Bread flour is a strong flour, meaning that it has a high gluten content, usually around 13 to 16 percent protein. A handful of bread flour feels coarse and is slightly off-white in color. Bread flour is used for making crusty breads and rolls, pizza dough, and similar products.

All-purpose flour is formulated to have a medium gluten content of 10 to 12 percent, which makes it a good middle-of-the-road choice for a wide range of baking, from crusty breads to fine cakes and pastries. Even so, most professional bakers avoid all-purpose flour, preferring instead to use bread flour, cake flour, or pastry flour, depending on what they are baking.