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I checked out their website and other sources but could not find any details as to what their bread flour is actually composed of. Does it include both the bran and germ or is the bran removed? And if bran and germ are removed then how is it different from the all-purpose flour milled from high protein red wheat?

I suspect they add pure gluten powder to it

Ross Ridge
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bread101
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They make whole wheat flour, but their bread flour is definitely refined; it does not contain bran or germ. Their bread flour is milled from a specific hard red spring wheat from North and South Dakota. That particular wheat is higher in protein than the wheat and wheat blends of other brands of bread flour.

KA's whole wheat flour (not the white whole wheat) is also milled from hard red wheat, but it's unclear if it's the same "hard red spring wheat" as in the bread flour. The protein level is higher in the whole wheat flour than in the bread flour.

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Notice that the bread flour is enriched (see the ingredients), as is required by US law for refined flours. The whole wheat flour is not enriched.

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You might find this information regarding whole grains helpful: What is the meaning of the term whole grain? Notice from the graphic that there is not a lot of protein in the bran and germ.

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Jolenealaska
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    To supplement what @Jolenealaska stated, The King Arthur website provides details for all of the flours they produce: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-unbleached-bread-flour-5-lb – Stephen Eure Mar 16 '15 at 10:21
  • I guessed the same but could not find any evidence for the statement "it does not contain bran or germ". And if thats the only difference then it is no different from the APF from red wheat? – bread101 Mar 16 '15 at 18:20
  • @bread101 there is no "APF from red wheat". If you mill a bread flour variety of wheat, you get bread flour. If you mill a soft wheat, you get all purpose flour. The difference is in the gluten content, not in the production process. – rumtscho Mar 16 '15 at 18:52
  • @bread101 refined flour, by definition, does not contain the germ or bran. – Jolenealaska Mar 16 '15 at 22:37
  • Just commenting to note that KAF is almost unique (as far as I know) in the amount of information they provide about their floor... more than I ever expected to know! – Erica Mar 16 '15 at 23:03
  • @bread101, Just to add to rumtscho's comment (or clarify) -- the softest wheats are used to produce pastry flour. The hardest are used to produce bread or sometimes "high gluten" flour. All purpose flour is often (though not always) a blend of hard and soft wheats. While one can use other additives or processing to produce even softer flours (e.g. American bleached cake flour) or harder (by extracting gluten and adding it), standard flours can vary significantly in gluten content just by the type of wheat. – Athanasius Mar 17 '15 at 01:47
  • @Jolenealaska thanks for the graphics but still there is no mention that it is a refined flour , it just mentions "unbleached wheat flour". Why is it assumed that they have removed germ \bran when it is explicitly not specified anywhere? Also what is the % of malted barley flour used? – bread101 Mar 17 '15 at 07:51
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    @bread101 It is refined because it doesn't say otherwise. In the US, if a flour doesn't say that it is unrefined, it isn't. I don't know the percentage of malted barley flour, but it is extremely low. Otherwise it would not and could not be listed as a part of "unbleached enriched hard spring wheat flour" – Jolenealaska Mar 17 '15 at 08:21
  • I just looked on their website, and it now shows only wheat flour and malted barley flour. Maybe the enrichment rules have changed? – dfeuer Apr 24 '20 at 07:19