Maida.. the villain.

[Asha Gupta]

Maida and Porota made out it are main discussion in Kerala for atleast
last 5 months. Now Porota sales dipped drastically. Proof is that some
new maida mills thought to either down their shutter or  changed to
other products.  Maida products directly affects  Beta cells in
pancrias.... allegation  goes like this.


/
/
/
/
/
/




The below said are different type of wheat flours defined in
Wikipedia. The definition maida is important to classify it and
understand whether it is banned in the UK like the Malayalam article
says. I think maida is nothing but All-purpose flavour.


All-purpose or plain flour is a blended wheat flour with a protein
content lower than bread flour, ranging between 9% and 12%. Depending
on brand or the region where it is purchased it may be composed of all
hard or soft wheats, but is usually a blend of the two, and can range
from low protein content to moderately high. It is marketed as an
inexpensive alternative to bakers' flours which is acceptable for most
household baking needs.

Bleached flour is a white flour treated with flour bleaching agents to
whiten it (freshly milled flour is yellowish) and to give it more
gluten-producing potential. Oxidizing agents are usually employed,
most commonly organic peroxides like acetone peroxide or benzoyl
peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, or chlorine. A similar effect can be
achieved by letting the flour oxidize with oxygen in the air ("natural
aging") for approximately 10 days; however, this process is more
expensive due to the time required. Flour bleached with benzoyl
peroxide has been prohibited in the UK since 1997.

Bread flour or strong flour is always made from hard wheat, usually
hard spring wheat. It has a very high protein content, between 10% and
13%, making it excellent for yeast bread baking. It can be white or
whole wheat or in between.

Bromated flour has a maturing agent added. The agent's role is to help
with developing gluten, a role similar to the flour bleaching agents.
Bromate is usually used. Other choices are phosphates, ascorbic acid,
and malted barley. Bromated flour has been banned in much of the
world, as bromate is classified as possibly carcinogenic in humans
(Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC),
but remains available in the United States.

Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has
very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for
soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other
flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may
require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour.
Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces
125g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140
grams of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful
in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly
affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries
where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a
domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product. Related
to cake flour are masa harina (from maize), maida flour (from wheat or
tapioca), and pure starches.

Graham flour is a special type of whole wheat flour. The endosperm is
finely ground, as in white flour, while the bran and germ are coarsely
ground. Graham flour is uncommon outside of the USA and
Europe.[citation needed] It is the basis of true graham crackers. Many
graham crackers on the market are actually imitation grahams because
they do not contain graham flour or even whole-wheat flour.

Instant flour is pregelatinized (precooked) for easier incorporation
in gravies and sauces.

National Flour (historical) was a term for a germ flour promoted by
the British government during World War II. It was adopted in 1942
both for health reasons and those concerned about the import of wheat
into the UK and losses during the war. The flour is described as being
of 85% extraction, i.e. containing more of the whole wheat grain than
refined flour, generally described as 70% extraction at the time.
Parliamentary questions on the exact constitution of National Flour in
1943 reveal that “National flour is at present milled from a grist
consisting of 90 per cent. wheat and 10 per cent. diluent grains.
Authorised additions are calcium at the rate of 7 oz. per 280 lb. of
flour and dried milk at the rate of 2 lb. per 280 lb. of flour and
customary improvers in normal proportions.” The diluent grains were
barley, oats and rye and customary improvers were “certain oxidising
agents which improve the quality of the bread baked from the flour,
and their nature depends on the kind of grain used, whether hard or
soft.”. A survey of the composition of National Flour was conducted
for the period 1946-1950 National Flour was discontinued in 1956
against the recommendations of the MRC as the government considered
that the addition of nutritional supplements to refined flour removed
the necessity for using National Flour on health grounds. National
Flour was also a term for a flour introduced in Kenya by the colonial
government which contained 70% wheat flour and 30% maize flour.

Pastry flour or cookie flour or cracker flour has slightly higher
protein content than cake flour but lower than all-purpose flour. Its
protein content ranges between 9% and 10%. It is available as a white
flour, a whole-wheat flour, or a white flour with the germ retained
but not the bran. It is suitable for pie pastry and tarts, some
cookies, muffins, biscuits and other quick breads. Flour is shaken
through a sieve to reduce the amount of lumps for cooking pastry.

Self-rising or self-raising flour is white flour that is sold premixed
with chemical leavening agents. It was invented by Henry Jones.
Self-rising flour is typically composed of the following ratio:

1 cup (100 g) flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder

a pinch to ½ teaspoon (1 g or less) salt

Sharp flour is produced in Fiji and primarily used in Indian cuisine.

Spelt flour is a flour produced from the type of wheat called spelt.
It is less commonly used in modern cooking than other wheat varieties.
It is still used for specialty baking.

Tang flour or wheat starch is a type of wheat flour used primarily in
Chinese cooking for making the outer layer of dumplings and buns. It
is also used in Vietnamese cuisine, where it is called bột lọc trong.

   

ASHA

(HOPE)