How to make buns with low-gluten flour
In the past 10 days, the use of low-gluten flour has become one of the hot topics on the Internet about food production. Many home baking enthusiasts and pastry novices are exploring how to make buns with low-gluten flour to solve the problem of not having all-purpose flour at home. This article will combine the hot topics on the Internet to provide you with a detailed analysis of the techniques and precautions for making buns with low-gluten flour, and provide structured data for reference.
1. Why choose low-gluten flour to make steamed buns?

Low-gluten flour has low protein content (usually less than 8.5%) and weak gluten. It is often used to make soft snacks such as cakes and biscuits. Although traditional buns mostly use all-purpose flour, buns made with low-gluten flour have a softer texture and are suitable for people who like a softer texture. Recently on social platforms, the number of views of the topic # Low Gluten Flour Creative Usage has exceeded 5 million, among which the steamed bun making tutorial is the most popular.
| Flour type | protein content | Suitable for noodles | Characteristics of making steamed buns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low gluten flour | Below 8.5% | cakes, biscuits | Soft and creamy taste |
| all-purpose flour | 9-11.5% | Steamed buns, steamed buns | Traditional chewy texture |
| High gluten flour | 11.5% or more | Bread, noodles | Not recommended for being too chewy |
2. Key steps in making buns with low-gluten flour
Based on the top 10 video tutorials with the highest likes under the topic # Flour Magic Use # on Douyin in the past 7 days, we have sorted out the following scientific ratios:
| Material | weight | Function description | Popular alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low gluten flour | 500g | Main material | Can be mixed with 20% cornstarch to increase softness |
| Warm water (35℃) | 260ml | activated yeast | Can be substituted with milk to increase the milky aroma |
| dry yeast | 5g | starter culture | 1 teaspoon baking powder to aid fermentation |
| white sugar | 30g | Promote fermentation | Substitute equal amounts of honey |
| Lard/vegetable oil | 15g | Increase gloss | Butter is more fragrant |
3. Detailed production process (compilation of popular tutorials from Xiaohongshu)
1.Dough kneading stage: First dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. After sifting the low-gluten flour, add the yeast water in batches and stir with chopsticks to form a fluffy consistency. At this point add cooking oil and knead with your hands into a smooth dough.
2.Fermentation techniques: The most popular topic on Weibo recently is #WINTER RAPID FERMENTATION METHOD. Suggestion: Put the dough into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in a 40°C warm water pot for fermentation, which can be shortened to 1 hour. The criterion is that the dough is twice as large in volume and has a honeycomb structure.
3.Exhaust shaping: After taking out the fermented dough, sprinkle a small amount of dry powder and knead to deflate for at least 5 minutes. Divide it into small portions of about 50g, roll it into a dough with a thick middle and thin edges, wrap it in the filling and seal it.
4.Second awakening: Place the wrapped buns in a steamer and keep them at 35°C and 80% humidity for 15 minutes. A recent popular video on Station B recommends adding water to a steamer and boiling it to 50°C, then turning off the heat and placing it in a steamer to create an ideal environment.
5.Steaming essentials: After the water boils, put it in the pot, steam over medium heat for 12 minutes, turn off the heat and simmer for 3 minutes before opening the lid. A popular comparison experiment on Douyin shows that the steaming time of low-gluten flour buns is 2 minutes shorter than that of medium-gluten flour.
4. Solutions to common problems (compilation of highly praised answers on Zhihu)
| Problem phenomenon | Possible reasons | solution |
|---|---|---|
| Bun collapsed | Over-fermented/open the lid immediately after steaming | Control the fermentation time/turn off the heat and simmer for 3 minutes |
| rough surface | Insufficient exhaust/flour not sifted | Increase the kneading time/be sure to sift the flour |
| Sticky taste | Too much moisture/insufficient steaming time | Reduce water volume by 10ml/extend steaming by 2 minutes |
| Not easy to expand | Insufficient yeast activity/too low temperature | Test yeast activity/increase fermentation temperature |
5. Recommended innovative recipes (recent popular experiments among food bloggers)
1.Yunduozi: Adding 20g milk powder and 5g baking powder, the taste is as light as clouds, and the Douyin-related video has been viewed more than 2 million times.
2.Colorful buns: Using spinach juice, pumpkin puree and other natural pigments to knead the dough, 12,000 entries were generated under the topic # Fruit and Vegetable Bun Challenge #.
3.Milk-flavored puff pastry: Add 30g of light cream to the filling and steam it to form a flowy effect. The collection of Xiaohongshu tutorials has exceeded 50,000.
The recent Baidu Index shows that the search volume for "making steamed buns with low-gluten flour" has increased by 320% week-on-week, making it the pastry making issue that kitchen novices are most concerned about. I hope this guide, which combines hot data from across the internet, can help you successfully make your ideal buns using low-gluten flour. Remember the key points: precise proportions, sufficient fermentation, and moderate steaming. Even low-gluten flour can make amazing buns!
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