Differences between types of flour
SWIBIRUN
our pantry (unbleached, all purpose, self rising, etc). Although I have always
used different types of flour for different things (frying, baking etc) I
really couldn't answer except, "My mom did it that way".
We looked at our usual resource (Joy of Cooking) and it didn't really comment
on the different types of flours.
I would be interested in the groups comments and remarks as to the real
differences between the types of flours and their applications. Am I just a
creature of habit or does it really matter what type of flour you use in any
given recipe?
Thanks,
Chris
Alan Zelt
I think this site does a fairly good job of describing the differences.
The information is from Fisher Flour Mills. The one they don't list is
one that I am using like crazy lately. That would be Common or First
Clear Flour. It is used when making rye bread. It is used predominantly
by bakeries. Thanks to George Greenstein, and his Secrets of a Jewish
Baker, I have discovered it. Here are some other types:
Hard Wheat Flours
Power
A premium high gluten flour milled for production of hearth
breads, hand toss or thick crust pizza,
bagels, French breads, and multi-grain baked goods. Excellent when
used for sourdough breads
and rolls. Power has excellent fermentation tolerance and high
water absorption. It is milled from
Montana high protein spring wheats and has very high absorption
and mixing tolerances. Power may
be bleached or unbleached.
Mondako
A strong patent flour that is bleached and enriched. Widely used
for
medium to thin pizza crust production. Large pizza chains and
small
retail shops alike select Mondako for its strength and the
outstanding
flavor and texture of the crust it produces. Mondako expands
smoothly
in the oven and gives excellent volumes. Its outstanding mixing
and
machining qualities, along with good absorption, allow it to carry
a high
percentage of ingredients such as milk, sugar, shortening, etc.
Many
noodle and pastry bakeries have demanded this flour for years
because of its bright color and
excellent absorption. Mondako is made from a blend of Montana
winter and spring wheats.
Morbread
A consistent straight grade flour possessing exceptional mixing
and fermentation tolerance with good
absorption. It can be used for baking pan bread with all dough
systems. Produces very good
hamburger and hot dog buns, croissants, and some hearth breads. It
is used effectively by all size
bakeries when a strong competitively priced flour is desired.
Blendako
A medium straight grade flour with excellent fermentation and
mixing tolerance. A durable flour, it
withstands considerable abuse. It is particularly good for pan
breads, softer rolls and is sometimes
used in hard rolls and hearth breads. Highly recommended for
hamburger and hot dog buns and
basic yeast-raised sweet goods. Blendako yields products with good
volume, silky texture and
good shelf life.
Soft Wheat Flours
Spunwhite
A fancy, short patent wheat cake flour, representing the finest
cake flour produced. Milled from
only the choicest wheats, it is recommended for hi-ratio cake
formulas (sugar ratios in excess of
125% based on flour). It is excellent for foam type cakes (angel
food, sponge, chiffon, etc.) and
also may be used for drop cookies, spring rolls, special noodles,
and candies.
Cake & Pastry
A straight grade flour with particle size
adjusted to produce a flour for
excellent hi-ratio layer cakes, foam types, and
loaf or pound cakes.
White cakes from this flour possess the same
tenderness found in
Spunwhite. They have a somewhat firmer crumb
which makes them
more desirable for wholesale production where
cakes must withstand
more handling and transport. Also excellent for
pancake mixes and for
general use in pastry products.
All Purpose Flour
Made from a combination of wheats, this flour will produce good
results over a wide variety of
baked goods (cakes, biscuits, pastries, pie crusts, breads, etc.).
It is strong enough to make
excellent bread and all types of rolls; soft enough for home-type
cakes and pastries; good for
sauces, soups, and gravies; excellent for biscuits and pastry
shells; economical for dusting and
breading mixes.
Cookie, Cracker &Pastry Flours
White Spear
A fancy, unbleached pastry flour with spreading characteristics to
make larger (wire cut) cookies.
Excellent for flaky pie crusts, muffins, and cracker production.
Used as a blending flour for cake
doughnuts, pastries, and baked goods that need a softer texture.
Sol Brillante Tortilla Flour
This is a bleached, mid-range protein
manufactured from blended
California wheats. It is easily machinable for
press and hand stretch
tortillas with good absorption to aid shelf life
and elasticity. This flour
can also be used for Mexican pastries, puff
pastries and sweet dough
formulas.
Sol Brillante High Gluten
A premium, high gluten flour developed principally for production
of kaiser rolls, bagels and hearth
breads. It is used in both large and small shops. Sol Brillante
High Gluten works well in either
straight or a sponge dough, hand or machine make-up. Has excellent
fermentation tolerance and
high water absorption. Excellent for pizza crusts, breads and
rolls.
Fisher Blend
Made from a combination of California wheats to give this flour
multi-purpose applications. It is
strong enough to make pan breads as well as mellow enough to
produce muffins, pastries, biscuits,
pie crusts, and medium to thin crust pizzas. Blend can also be
used for tortilla production and as a
blending flour for whole wheat products and batter type products.
Fisher Thick Crust Mix
This complete mix will produce an excellent thick crust / hand
toss
pizza with good stability for proofing and baking. The vacuum
packed
yeast pack inside the bag insures freshness and flavor.
