for softer, fluffier bread
| Total Flour | Tangzhong Flour (6%) | Tangzhong Water | Adjust Main Water By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200g | 12g | 60g | −60g |
| 300g | 18g | 90g | −90g |
| 400g | 24g | 120g | −120g |
| 500g | 30g | 150g | −150g |
| 600g | 36g | 180g | −180g |
| 800g | 48g | 240g | −240g |
| 1000g | 60g | 300g | −300g |
| Flour Type | Tangzhong % | Notes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread Flour | 5–6% | Standard use | Very soft, pillowy |
| All-Purpose | 5–6% | Good result | Soft, slightly less chew |
| Whole Wheat Blend | 6–8% | Add extra for density | Softer than usual |
| Rye Blend | 6–7% | Helps with moisture | Improved texture |
| Spelt Blend | 5% | Delicate gluten | Tender crumb |
| 00 Flour | 5–6% | Fine grind, smooth | Extra silky crumb |
Tangzhong is a basic method for making bread that helps to reach more wet and soft results. It works well for big rolls, sandwich breads and dinner rolls. The method is made up of cooking a little bit of flour with liquid, until it becomes thick paste.
That paste one cools later and mixes in the bread dough. Sometimes one calls it “water roux” in western lands.
How Tangzhong Makes Bread Soft and Last Longer
Taiwanese author Yvonne Chen spread the technique through all of Asia in her book about bread in 65 degrees. Both tangzhong and its Japanese relative yudane, use the same Chinese signs. Both aim to thicken the starch in the flour by means of warm liquid.
The main dfference is that yudane puts hot water directly on flour, but tangzhong cooks flour and liquid together on the stove.
Making tangzhong is pretty easy. One mixes flour with water, though some methods use milk instead. The mix cooks at about 65 degrees Celsius, until it thickens and becomes gel.
Typical ratio is one part flour too five parts liquid. Usually tangzhong uses up to five or six percent of the whole flour amount in a recipe. Even so, if one takes up to twenty percent of the flour for tangzhong, often the dough turns out even better.
Why does this happen when one cooks flour like this? The process breaks the starch in the flour. During cooking, that starch turns into sugar, which helps the feeding of the yeast.
Thickened starch holds more moisture than normal starch. Tangzhong breaks down the gluten, but because only a tiny part of the flour takes part, there stays enough gluten to form structure. Too much rising or too much proofing can weaken the gluten, because protein enzymes also activate.
bread from this has a more soft, fluffy inside that stays fresh for more time. Pre-cooking some parts of the flour allows bakers to add more liquid, without the dough becoming a sticky mess. Really, this forms the main point of tangzhong, to raise the moisture in the dough.
Tangzhong works well for many kinds of bread. It forms the secret of Japanese milk bread, which one also calls Hokkaido milk bread or shokupan. Dinner rolls with tangzhong are known for their very soft and fluffy texture.
One can use it also for whole wheat sandwich bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns and stone bread. Breads that usually dry out fast withinone day, gain a lot from this method. Adding tangzhong in a basic recipe for bread can really change how long it stays soft.