Halacha Yomis - Hafrashas challah- whole wheat OU Kosher Halacha Yomis This column is dedicated in memory of: Rav Chaim Yisroel Belsky, zt'l Senior OU Kosher Halachic Consultant (1987-2016)

Q. If I normally only make a beracha when I make a dough with 5 pounds of flour, is the amount the same when I use whole wheat flour (which includes the bran)? A. Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 324:3) writes that bran counts towards the amount needed for challah, provided that the bran was not first removed. However, if the bran was sifted out, even if afterwards it is recombined, it can no longer be counted. In some mills, when they make whole wheat flour, the bran is not separated. However, in other mills, the bran is sifted out and then metered back in and would not count for the measurement of challah. What makes this more confusing, is that some mills employ both systems, and the two methods create identical products. Since the bran constitutes approximately 14% of the kernel weight, because of the uncertainty as to whether the bran was removed, if you intend to say a beracha, you should add 14% more flour. So instead of using 5 pounds of flour, you should use about 5.7 lbs.