Fisher Thin Crust Mix
The instructions on the back of the bag insure the first pizza
will be the same as the last. The
"crunch" of the crust that is characteristic of a medium to thin
pizza will satisfy both in-store baking
and at home take and bake.
Specialty Flours
Hi-Pro Whole Wheat
Our strongest, highest protein whole wheat flour. A flour of
unusual strength, milled in both medium
and coarse granulations. Designed for 100% whole wheat products as
well as with white flour
blends.
Whole Wheat Flour
A 100% whole wheat fine granulated, milled from
choice selected
wheat blends. It will produce outstanding 100%
whole wheat bread
and rolls as well as blended wheat breads.
Recommended for pizza
and tortilla whole wheat blends.
Entire Wheat - Coarse
Milled from 100% selected whole wheat grain blends. Our coarsest
whole wheat flour, to be used
as a topping flour and for mixes that call for larger bran flakes.
Cracked wheat
Two different types of cracked wheat are produced at Fisher Mills:
(1) the regular cracked wheat
from select hard, red winter wheat, and (2) a cracked wheat
produced from specialty selected soft
white wheat from the Pacific Northwest. The cracked soft wheat has
become very popular in the
cracked wheat and whole grain bread business.
Wheat Germ
A bold flake product from the heart of the endosperm. Greatly
nutritious, highly regarded in health
food circles. Used as an ingredient in breakfast cereals, a
topping for fruit, or a binder in processed
meats and vegetables.
Bran
The rich outer coating of the wheat kernel. High in crude fiber
and
minerals. Very nutritious and an excellent ingredient for the
fiber
conscious market.
Farina
Outstanding breakfast cereal selected from specific mill streams.
An easily digestible ingredient in
many processed food products, it posseses extremely high
nutritional value and has found a home in
all health-conscious operations.
--
alan
Eliminate FINNFAN on reply.
"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the
people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener
Peter Aitken
amount of gluten. THis is the protein that holds the dough together, letting
it rise by trapping the gas that the yeast produces. White flour tends to be
between 8 and 15% gluten.
Pastry/cake flour - low gluten for tenderness. The dough does not have to
rise (no yeast).
All purpose flour. Medium levels of gluten - suitable for most uses such as
ordinary breads etc.
High gluten (sometimes called bread flour). Best for European style and
other breads that rise a lot.
Self rising flour is regular flour with baking soda and baking powder
already added - for biscuits and quick breads.
Peter G. Aitken
SWIBIRUN <swib...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19991123182036...@ng-ci1.aol.com...
Sterling Ranne
is there any other difference between the two?
Sterling
92.5% Pure
Sue
I grew up in a Africa where the flour was not as processed as here in the
States. My mom, who is an excellent cook, could never get her baked goods
to come out as good in the States as they did in Africa. She tried
unbleached flour, and that did the trick. I have also found that unbleached
flour is much better in cookies, cakes, muffins, etc. than regular
all-purpose flour. I have read the reason for this somewhere, but can't
remember it. I do use Bread Flour for yeast breads, and it definately makes
the breads better.
The King Arthur Flour website is very helpful and has good recipes. They
have great unbleached flour, but more expensive than other brands.
www.kingarthurflour.com
Sue
.
Don Wiss
>If you are talking about white wheat flours, the main differences are in the
>amount of gluten. THis is the protein that holds the dough together, letting
>it rise by trapping the gas that the yeast produces. White flour tends to be
>between 8 and 15% gluten.
>
>Pastry/cake flour - low gluten for tenderness. The dough does not have to
>rise (no yeast).
>All purpose flour. Medium levels of gluten - suitable for most uses such as
>ordinary breads etc.
>High gluten (sometimes called bread flour). Best for European style and
>other breads that rise a lot.
Actually there are four levels of gluten flours. As above, except that
pastry and cake flour are different. Pastry flour protein contents usually
range from 8.5-9.5% protein and cake flours usually range from 7.0-8.25%
protein.
Don (donwiss at panix com).
Tom
exclusively, but there are times when only one type of flour will do.
The differences in flours are there to provide for different
circumstances.
"self-rising" flour contains baking powder and sometimes salt. It's
advantage is; the powder is blended in very uniformly. But different
brands use different formulas. I would not use anything else but
self-rising when it is called for and would only use the brand name
asked for. It makes Southern baking taste like southern baking.
Flours are "hard" or "soft". "Hard" means it has a higher amount of
glutenin and gliadin. They come together to form gluten, something that
is needed to form the self standing structure needed in bread making or
pasta.
"Soft" flour is used to make cakes. Because of it's low gluten forming
ability it is great for making gravies.
Whole wheat, bran, unbleached are products of the milling process.
They are the lest milled and have more of the natural minerals and
vitamins.
Pastry flour, a weak flour but not as much as cake flour. Better in
making pie doughs, biscuits or muffins.
We also have Rye flour in all of it's grades.
And meal flour ---- etc. etc. etc..... Each to do it's own job.
Stick with the flours you know. They give you good results. Don't just
drop them and go to all purpose if you are getting great results for
your efforts now.
Hope this helps. There is a lot more to flour then what I have put here.
A good book on baking should help you understand more.
Tom